Every year on the 12th of February, Charles Darwin’s birthday, the scientific community recognises Darwin Day. This is a celebration of evolutionary biology and all that we have learnt since Darwin introduced us to the concept of natural selection. To mark the event, the Institute holds an annual Darwin Lecture. This is a highly prestigious […]

Episode 59: Resilience in Academia It’s unlikely that anyone has ever said that a career in academic research is easy. It is highly competitive, requires an incredibly large skill set, and “rejection” is essentially part of the job description. However, despite all these challenges, most of us couldn’t imagine doing anything else! In this episode, […]

Episode 58: Lumped together – explaining species co-existence The competitive exclusion principle states that in the long term, the number of species should never exceed the number of available resources. Phytoplankton species paradoxically violate this rule. Instead, species with similar traits co-exist in “clumps” in which there is redundancy among species occupying the same niche, […]

Episode 57: Of Mice and microbes Are parasites always harmful? How diverse are the microbial communities living within individual hosts? These are questions that Dr Sarah Knowles – a researcher at the Royal Veterinary College in London – has set out to address. She visited IBAHCM in January as a guest lecturer in the Institute’s […]

Episode 56: Seasonal Cheer at IBAHCM Every year in December, the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine takes a look back on the year and celebrates its successes in the form of a potluck and  Ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance). This year, Naturally Speaking editors Jacqueline Jacot and Laurie Baker interviewed Institute members at […]

Episode 55: “Recent” IBAHCM Highlights Autumn seems to have run away with us… just too many exciting things happening! In this episode, the Naturally Speaking team reflect on some of the Institute’s many achievements of the last few months (July – October, 2017). Steve Larcombe, James Burgon and Taya Forde discuss some of their favourite […]

Listen in as James Burgon, Laurie Baker, Stephen Larcombe, Taya Forde and Karen Hotopp talk about the publications, staff advancements and other exciting news coming out of the Institute from May and June.

Join us in another celebration of the Institute as we look back at the highlights from the month of April (2017). Listen as Laurie Baker, Taya Forde, Karen Hotopp and James Burgon discuss recent publications, awards and achievements by Institute researchers.

In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Dr Caroline Millins and Dr Roman Biek from the Institute, along with Prof. Des Thompson from Scottish Natural Heritage, discuss their recent publication reviewing the effects of conservation management on Lyme disease.

Playing out one of nature's greatest theatres are grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, cougars, elk, and bison in the greater yellowstone ecosystem. A haven for biologists, these species also come with their own set of diseases making the greater yellowstone ecosystem a hotspot for wildlife disease research.