Naturally Speaking

Episode 53: IBAHCM’s April Highlights

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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 from, awards to and achievements by Institute researchers. These include PhD viva successes, an amazing award for an outstanding student publication, an award from the Zoological Society of London to one of our most distinguished researchers, and the establishment of new links with Scottish Natural Heritage. Listen to find out more.

(A quick note on this episode: We had a little mishap with the recording, so some of it had to be redone. This has lead to some abrupt changes in tone at certain points. The content is the same, so we hope you can forgive us and don’t find it too distracting.)

1. Velasco-Villa, Andres, Luis E. Escobar, Anthony Sanchez, Mang Shi, Daniel G. Streicker, Nadia F. Gallardo-Romero, Fernando Vargas-Pino, Veronica Gutierrez-Cedillo, Inger Damon, Ginny Emerson. 2017. Successful strategies implemented towards the elimination of canine rabies in the Western Hemispher Antiviral Research, Volume 143, July 2017, Pages 1–12. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.antiviral.2017.03.023

2. Stier, A., Dupoué, A., Picard, D., Angelier, F., Brischoux, F., and Lourdais, O. (2017) Oxidative stress in aspic vipers facing pregnancy and water constraints. Journal of Experimental Biology,(doi:10.1242/jeb.156752) (PMID:28292781) (Early Online Publication)

3. Van Doren, B. M., Liedvogel, M., and Helm, B. (2017) Programmed and flexible: long-term Zugunruhe data highlight the many axes of variation in avian migratory behaviour. Journal of Avian Biology, 48(1), pp. 155-172. (doi:10.1111/jav.01348)

4. Apfelbeck, Beate, Kim G. Mortega, Heiner Flinks, Juan Carlos Illera and Barbara Helm. 2017. Testosterone, territorial response, and song in seasonally breeding tropical and temperate stonechats. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 17:101 DOI: 10.1186/s12862-017-0944-9.

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Episode 52: Host to host: How conservation management can influence the risk of Lyme Disease

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Lyme disease, a potentially serious bacterial infection spread to humans and pets by ticks, appears to be becoming more common in the UK, Europe and North America. How we manage green spaces and wildlife populations may be an important factor in determining the level of risk that this disease poses to people.

In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Taya Forde catches up with Dr Caroline Millins and Dr Roman Biek from the Institute, along with Prof. Des Thompson from Scottish Natural Heritage, to discuss their recent publication reviewing the evidence—and highlighting knowledge gaps—in the effects of conservation management on Lyme disease.

Millins, C., Gilbert L., Medlock, J., Hansford, K., Thompson, D. B. A., and Biek, R. (2017) Effects of conservation management of landscapes and vertebrate communities on Lyme borreliosis risk in the United Kingdom. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, 372:20160123.

Featured image: KK_photographics [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0] via Flickr

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Episode 51: Nature’s Greatest Theatre: Ecology and Disease in Yellowstone

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Playing out some of nature’s greatest theatre 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.

In this week’s episode of Naturally Speaking Shorts, Dr. Paul Cross from the U.S. Geological Survey joins Laurie Baker (@llbaker1707) and Taya Forde (@TayaForde) to discuss his work relating to wildlife disease, conservation, and management issues in one of the most intact natural ecosystems in the continental United States.

Click to view slideshow.

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Feature image and photos courtesy of Paul Cross.

Episode 49: How smart are fish?

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“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” There is a common, but inaccurate, public perception that fish aren’t very smart. To dispel this myth, scientists and fishers are joining forces to share their knowledge and observations with the hope of improving the public’s understanding of fish intelligence.

In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Taya Forde (@tayaforde) speaks with 2016 Buckland Professor of Fisheries Felicity Huntingford and biologist Dr Martina Quaggiotto (@mmquaggiotto) about current research into fish intelligence—from their ability to form complicated 3D mind maps, to learning to visually discriminate among over 40 human faces! Life-long fishers Charles Jardine (@charlesjardine) and Marshall Bissett join the discussion to share their personal experiences of how smart fish can really be.

Dr Quaggiotto, in collaboration with Prof. Huntingford, is developing an interactive e-learning presentation on the smartness of fish for the general public. Sponsored by the Fisheries Society of the British Isles, the University of Glasgow and the Buckland Foundation, it will be available during summer 2017.

Links to the journal articles about archerfish behaviour and learning (1, 2, 3), 3D visual discrimination, tool use, experience and behaviour, habitat and movement patterns, and social learning mentioned in this podcast can be accessed by following the hyperlinks provided.

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Feature image courtesy of Deborah McNeill. Photo of brown trout courtesy of Sonya Auer. Photo of fishing trawler © Rosanna Milligan, http://www.wildoceanphotography.com. Logo created by Martina Quaggiotto and digitized by Elisa Davi.

Our annual Ornithology Lecture in December always brings exciting tales of research and adventure, and this past lecture was no exception! Professor Jan-Ake Nilsson, of the University of Lund, has a passion for birds, which has led him to do some fascinating research to understand the life strategies of small passerines.

Naturally Speaking‘s Steve Larcombe and Karen Hotopp (@KarenHotopp) sat down with Jan-Ake to talk about his many research interests, some of his favorite birds, and the body strain of attempting to mimic a rock.

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You can see more photos from our Christmas celebrations, including the Institute band, the potluck, and the ceilidh, on our 2016 end-of-year podcast, Episode 47: Years Reflections (and Happy Holidays)!

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Episode 47: Years Reflections (and Happy Holidays)

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As the year draws to a close, Naturally Speaking’s Laurie Baker, Taya Forde, Karen Hotopp and James Burgon reflect upon the highlights of another great year communicating the work of the Institute. While they discuss their favourite moments from the past year, we would love to hear yours. So let us know what you think the best thing we have done this year has been. Find us on Facebook, tweet us @theNSpodcast or comment below.

Thanks for listening, contributing and supporting Naturally Speaking for another year. From all the team we hope you have a great winter holiday—we can’t wait to speak to you all again in 2017.

Images from our Christmas party extravaganza:

As an extra treat we have some music from our Institute band, which plays an annual Christmas gig. Listen to Swapan Sarker play a traditional Raga on the Mohan veena followed by the full band playing a selection of well known tunes—we will let you guess what they are. Enjoy!

The Institute Band: Live from Graham Kerr Building, LT1

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(The original recording has been edited a little to improve your listening experience!)

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Feature image: Glasgow University tower taken from the East Quadrangle. Euphbass [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr.

Episode 46: The Leaky Host Barrier

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We tend to think of animals as a possible source of pathogens for people, like bird flu or rabies. However, this is a two-way street, and sometimes diseases that affect animals can originate in humans. In this episode of Naturally Speaking, Professor Ruth Zadoks (@rnzadoks) tells Taya Forde (@tayaforde) about her recent publication in the scientific journal Emerging Infectious Diseases that looks into the factors that can allow disease-causing bacteria to make the jump between species. We also discuss the types of tools that can be used to investigate questions about disease transmission, and the implications of novel host adaptations for veterinary and public health.

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Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]

Photo: ‘Douglas Gets Hugged’ by Marji Beach [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr

Episode 45: Eye of the tiger: the Amur tiger’s fight for survival against a deadly virus

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Amur, or Siberian, tigers are up against a fearsome set of foes in their fight for survival. Already endangered due to poaching and habitat fragmentation, these fierce felines – the largest cats in the world – are being threatened by a deadly virus of mysterious origins.

Since 2010, canine distemper virus has killed a number of Amur tigers, leading researchers to ask: Is this a new virus affecting tigers, or have we just not detected it previously? Where is it coming from? Is there anything we can do to help stop it?

Naturally Speaking catches up with the Institutes’s Dr Martin Gilbert (@mgilbertmartin) to learn about his PhD research on this deadly virus affecting Amur tigers in the Russian Far East, and what this means for tiger conservation.

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Photo: ‘Daydreamer’ by Valerie, via Flickr; https://flic.kr/p/4Kg7w6