Naturally Speaking

Evolution plays a central role in the field of zoology, with new questions to be chased and an ever expanding field of research. In this Naturally Speaking Short, Karen Hotopp (@KarenHotopp) interviews visiting researcher Professor Walter Salzburger of the University of Basel, and asks him about his research on adaptive radiation and the colourful cichlids of the East African Great Lakes. Listen in to find out about an exciting and ever growing branch of evolutionary theory.

https://naturallyspeaking.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/prof-walter-salzburger1.mp3

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

“Technology provides the tools and biology the problems”              – Stanley Fields

Episode 38: Sparking ideas-the creative minds building bioelectronics for biologists

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Scientific advances depend not only on novel ideas and conceptual leaps, but also to a large extent on technological advances. Most scientists use some form of technology in their daily research, whether it be running a PCR in the lab, measuring oxygen concentration in a tank, or using remote sensing to track vast bird migrations.  

Technological developments in biology draw on a wide range of expertise in engineering, physics, chemistry, computer science, and management. An integral part of new technological discoveries is the partnership between scientists and those working in bioelectronics.

Here at the University of Glasgow, the bioelectronics team has worked with Institute researchers to develop everything from electronic mosquito sampling nets to automated lichen spore collectors.

In this week’s episode, Naturally Speaking’s Laurie Baker (@llbaker1707) visits the basement of the Zoology building to talk with Nosrat Mirzai and Jakub Czyzweski about what the bioelectronics unit is doing to help the Institute keep pace in a changing scientific world.

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

In science we try not to hero-worship, but in a field where credit is currency, and careers are built upon reputation, sometimes scientific rockstars emerge. The ideas and impact of these few resonate outside academia and make them household names. Physics has Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein, and Chemistry Marie Curie and Louis Pasteur.

While many biologists can same the same level of recognition, by far our most celebrated standard-bearer is Charles Robert Darwin.

“…from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”

For today’s blog post and podcast, we engage in a little hero-worship. In a special #DarwinDay podcast short, Naturally Speaking’s James Burgon speaks to five of our Institute PhD students, each of whose work builds on evolutionary theory, and asks ‘what does Darwin mean to you?’

Episode 37: What does Darwin mean to you?

https://naturallyspeaking.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/release-darwin_day-reznick.mp3

Find out more about our contributing PhD students below.

We also share the Institute’s annual Darwin Lecture, which took place on Wed 10th Feb. This year the lecture was hosted by the Institute PhD students and delivered by guest speaker Prof. David Reznick, University of California, Riverside. Prof. Reznick is a highly engaging speaker, and offers a lucid and elegant overview of Darwin’s career, how Darwin got the right answer, and the continued evolution of evolution. Enjoy!

Laura Allen (@laurajallen) is a tropical biologist who looks at patterns of modification across a human-modified landscape, and specifically, ways to quantify biodiversity. She is also the Ecosystem Coordinator for the Crees Foundation and splits her time between Glasgow and the Peruvian Amazon. Watch a video of Laura discussing her work at Crees: Taking care of business.

What does Darwin mean to me? “Darwin’s adventures around South America, and explorers like Darwin, have certainly influenced my decisions to go into this field. I really like how he was such a generalist—he had an interest in everything from plants to fossils, earthworms and soil, so I’d really like to be the kind of biologist that follows in his generalist footsteps.”

Arne Jacobs (@arnejacobs90) is a fish biologist who uses genetic techniques to investigate the morphology, ecology and behaviour of two species of salmonid. In this, he is trying to understand how they evolved into different forms—why do they look different despite living in the same lake, and why do they eat different things?

Claire Harris (@ClaireHarris93) is interested in conservation biology and epidemiology, and is investigating ways to measure and model biodiversity. Claire is a regular writer for the GIST magazine, and has the claim to fame that she was also born in the same town as Darwin—Shrewsbury, Shropshire.

What does Darwin mean to me? “…he represents, for me, having courage in your convictions—not being afraid to challenge the ideas of the day.”

Hans Recknagel is an evolutionary biologist whose research focuses on the evolution of complex traits, such as the two modes of reproduction—live-bearing and egg-laying. Hans uses fantastically interesting common lizard species that exhibits both egg laying and live-bearing traits across the species—and yes, there are hybrid forms! He is using this model to try and identify the changes in the genome necessary for such a radical change in life history.

Juli Nati (@nati_julie) researches fish physiology and behaviour, and investigates native and invasive freshwater species. Her research focusses on the physiological basis of why invasive species out-compete native species. A topic touched upon in Prof. Reznick’s lecture above.

and finally, Naturally Speaking’s own:

James Burgon (@JamesBurgon) is an evolutionary biologist and taxonomist whose research centres around speciation, the generation and maintenance of diversity, taxonomy and phylogenetics—and if you’re not clear what this means, listen to our podcast and lecture above(!) James’s particular focus is on how the salamander got its spots—the genetics of colour, shape and local adaptation in European fire salamanders (Salamandra spp.).

So tell us, what does Darwin mean to you?

Bird researcher, Prof. Jane Reid, never set out to become an academic, in fact, she tried her very best not to. Having developed an interest in birds from a young age, her great ambition was to work for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). But, she figured to work there she would probably need a PhD. Yet, once she got her teeth into research during her PhD at the University of Glasgow, there was no looking back.

In this week’s podcast Jane joins Laurie Baker (@llbaker1707) to talk about her career path, catching birds in the field, and her exciting research into the complex causes and consequences driving who mates and has affairs with whom in the song sparrow population on Mandarte island, British Columbia.

Episode 36: What’s in it for the bird? Extra-pair mating and inbreeding in Song Sparrows

https://naturallyspeaking.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/episode-36-jane_reid_released.mp3

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

Welcome to the third and final episode in our special three-part series of podcasts: “MASTERS OF SCIENCE (and Research)”. Here, Naturally Speaking’s James Burgon (@JamesBurgon) and Karen Hotopp (@KarenHotopp) are taking on the Institute’s three Masters courses one by one:

What are they? What do students learn? And what research do students conduct?

In our concluding episode we look at the most divergent of the three Masters programmes offered by the Institute, the MRes. Ecology & Environmental Biology. First we talk to Dr Dominic McCafferty, who coordinates the course with Dr Heather Ferguson,  to find out why two projects may be better than one. Then we chat to some of our previous years’ students and find out about all the exciting things they researched. Is it time for you to follow their lead and get out of the classroom? Get ready for a journey that will take you from the basement of the Institute to the jungles of South America!

https://naturallyspeaking.blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/mres_podcast_released.mp3

Episode 35: Masters of Science—Mastering Research [mp3]

Make sure to listen to the first two episodes in the series. In Part 1 we focus on our MSc. in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology and in Part 2 we look at the MSc. Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law.

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

Welcome to the second episode in a three-part series of podcasts we like to call    “MASTERS OF SCIENCE (and Research)”. Here, Naturally Speaking’s James Burgon (@JamesBurgon) and Karen Hotopp (@KarenHotopp) are taking on the Institute’s three Masters courses one by one:

What are they? What do students learn? And what research do students conduct?

We continue this series with an in-depth look at the Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law. Join us as we find out everything you need to know about the course from Dr Ruedi Nager, who coordinates it with Dr Dorothy McKeegan. Then we catch up with some of our previous year’s Masters students. Get ready for a diverse crew, with accents from across Europe and North America, and projects ranging from the impact of assisted births on dairy calves to chimpanzee rehabilitation.

Episode 34: Masters of Science—Time to get ethical

(Note: In this episode  James and Karen call this course “MSc in Ethics, Welfare and Law”, the actual title is “MSc Welfare Science, Ethics and Law”. We hope this does not cause confusion and apologise for the mistake.)

Featured students: Myriam vander Zwalmen; Katja Isaksen; Emma Strazhnik; John Braid; Kirsten van Doorn; Ramon Philippeth; and Whitney Kent.

Make sure to check out Part 1 of our “MASTERS OF SCIENCE (and Research)” podcast series, in which we focus on our MSc in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology. Also, keep your eyes open for Part 3 in January, where we will delve into our Master programmes for a final time to look at our MRes. Ecology & Environmental Biology.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to automatically receive all our latest content, or just our podcasts.

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

Welcome to the first in a three-part series of podcasts we like to call “MASTERS OF SCIENCE (and Research)”. Here, Naturally Speaking’s James Burgon (@JamesBurgon) and Karen Hotopp (@KarenHotopp, in her podcast debut) are taking on the Institute’s three Masters courses one by one:

What are they? What do students learn? And what research do students conduct?

We begin by looking at the MSc in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology. Join us as we talk to the PGR cluster coordinator Prof. Barbara Mable (@BarbaraMable1) to find out more general information about our Masters programmes, before taking a closer look at the Quantitative MSc with course coordinator Dr Roman Biek.

We then catch up with some of our previous year’s Masters students (who graduated on 1st December) as we find out what motivated them to join us here at the Institute, and what research they conducted while here. Get ready for a diverse crew, with accents from Scotland, Tanzania and beyond, and projects ranging from comparative amphibian behaviour to modelling disease vaccinations in tigers!

Episode 33: Masters of Science—Quantifying life

https://naturallyspeaking.blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/quantitative-ep_released.mp3

Featured students: Pablo Capilla, Luis Enrique Hernandez, Kennedy Lushasi, Daniel Crabtree, Sarah Bierbaum-Williams, Pascal Lovell, Robert Paton and Claire Harris.

Watch out for the next parts of our MASTERS OF SCIENCE (and Research) podcast series, which will focus on our MSc. Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law (aka ‘Welfare’) and MRes. Ecology & Environmental Biology (aka ‘M.Res’).

Don’t forget you can subscribe to automatically receive all our latest content, or just our podcasts.

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

Feature image by Torley [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Flickr.