This week I spoke to Professor Nick Davies FRS to find out how sneaky cuckoos trick their unwitting hosts, how the field of Behavioural Ecology has evolved in the last 50 years, and how young scientists can keep a sense of balance and perspective.

Professor Nick Davies FRS is Professor of Behavioural Ecology at the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge. His 50 year career has had enormous influence on the field of Behavioural Ecology and it really was an honour to chat to him. For natural science students his textbooks are much-loved staples, and for wider audiences his book “Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature” has been widely acclaimed. Sir David Attenborough doesn’t turn up as a surprise to just anyone’s retirement event - so hopefully that shows what an inspirational scientist and naturalist Prof. Davies really is.

Intro and outro music: Funky Chunk by Kevin MacLeod

This week I'm joined by Dr Rahia Mashoodh to talk about how life experiences can turn genes on and off, whether a healthy work/life balance is possible in academia, the British obsession with academic tea-time, and how becoming a pizza dough aficionado can help weather life's storms.

Dr Rahia Mashoodh is a BBSRC Future Leaders Fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. Her research themes span developmental biology, brain and behaviour, and genomics.

Intro and outdo music: Funky Chunk by Kevin MacLeod