Postgraduate Seminar Series 20th August 2015

Talk 1:

Inferring the Behaviour of a Wild Social Primate: What can tri-axial accelerometers tell us?

Jack O’Sullivan

Our first speaker this week is Jack O’Sullivan. Jack completed his BSc in Zoology at Aberystwyth University before coming to Swansea to undertake an Mres in the Bioscience department. He has recently been accepted onto a PhD at Newcastle University within the Institute of Neuroscience.

 

Abstract:

There has been relatively little investigation into the applicability of tri-axial accelerometers in the detection of primate behaviour. Applying such techniques to the chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa could provide insight into the lives of primates previously unobtainable under the constraints of direct observation.

 

 

Talk 2:

Playing Magic: The Gathering^® on networks of competitive interactions

Danis Kiziridis

 

Our second speaker, Danis Kiziridis initially obtained a diploma in biology, with specialization in ecology, from the School of Biology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. He then moved to Palma de Mallorca, Spain, for the Master in Physics of Complex Systems, organized and taught by IFISC, at the Universitat de les Illes Balears. Currently, he is a BioMaths first year PhD candidate at the Mathematics Department, Swansea University, studying growth and interactions in saprotrophic fungal communities, with the supervision and collaboration of Dr. Chenggui Yuan (Mathematics, Swansea University), Dr. Mike Fowler and Prof. Dan Eastwood (Biosciences, Swansea University), and Prof. Lynne Boddy and Dr. Jennifer Hiscox (Biosciences, Cardiff University).

Abstract:

Competition by direct means is widespread in biological, technological, and socioeconomic systems, e.g.: territoriality in fishes, birds and ants, but also in firms and mafias; biological predation/parasitism, but also software/malware infection attempts; tournaments among stags for mating, but also sports tournaments like in boxing and fencing; and dominance interactions leading to hierarchies in animal groups, including human organizations like companies and collectives. Inspired by the fierce territorial fights between saprotrophic fungi, but of general applicability, a method was developed by adopting the simple but realistic scoring/combat system of the card game Magic: The Gathering®, to model satisfactorily all kinds of interaction outcomes, and to quantify offensive/defensive abilities, proposing thus testable hypotheses, and offering quantitative insight into the (co)evolution of the ubiquitous phenomenon of direct competition.

 

Talk 3:

 

Individual variability in dispersal and invasion speed

 

Aled Morris

 

 

Our third speaker today is Aled Morris. Aled undertook his undergrad degree in Mathematics and his Masters degree in Computer Modelling here at Swansea University. He is currently doing a PhD, investigating population spread of species.

Abstract:

The spreading speed of a population is fundamental in ecology because it characterises the rate at which a species invades new habitats or adapts to rapid environmental change. We use a system of reaction-diffusion partial differential equations to model the spread of two competing phenotypes in a domain. Using this system we look at the existence of steady states, and attempt to find explicit expressions for the spreading speed and the ratio of phenotypes at the leading edge.

 

 

Postgraduate Seminar Series 6th August 2015

Decay in the canopy: investigating saprotrophic communities in attached angiosperm branches

 

Anna Rawlings

 

 

 

Our speaker today is Anna Rawlings. Anna completed her master’s degree in Environmental Biology here at Swansea University and is now currently in the first year of her PhD, looking at fungal community ecology.

 

Abstract:

Assemblages of wood rotting fungi often begin to develop in the canopy yet efforts to describe decay communities have focused almost exclusively on the later stages of decay on the woodland floor.  Although generally successional in nature, it has been hypothesised that various community development pathways may arise depending upon the degrees of abiotic and biotic stress present within the substrate with abiotic conditions ameliorating and competitive stress increasing as decay advances.  I plan to use traditional culturing methods alongside modern molecular techniques and 3D modelling to map communities of wood-rotting fungi in attached branches and to investigate the role that abiotic and competitive stressors play in shaping them.

Postgraduate Seminar Series 30th July 2015

Mediating Attention for Second Screen Companion Content 

Timothy Neate 

 

 

 

This week, one of our speakers is Timothy Neate. Tim previously studied at the University of York where he gained a BSc (Hons) and MSc (by research) degrees. His PhD, working with Prof. Matt Jones and Dr. Michael Evans (BBC R&D), focusses on the design of dual screen television and investigating interfaces that compensate for splitting user attention across multiple foci.  

 

Abstract: 

In this talk, Tim will discuss his work into investigating methods to mediate a user's attention between multiple devices in a dual screen TV scenario and the implications for broadcasters and application designers alike.  

Postgraduate Seminar Series Speaker 16th July 2015

It’s not just bees: Hoverflies as pollinators in Welsh grasslands

Andrew Lucas

Our speaker this week is Andrew Lucas; Andrew is undertaking a PhD in the Biosciences department here at Swansea University. Andrew achieved his BSc in Ecology at University of East Anglia in 1984 and has previously worked for NRW, (previously CCW), before starting his PhD.

 

Abstract:

There is much concern about the decline of bees, but many other insects are important pollinators.  This talk will give some background on one group of fly pollinators: the hoverflies.  It will also describe my research, which is using traditional field methods and innovative molecular techniques to explore their role in pollination in grassland habitats.   

 

Biosciences Seminar Speaker 18 June 2015

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2015
18 June 2015 - 1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

Unravelling the secrets of the world's highest flying goose

Dr. Lucy Hawkes

(University of Exeter, UK)

It's the final talk of this year's Swansea Biosciences Seminar Series! To end in style, we will have a high-flying talk by Dr Lucy Hawkes, lecturer in Physiological Ecology at the Department of Biosciences at the University of Exeter. To understand how animals achieve to do those amazing performances, such as flying over the Himalayas, Lucy uses a large range of fancy technology, from satellite telemetry, heart rate logging, accelerometry, to metabolic rate measurements and respirometry. So, don't miss this one!

Abstract

Birds have been shown to make some of the longest, fastest and most impressive migrations of any, principally because flight permits migrants to cover huge distances in relatively short periods of time. Different species of birds may travel over demanding geophysical barriers, such as mountain ranges, deserts and vast expanses of ocean. Bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) make biannual migrations between breeding areas on the Tibetan Plateau, China and Mongolia, and wintering areas in India. Their northward springtime migration must therefore include a formidable northward crossing of the Himalayan mountains onto the Tibetan Plateau. 

Some large bird species in Asia avoid the steep climb by migrating around the Himalayan mountains or by heading west towards the Caspian sea. Bar-headed geese, however, are known to migrate straight over the Himalayas, an energetic feat that has long been considered as one of the world’s highest altitude migrations. Using satellite tracking and archival heart rate logging, we describe the strategy used by bar-headed geese to carry out this impressive migration and some of the ways in which they may save energy. We also use physiological data to parameterize a model to estimate the maximum altitude to which a bar-headed goose might be able to fly in still conditions.

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!

Postgraduate Seminar 11th June

Postgraduate Seminar Series - Spring 2015
11 June  2015 - 1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

Postgraduate Seminar Series

Thursday 11^th June

Wallace Museum 1pm

“The idea of the Anthropocene: imagining alternative social and environmental futures in Wales”

Anna Pigott

This week, one of our speakers is Anna Pigott, is a 2^nd year Geography PhD student. In 2011 she completed her MSc degree in Environmental Dynamics and Climate Change at Swansea University and previously graduated in 2007 with a BSc in Geography from Cambridge University. Her PhD focusses on how cultural visions of the future 're-imagine' humanity's relationship with the earth and environmental problems and feed into broader narratives about social change

Abstract:

The notion of the Anthropocene has implications for understanding humanity's relationship with the past, present, and future of life on Earth. In the Anthropocene, it could be said that the task is no longer to 'map' the earth, but instead to make sense of the tangled relationships between humanity and the Earth. Such a focus looks for new geographical imaginations and narratives of the past and the future, especially those emerging in the realms of art and politics. This paper takes Wales, a country with a pioneering political approach to sustainability, as a case study and explores how various organisations, particularly in the arts sector, are responding to the idea of the Anthropocene and creating visions for alternative social and environmental futures.

 

 

 

Talk 2:

 

Informed movement: one step at a time, do animals have a fundamental step length?

 

Richard Lewis

 

This week, one of our speakers is Richard Lewis. Richard is an MRes student here at Swansea and previously achieved a 2:1 in Zoology from Swansea University. Richard undertook an industrial year with Natural Resources Wales and hopes in the future to pursue a career working with carnivores.

 

Abstract:

With global biodiversity in rapid decline understanding how, when and where animals move within their habitat is of paramount importance to conservation. Current bio-logging tags have a low recording frequency and resolution of animal movement, due to battery constraints. The result of low recording frequencies are isolated pinpoints on a map, with straight lines being drawn between them, the “fundamental step length”. However, movement trajectories are often highly tortuous as individuals adapt their movement based on environmental cues. Such data are lost with low recording frequencies. Therefore it is proposed that high frequency archival tags can recreate these highly tortuous pathways and provide a more accurate description of an animal’s spatial ecology.

 

All welcome to attend!

 

 



Biosciences Seminar Speaker 04 June 2015

Biosciences Seminar Series - Spring 2015
04 June 2015 - 1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

Is genetic diversity really so important?

Dr. Sonia Consuegra

(Swansea University, UK)

 Photo by D. Scott Taylor at Wikimedia Commons

This week's seminar will be by Dr Sonia Consuegra del Olmo, a population geneticist and Associate Professor at our Department of Biosciences at Swansea University. Sonia's research concerns Molecular Evolution, Evolutionary genetics, such as the Evolution of mating systems (e.g. here), Biological invasions (e.g. here) and Aquaculture and Conservation of salmonids (see here). Today's talk will present research carried out using a rather unique selfing vertebrate study system, the Mangrove killifish (Kryptolebias marmoratus, e.g. see here).

Sonia did her PhD at the University of Cantabria (Spain), followed by postdoctoral positions and research fellowships at the Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London and the University of St Andrews, followed by a lectureship position at Aberystwyth University in 2008. In 2013 then Sonia joined Biosciences at Swansea University as a senior lecturer. 

Abstract

Genetic variability provides the basis for adaptation and speciation, and its importance is universally recognised. Loss of genetic diversity is mainly related to population size, and it is assumed to have detrimental consequences for fitness, particularly when low genetic diversity is related to inbreeding. There is also increasing evidence that genetic diversity could be important not only for evolutionary processes but also for ecological processes. 

So, how do some populations manage to thrive despite low levels of genetic diversity and/or very low population sizes? Epigenetic variation could explain it if it compensates, at least in part, the loss of genetic diversity in some inbred populations. We are investigating the relationship between genetic and epigenetic diversity and fitness using a really cool model, a naturally inbred fish that can self-fertilise and maintain populations of almost genetically identical individuals.

Hope to see many of you - everyone most welcome to attend!