Science Club Seminar Speakers 19th July 2016

Biosciences Science Club Series - Summer term 2016

19 July 2016 - 1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

The Changing Landscape for Wildlife: Space Use, Biological Scales, and Predictive Ecology

Dr. Garrett Street

(Mississippi State University, USA)

photo by Eleonor Yushtyina

This month Dr. Garrett Street, from the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture at Mississippi State University (USA), will be visiting our University and has kindly agreed to give a talk on his current research. Garrett is a wildlife ecologist broadly interested in animal movements, landscape ecology, spatial modelling and wildlife and ecosystem management.


Abstract
As landscapes change due to human land use and climate change, effective management and conservation requires attention to ecological phenomena occurring at multiple biological and spatiotemporal scales. Consideration of scale-dependency has produced a shift toward predictive ecology based on bottom-up and top-down phenomena. 

In this talk, I discuss the efficacy and utility of bottom-up approaches to predicting the distribution and abundance of wildlife across levels of biological organization from individuals to populations to biomes and global abundance. I emphasize both classical and modern statistical techniques for spatially explicit population estimation and discuss the role of wildlife not only as reactants to, but active contributors toward the function and stability of local ecosystems and the global biosphere.

Hope to see many of you - everyone is welcome!

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 28th July 2016

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 28^th July 2016

1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

S P E A K E R   1

Neither phytoplankton nor zooplankton: welcome to the mixotrophic world of marine plankton

Suzana G. Leles

Mixotrophy among marine protists (i.e., the combination of autotrophy and heterotrophy in a single cell) is not a new discovery but it was poorly investigated until 1980s. However, in reality, most protist plankton are neither strict non-phagotroph nor strict non-phototroph, but mixotrophs. This talk will focus on acquired phototrophy and will discuss the spatial and temporal distribution of these mixotrophs, highlighting the implications of not considering such complex nutrition within marine ecosystem models.   

    

S P E A K E R   2

Metabolite profiling of a robust cyanobacteria for industrial biotechnology

Bethan Kultschar

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) are photosynthetic prokaryotes; they produce an array of secondary metabolites which can be exploited as a sustainable source of useful compounds in industry. These metabolites can be monitored during growth and under different stress conditions using metabolomics. This utilises a variety of high resolution analytical techniques such as GC-MS, LC-MS, MALDI, HPLC and NMR to visualise these changes and to aid in the characterisation of the metabolome using online databases.

  

S P E A K E R   3

Temporary defences induced by Daphnia magna (Cladocera) in two green algae: Scenedesmus sp. and Chlorella sp.

Dania Albini

The ability to defend against grazers is a main driving force in phytoplankton evolutionary histories. This leads to trade-offs with other life-history traits, modifying eco-evolutionary dynamics. One well-known example is the chlorophyte Scenedesmus sp., which forms colonies when being grazed by the predator Daphnia. This morphological change allows Scenedesmus to increase its effective size to beyond the handling capacity of the grazers and thereby reduces its grazing mortality. The project involve the use of microcosms and modelling approaches to study inducible defence of green algae against grazers at the population and community levels, and metabolomics to characterise the chemical nature of the interactions and physiological changes in the organisms.

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 14th July 2016

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 14^th July 2016

1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

S P E A K E R   1

Sex and parasites in the mangrove: who is winning the arms race?

Waldir Filho

Pathogens are powerful selective agents implicated in maintaining genetic variation in host resistance.  According to the Red Queen hypothesis, this is because parasites exert frequency-dependent selection against common genotypes, favouring sexual reproduction and genetic variability. However, asexual or self-fertilising populations that persist despite low genetic diversity challenge the traditional idea that low variation should result in reduced ability to respond to pathogens and threat the long-term viability of populations. In order to test the relationship between outcrossing, inbreeding and fitness in mixed mating species, we have analysed the parasite loads and genetic diversity of K. hermaphroditus populations from three different mangroves in North East Brazil, and will be discussing the implications of few parasites and genetic diversity for the long term persistence of populations.

S P E A K E R   2

Biodiversity conservation in alpine aquatic ecosystems in Gran Paradiso National Park (Western Italian Alps)

Matteo Rolla

High elevation water ecosystems are sensitive to several local and global anthropogenic impacts such as climate change and long transport of atmospheric pollutants. Water exploitation, alien species introduction and local sources of pollutants also have strong impacts on the biodiversity of these sites. The Life+ BIOAQUAE project is focused on the conservation and restoration of alpine aquatic ecosystems in Gran Paradiso National Park. It consists of three main actions: 1) eradication of non-native brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) from four high altitude alpine lakes, 2) interventions to improve the quality of high altitude aquatic environments and 3) conservation actions to protect the marble trout (Salmo marmoratus). Special emphasis will be given to the eradication activities that propose a novel, low impact technique (the exclusive use of nets and 

Science Club Events - 30/06/2016

Science Club Series - 2015/16

Date: 30/06/2016

Venue: Zoology Museum

Time: 14:00 - 17:00 pm

We are delighted to host a product demonstration and Q&A session with representatives from Biotrack/Lotek/Sirtrack/Biosonics, leading producers of telemetry and radio tracking equipment.

Join us at the Zoology Museum, right after the postgraduate seminar series, for a mix of presentations, question times, and hands-on product demonstration. Time allowing, there will also be an outdoor activity for those wanting to get a short crash course into VHF radiotracking!

Everyone most welcome and please let also your students know!

For the full list of Science Club Events, see our blog here 

Postgraduate Seminar Series

College of Science Postgraduate Seminar

 Series 

June - August 2016

Venue: Zoology Museum (unless noted otherwise)
Time: Thursdays 1pm

30^th June

Becky Cliffe
Title:  Life in the slow lane: The sloth niche, divine or dangerous; a case study in Costa Rica
&
Marta Rodríguez-Rey
Title:  Disentangling the main factors for the spread of aquatic invasive species

14^th July

Matteo Rolla 
Title:  Biodiversity conservation in alpine aquatic ecosystems in Gran Paradiso National Park (Western Italian Alps)
&
Waldir M. Berbel-Filho
Title:  Sex and parasites in the mangrove: who is winning the arms race?


28^th July

Suzana G. Leles
Title:  Neither phytoplankton nor zooplankton: welcome to the mixotrophic world of marine plankton
&
Bethan Kultschar

Title:  Metabolite profiling of a robust cyanobacteria for industrial biotechnology
&
Dania Albini

Title: Morphological and chemical defences induced by Daphnia magna (cladocera) in two green algae, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlorella vulgaris. Modelling the strategy

4^th August

Jessica Knoop 

Title: Seaweed aquaculture - challenges and perspectives

&

Sanaa Abed

Title: Natural enemy composition rather than richness determines pest density and plant biomass

11^th August

Chloe Robinson

Title: O ye of little plague? Linking genetic diversity of North American Signal Crayfish populations (Pacifastacus leniusculus) with prevalence of crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci)”

&

Andrew Lucas

Title: From Community to Individual: DNA Metabarcoding Reveals Pollen Transport by Hoverflies

&

Dan Sankey

Title: The importance of body orientation in collective herding behaviour

Postgraduate Seminar Series

College of Science Postgraduate Seminar

 Series 

June - August 2016

Venue: Zoology Museum (unless noted otherwise)
Time: Thursdays 1pm

30^th June

Becky Cliffe
Title:  Life in the slow lane: The sloth niche, divine or dangerous; a case study in Costa Rica
&
Marta Rodríguez-Rey
Title:  Disentangling the main factors for the spread of aquatic invasive species

14^th July

Matteo Rolla 
Title:  Biodiversity conservation in alpine aquatic ecosystems in Gran Paradiso National Park (Western Italian Alps)
&
Waldir M. Berbel-Filho
Title:  Sex and parasites in the mangrove: who is winning the arms race?


28^th July

Suzana G. Leles
Title:  Neither phytoplankton nor zooplankton: welcome to the mixotrophic world of marine plankton
&
Bethan Kultschar

Title:  Metabolite profiling of a robust cyanobacteria for industrial biotechnology
&
Dania Albini

Title: Morphological and chemical defences induced by Daphnia magna (cladocera) in two green algae, Scenedesmus quadricauda and Chlorella vulgaris. Modelling the strategy

4^th August

Jessica Knoop 

Title: Seaweed aquaculture - challenges and perspectives

&

Sanaa Abed

Title: Natural enemy composition rather than richness determines pest density and plant biomass

11^th August

Chloe Robinson

Title: O ye of little plague? Linking genetic diversity of North American Signal Crayfish populations (Pacifastacus leniusculus) with prevalence of crayfish plague (Aphanomyces astaci)”

&

Andrew Lucas

Title: From Community to Individual: DNA Metabarcoding Reveals Pollen Transport by Hoverflies

&

Dan Sankey

Title: The importance of body orientation in collective herding behaviour

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 30/06/2016

Postgraduate Seminar Speakers 30^th August 2016

                                                                         1pm - Zoology Museum (Wallace 129)

S P E A K E R   1 

"Life in the slow lane: The sloth niche, divine or dangerous; a case study in Costa Rica."

Rebecca Cliffe

The sloths survival strategy is camouflage, and as a result, observational research is lacking and very little is known about wild sloth ecology. Without this knowledge, the development of conservation strategies is exceedingly difficult. This project forms a broad study into the ecology, physiology and genetic diversity of two-fingered (C. hoffmanni) and three-fingered (B. variegatus) sloths in Costa Rica. We combine wild sloth activity and movement data with studies into the metabolic rate, energy expenditure, temperature regulation, digestive physiology and population genetics of these poorly understood and highly unusual mammals.

S P E A K E R   2 

“Disentangling the main factors for the spread of aquatic invasive species”

Marta Rodríguez-Rey

Invasive species are the second cause of biodiversity loss negatively affecting the invaded ecosystem, native biota and impacting on the economy and health. The situation is highly risky in aquatic ecosystems because freshwater fish are the most imperilled group in the world. Using Species Distribution Models techniques and remote sensing we will try to understand which bioclimatic and anthropogenic variables are more relevant for the distribution of most invasive aquatic species with the aim of predicting and preventing their spread.