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Fieldwork Diary #5: Why did I take my blanket for a walk in the woods? – Naturally Speaking
Will McLellan takes us on a tour of his work on tick density in human-impacted environments. What are you studying? The word ‘tick’, to most people, would bring to mind a symbol on an exam answer sheet that says “well done!”, you got that question right “good job!”. For others, a tick might be a…
A New Hope in the Rainforest – Naturally Speaking
Did you know that today there are just four remaining great ape species in the world? These magnificent animals possess certain human-like physical features, thanks to their genetic architecture that shares 96-98% DNA similarity with humans. For this reason, great apes are classified by the Latin name ‘hominids’. Interestingly, three out of four great ape…
Are we using the right statistics? – Naturally Speaking
Are we using the right statistics? It is a contentious question in science. Statistics may seem like a hard, objective discipline, but there are in fact many different opinions and methods when it comes to analyzing our data. Today on Naturally Speaking we are discussing the two main schools of statistics; frequentist and Bayesian statistics.…
EPISODE 94 – Celebrating International Day of Women in STEM – Naturally Speaking
The International Day of Women and Girls in STEM is on February 11th and celebrates the fantastic work of women and girls in STEM. Our University is full of many amazing women doing incredible work in the field of STEM, providing countless role models for young women aspiring to be scientists. However, this wasn't always…
Conference presentation prizes: what the judges want to see – Naturally Speaking
Presenting at a conference, either orally or via poster, can be a daunting prospect. This is often doubly so for students with fewer conferences under their belts, although I assure you that the fear never fades entirely! Having (relatively) recently joined the ranks of the postdocs and presented my first post-PhD work at a conference…
Episode 93 – Racial Inequality in Academia – Naturally Speaking
In this episode, Paddy McCleave is joined by three amazing guests, Raheema Chunara, Maarya Omar, and Abimbola Abodunrin, to discuss racial inequality in academia. PART 1: PART 2: Panelists Raheema Chunara, Maarya Omar, and Abimbola Abodunrin Racial inequality has been present in science throughout history and continues to be a widespread issue today. The belief…
An Alternative Route to a Veterinary Degree – Naturally Speaking
Growing up, I have consistently been the child who asks "why". Why shouldn't I run with scissors? Why do chickens have 2 legs and cows have 4? Why do I have to learn maths if I want to be a vet? This questioning spirit has accompanied me into my adult life and eventually to vet…
How To Survive A Conference: A 10 Year Update – Naturally Speaking
Conferences are a major part of life in academia: they allow us to share our work, build collaborations, and find out more about the interesting work in our field. However, conferences aren't always easy to navigate and can involve public speaking nerves and awkward interactions. A panel of 'Conference Survivors', including Professor Shaun Killen and…
Who’s afraid of the big bad bat? – Naturally Speaking
Bats. It’s at this time of year – especially with Halloween just around the corner, and when bat-shaped decorations (fairy lights, biscuit cutters, and costumes) start to appear in the shops – that these mysterious animals come to public attention. It’s great news for me of course, as a researcher who works on bats (and…
Seawilding: Scottish Native Oyster Restoration – Naturally Speaking
Most of us will be familiar with the concept of 'rewilding', but what about 'seawilding'? In this episode of Naturally Speaking, we are joined by SBOHVM's very own Dr Anna McGregor to discuss her very exciting, important and interdisciplinary Scottish native oyster (Ostrea edulis) restoration project. She tells us about how Gaelic place names are…
Episode 90 – Whiffs of Wisdom: Exploring Smell, Scientific Writing & Teaching – Naturally Speaking
In this episode, Mar Pineda and Nic Strowbridge are joined by Professor Matthew Cobb from the University of Manchester. Professor Cobb is a researcher, author, and scientific communicator. He was voted as our postgraduate students’ number 1 choice for our 2023 Darwin Day speaker. He kindly accepted our invitation and presented a fantastic talk on…
Fieldwork Diary #4 – Lichens of the Argyll – Naturally Speaking
Paddy McCleave gives us the inside scoop into a project that looks at the internal composition of lichens What is the project you are doing? – My masters project on the lichen microbiome. My project aimed to understand the effect of geographic distance and tree species on the composition of the lichen microbiome. Where are…
Episode 89 – Community Outreach: Engaging the public in your science – Naturally Speaking
Science communication is a vitally important component of research. It encourages community engagement and sharing of new discoveries, making exciting science accessible to the wider public. However, it is also a skill that can be difficult to master - how do we make science approachable to everyone? In this episode, we have a conversation with…
Fieldwork Diary #3 – Deer Monitoring in Scotland – Naturally Speaking
A small exploration of the western Highlands of Scotland and its deer is provided by Max Hadoke What is the project you are doing? – My masters project, which is comparing deer monitoring method efficiencies in the field. The project is being used to test which methods are the most feasible for deer management on…
Fieldwork Diary #2 – Antibiotic Access in Tanzania – Naturally Speaking
Kathrin Loosli provides insights into a project that aims to inform antimicrobial resistance planning in eastern Africa What is your project? - My PhD, titled "Antibiotic quality, access, demand and use in rural communities of northern Tanzania", which was run under the overall project titled SNAP-AMR, or supporting the national action plan for antimicrobial resistance.…
Fieldwork Diary #1 – Epidemiology in the Philippines – Naturally Speaking
Anna Formstone takes you on a whirlwind tour of fieldwork in south-east Asia following a rabies outbreak What is your project? – It is my PhD project. I’m using a participatory systems mapping approach to investigate and inform the design, implementation, and evaluation of integrated bite case management in different geographic and cultural contexts. It is…
Graduate Teaching Assistants – the graduate teaching experience – Naturally Speaking
Teaching assistants are seen in most labs and tutorials throughout the university. How do they find the experience of teaching? My name is Max and I am a graduate teaching assistant (GTA) in the College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences. The role of a GTA includes demonstrating to facilitate teaching sessions and helping with…
PhD Spotlight | An Amazonian Adventure – Naturally Speaking
We travel to Brazil, canoe through the Amazon, and go on a quest to find the cardinal tetra. As part of my PhD research, I was fortunate enough to go to the Amazon and find out more about the aquarium trade, including how animals are harvested, and how this impacts not only fish populations, but…
Episode 87 – Marine Art and Science in Conversation – Naturally Speaking
Connections between art and science are becoming ever more important and popular. In this episode of Naturally Speaking we have a conversation between the artist Olivier Leger and the University of Glasgow's own Dr David Bailey. We hope you enjoy listening to their conversation, which covers a range of topics; from the purpose of science…
Episode 87 – Disease Ecology on Amsterdam Island: up close and personal with the albatross – Naturally Speaking
In this episode, Taya Forde and Paddy McCleave are joined by Thierry Boulinier, a director of research at CNRS Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive at the Université Montpellier. Thierry’s research focuses on the dispersal and dynamics of seabirds and their parasites, where he works with a range of collaborators, such as the French Polar Institute and,…
Episode 40: The sex life – or lack of it – of Trypanosomes. – Naturally Speaking
Episode 40 The sex life - or lack of it - of Trypanosomes: Interview with Dr Willie Weir "Zero Sex is a Killer" "Bug's Weird Sex Life could make it go extinct, say Scottish Scientists”: Dr Willie Weir, a researcher from the Institute—and one of the Scottish scientists responsible for these recent headlines—joins Steve Larcombe…
Episode 34: Masters of Science—Time to get ethical – Naturally Speaking
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: MSc. in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology MSc. Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law…
Getting there is half the battle – Naturally Speaking
Some things never make it into a journal article. In an Institute such as ours the path to a good paper is often—literally—covered in mud. In coming posts we hope to bring you more tales of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of the field research conducted by our staff and students; however, there is that…
Episode 36: What’s in it for the bird? Extra-pair mating and inbreeding in Song Sparrows – Naturally Speaking
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…
Episode 38: Sparking ideas—the creative minds building bioelectronics for biologists – Naturally Speaking
“Technology provides the tools and biology the problems” - Stanley Fields Episode 38: Sparking ideas-the creative minds building bioelectronics for biologists 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…
Making SCENE tick: The whirlwind efforts of Rona Brennan – Naturally Speaking
Making SCENE tick: The whirlwind efforts of Rona Brennan At the start of the New Year, despite the post-Christmas holiday lag that we all suffer from, SCENE was already set for a busy year of research, teaching and learning. As Master’s students, our year was kick-started with new classes at the University’s main campus, getting…
Naturally beautiful: PhotoSCENE 2016 winners gallery – Naturally Speaking
During the course of research at the Institute, our staff and students are often rewarded with truly stunning views of the natural world. So it's perhaps no surprise that a common hobby among our researchers is amateur photography! Together with the Glasgow Natural History Society (GNHS), the Institute runs an annual PhotoSCENE competition to find the best images snapped from…
Episode 35: Masters of Science—Mastering Research – Naturally Speaking
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: MSc. in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology MSc. Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law MRes.…
‘Tis the Season – Naturally Speaking
Over the year, Naturally Speaking has reported on the incredible research going on within the Institute. However, equally important in making this group so special is the sense of community—from our bi-weekly Coffee in the Museum to Friday Pub, we don’t forget the importance of fun and comradery. As work here winds down for the…
Deer, ticks and Scottish sunshine – Naturally Speaking
For the most part, contracting diseases from wildlife is not something we need to think about in the UK particularly often. However, Lyme disease, or Lyme borreliosis, is one that any visitors to our stunning countryside must be aware of. This bacterial infection, spread by the bite of blood sucking ticks, can lead to severe and…
A Look Back At A Transformative 2015 – Naturally Speaking
2015 has been a transformative year for Naturally Speaking. In January we added blog posts to our already popular podcast and grew from an average of seven annual posts to regular alternating weekly blog and podcast posts that together received more than 13,000 views from over 100 countries! This is an incredible accomplishment that…
Tracking salmon from the journals to the sea – Naturally Speaking
SCENE has been a part of many collaborations over the years, including the IBIS project, which is coming to an end this summer. IBIS spanned Ireland and Scotland, creating many opportunities for high quality research focusing on freshwater and marine environments. Masters student Angus Lothian is hoping to carry on that tradition as he travels…
The Serengeti at a crossroads – Naturally Speaking
Is there a better option to paving a highway through the middle of the Serengeti and disrupting the greatest land migration on Earth? The conflict between conservation and development is something we have touched on at Naturally Speaking before—here at the Institute our researchers understand that a fine balance between the two must be achieved. However,…
Do Methods Really Matter? – Naturally Speaking
Does it really matter how we reach a scientific conclusion? If a recommendation is based on good practice, and is easily understood, what difference does it make if the general public understands how we got there? Potentially, quite a lot. Jaime Anne Earnest is a researcher, policy analyst and science writer who explores the intersections…
Horse and donkey sleeping sickness: investigating equine central nervous system trypanosomosis in The Gambia – Naturally Speaking
It is hard to envisage the world without technology, one in which we are still reliant on working animals for transport and agriculture. Yet, in those parts of the Global South where mechanisation is largely absent, millions of horses and donkeys remain heavily relied upon. However, across Sub-Saharan Africa an unrelenting parasitic disease—trypanosomosis—besets these working…
Birds and Trees: Doing Research in SCENE’s woodlands – Naturally Speaking
SCENE has been home to many research projects over the years. While many of these have been short studies focused on individual researchers' interests, some study systems have provided a wealth of possibilities leading to decades of detailed and diverse research projects. One such system is the blue tit population inhabiting the woodlands around the…
Episode 33: Masters of Science—Quantifying life – Naturally Speaking
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: MSc in Quantitative Methods in Biodiversity, Conservation and Epidemiology MSc. Animal Welfare Science, Ethics…
Episode 39: Evolution unwrapped—Investigating diversity with Walter Salzburger – 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…