Ecology Podcast

In this episode, Associate Blog Editor Laura Hemmingham spoke with Dr Kathleen Petersen about her paper, "Understanding natal emigration in group-living carnivores", recently published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. Dispersal is a critical ecological and evolutionary process, yet the drivers of individual variation in natal emigration, particularly under human-modified conditions, remain relati...

From wildfires to flash floods and deadly earthquakes, the slow collapse of our ecological and social system is affecting millions of lives across the world. One reason is the demands of our capitalist society. Against this backdrop, what roles can ecologists play to advocate for nature? In this episode of the Ecology Podcast, we’re joined by Dr Lydia Cole from the University of St Andrews to disc...

As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Rob Brooker, Thorunn Helgason, and Pen Holland. This is the podcast for people who love to lead or one day might emerge as a leader. In this episode, Professor Sue Hartley OBE talks about the necessity of being challenged, listening to others in leadership, and leading with noble intent....

In the latest BES podcast, alumni committee member of the EDGE network Dr Trisha Gopalakrishna chats with Dr Robyn James about the challenges and strategies to tackle gender (in)equity in environmental conservation at the project or program level across multiple sectors. We thank Robyn for taking the time out to discuss these issues and direct everyone to her rich research that spans gender and en...

For today's episode, Ivy is joined by Shahar Chaikin, author of "Native habitat affinities predict fish invasions with post-invasion habitat shifts". We discussed the story behind the paper and his experience as an ecologist. Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70293 Read Shahar's blog post here: https://animalecologyinfocus.com/2026/07/06/wh...

For today's episode, Ivy spoke with Dr David Fisher about his recently published Special Feature titled "Flexible friends: Plastic social buffering of environmental variation", co-edited by Natalie Pilakouta. The Special Feature aimed to explore how organisms plasticly alter their social behaviour in response to environmental variation, how these changes affect fitness, and whether plasticity in s...

In this episode, we speak to András Zábó and Aamir Ahmad, about their paper 'RAPID: Real-time animal pattern re-identification on edge devices, an open-source tool for field deployment'. We discuss the development of the tool, some of the challenges faced during development, and the intersection of ecology and technology. Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10...

In today's episode, Anna is joined by Douglas Sheil and Emmanuel Akampurira, authors of a recently published paper in People and Nature, "Supporting interventions to lessen human-wildlife conflict". Douglas and Emmanuel discuss their route into ecology, the reasons for their research, their findings, and how their discoveries can support and inform the research area moving forward. Read their full...

In this episode we talk to Matia Muller about his recently published paper 'Assessment of large-scale spatial variation in age-specific survival and age at first breeding in a long-lived species', which was published in Journal of Animal Eology. We discuss the main findings of the paper, the importance of the results, and life as an ecologist. Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlineli...

For today's episode, Ivy is joined by Martyna Syposz, author of "Snowmelt predicts earlier breeding across the latitudinal range of an Arctic nesting seabird, the Little Auk (Alle alle)". We discussed the story behind the paper and her experience as an ecologist. Read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.70287 Read Martyna's blog post here: ht...

For today's episode, Anna is joined by Mariana Hernandez-Montilla and Katie Devenish, authors of a recently published paper in People and Nature, "Forwarding forest restoration: Seven key socio-ecological issues for advancing forest restoration in a world in flux". Katie and Mariana discuss their route into ecology, the reasons for their research, their findings, and how their discoveries can supp...

For this episode, Edie Abrahams (Associate Blog Editor, Animal Ecology in Focus) spoke with William Hintz about his recently published paper, "invasive goldfish trigger a regime shift in experimental lake ecosystems of varying trophic state", published in the Journal of Animal Ecology. You can read the full paper here: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2656.70259

In this podcast episode, we talk to Jenna Kline, an early career researcher who won the Robert May Prize with Methods in Ecology and Evolution for her paper focusing on the use of drones in ecology, especially in monitoring.

For today's episode, Ivy is joined by Francis Mullan and Clint Penick, authors of a recently published paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology, "Nesting biology shapes climate vulnerability of social bees". Francis and Clint reflect on their own paths into animal ecology, the context behind conducting their research, their main questions and findings, and how their discoveries can support and infor...

In this podcast, People and Nature author Dr Jessica van der Wal talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Cooperative human signals to honeyguides form local dialects”. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70234 African honeyguides research site: https://africanhoneyguides.com/

Settle in and hear how two very different ecologists navigated their careers to become BES Fellows, and who both share a passion for turning science into action and conservation. In this episode, we sit with Dr Caroline Howe, an Associate Professor in Environmental Social Science at Imperial College and Vice President of the BES, and Niru Dorrian, a Ambassador to the UN Ocean Decade at The Institu...

In this special International Women’s day edition of the BES podcast, Senior Assistant Editor Ivy talks with Michaela Guo Ying Lo, Chair of the Equity and Diversity for all Genders in Ecology (EDGE) network at the BES, which looks at addressing challenges relating to gender inequity and more within the field of ecology. They discuss what the EDGE network has been working on and its future plans, a...

In this podcast, People and Nature author Marilisa Herchet talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Mental health benefits of urban green—A systematic review and meta-analysis of 56 pre-post control experiments”. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70250

In this podcast, People and Nature author Fritha West talks to Publishing Assistant Anna Nisbett about her article “Social and cultural considerations for the restoration of ‘lost’ tree species: The fall and rise of elm”. Read the full article here: https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.70206 Read the Winter 2023 Niche piece here: https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/the-swing-tree-on-childhood-memory-...

In this episode, Methods in Ecology and Evolution author Margot Belot talks to publishing assistant Hannah about her article 'High-throughput information extraction of printed specimen labels from large-scale digitization of entomological collections using a semi-automated pipeline' Margot's article introduces a tool that can be used to automatically real the labels of museum specimens, helping to...

In this podcast, Ecologist Sebastian Hoefer talks to Methods in Ecology and Evolution assistant editor Harriet Rhodes about his article ‘Sensors versus surveyors: Comparing passive acoustic monitoring, camera trapping and observer-based monitoring for terrestrial mammals’. The paper compared different methods of monitoring, focusing on passive acoustic monitoring and observer based monitoring like...

En nuestro último episodio de podcast, hablamos con Ignacio Juárez sobre su artículo recientemente publicado, "respuestas fenológicas récord al cambio climático en tres especies de pingüinos simpátricos". Ignacio reflexiona sobre su incursión en el mundo de los pingüinos, lo que aprendió al realizar su estudio y el futuro de este campo de investigación. Gracias a Rowan Kuminski, editor asociado de...

For our latest podcast episode, we spoke with Ignacio Juarez about his recently published paper, "record phenological responses to climate change in three sympatric penguin species". Ignacio reflects on his journey into the world of penguins, what he learnt from conducting his study, and reflects on the future of the research field. You can read Ignacio's full paper below: https://doi.org/10.1111/...

For the Journal of Animal Ecology's latest podcast episode, we spoke with Valentin Moser about his recently published paper, "Habitat heterogeneity and food availability in beaver-engineered streams foster bat richness, activity and feeding". Valentin reflects on his journey into the world of bats and beavers, what he learnt from conducting his study, and reflects on the future of the research fie...

Richard Bardgett, Executive Editor of Journal of Ecolgoy interviews Professor Angela Moles - this year's Eminent Ecologist honouree. From pioneering research on plant ecology and introduced species to mentoring the next generation of ecologists, Angela reflects on her career, the importance of teaching, and the lessons she wishes she’d known starting out. Tune in to hear Angela's candid and inspir...