Naturally Speaking

In this Episode, statistician and population geneticist Paul Johnson (@PaulCDJo) of the University of Glasgow tells Shaun Killen (@shaunkillen) about his unusual career route into academics, how he fell in love with stats, and what he wishes more biologists would understand about statistical analyses. Paul has rare gift for clearly explaining complex concepts so it’s […]

Infected by the science bug: from fungal frogs to badger culls ­ Scientists tend to be nosy, curious, and can’t help themselves asking “why?” … At least those are the character traits Dr Jon Bielby thinks drew him inexorably towards the world of science. A Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Jon […]

It is difficult to find a scientific paper that does not include p-values in some capacity. Most often, p-values are used to statistically interpret whether the results of a given study are “significant” or if a real effect is being observed. However, a number of recent papers have begun to challenge this paradigm, suggesting that p-values […]

In our College of Medical, Veterinary & Life Sciences we have a brilliant and diverse group of veterinary researchers who split their time between dealing with disease and duelling with data. Among them is Ian Ramsey, Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the School of Veterinary Medicine and Associate Academic of the Institute. Primarily a vet, Ian’s research has […]

Human activities can dramatically alter the types, abundance, and distribution of resources—such as food—available to wildlife. A growing number of studies indicate that resources produced in human-dominated environments can alter the interactions between pathogens and their hosts, leading to either increased or decreased infection risk for wildlife and humans. In a recent paper out in Ecology [&#...

What happens to a river when it is polluted or invaded by non-native species? Can they be restored to their previous state or are the communities and functional groups permanently altered? How does the ecology change? These are the questions driving University of Glasgow and IBIS researcher Dr Jennifer Dodd. An aquatic ecologist “with a […]

Known for its vastness and incredible wildebeest migration, the Serengeti ecosystem in East Africa continues to captivate both tourists and scientists alike. Professor Tony Sinclair of the University of British Columbia joins Laurie Baker to talk about how his interest in biology at a young age sparked a lifetime studying the history and biology of one […]

In this instalment of Naturally Speaking Shorts we present a double-interview as Shaun Killen chats with Prof Mark Haussmann (Bucknell University) and Dr Simon Babayan (University of Glasgow). Mark studies the physiological and ecological factors underlying ageing in animals, while Simon studies how ecology interacts with the mechanics of the immune system in wild and laboratory […]

This is the first in our series of Naturally Speaking Shorts where we interview visiting and IBAHCM researchers about their work and how they ended up in science. In this episode, we interview University of Glasgow alumnus, Dr. Richard Phillips (British Antarctic Survey), about his work with albatrosses in South Georgia and his advice for young […]

This is the first in our series of joint podcasts with theGIST, a student science magazine, blog, podcast and YouTube channel run by students from the Universities of Glasgow and Strathclyde . In this episode, we interviewed Prof. Ted Leighton, the former director of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, after he gave a talk to […]

Episode 17 – Social Media and Science Communication In the latest instalment in our Survivor’s Guide to Academia, we discuss how researchers can use social media to connect with other scientists, and more importantly, the general public. Shaun Killen asks James Grecian, Jim Caryl, and Jamie Gallagher about their experiences with using social media, the various […]

This latest episode of the Naturally Speaking podcast explores the increasingly prominent issue of gender inequality in science and engineering. With the help of four Institute researchers: Prof. Dan Haydon, Dr Michelle Bellingham, Dr Winnie Boner and Dr Richard Orton, we first explore the evidence for women being underrepresented in scientific research and why this […]

In this episode, we feature a Q&A discussion that followed a recent screening of the 1975 film Jaws held at the Glasgow film theatre as part of the 2014 Glasgow Science Festival. Dr David Bailey, Dr Deborah McNeill and Dr Shaun Killen are the experts answering the questions and exploring the relative risk of shark […]

FEATURED: Our most visited post of 2014 – in this episode we chat to colleagues across the Institute about how they've successfully communicated science into policy.

This episode marks the first in a series in which we discuss the science behind some of our favourite science fiction movies. Why start with Jurassic Park? Well, it’s loaded with sciencey concepts, but this year is also 20 years (!) since it was first released and so we thought it would be a good […]

In this Research Roundup episode we summarise three recent research papers published by Institute members. First we discuss Maureen Bain’s recent work examining the extent to which bacteria may pass through the shells of the chicken eggs we use for food. We then chat about Colin Selman’s recent paper showing that dietary antioxidant supplements may […]

In the second part of this episode, James Grecian, James Buckley, and Shaun Killen are joined by institute PhD student Darryl McLennan to expand on some of the topics raised in the live show (listen here), and to banter about all kinds of other topics ranging from the effects of climate change on zombies to […]

In this very special episode we chat about the science of zombie-ism! Could zombies actually exist? Do zombies sleep? We discuss all this and more! The first part of this episode contains the recording from a live event during the Glasgow Science festival, which took place at Nice ‘n Sleazy’s pub here in Glasgow. In […]

Hello and welcome to our 10th podcast! In this episode we talk with Jo Halliday and Sunny Townsend about their research into epidemiology, the study of patterns, causes and effects of disease. Jo talks us through her work on the transmission of disease between people and livestock in Tanzania, and her recent paper in Philospohical […]

How do we understand and quantify the way animals move and interact with their environment? In the first podcastt of 2013 we talk with Grant Hopcraft and Jason Matthiopoulos who have recently joined IBAHCM and are both interested in spatial and movement ecology. Grant talks us through his work in the Serengeti and a recent […]

In the last podcast of 2012 we discuss how to source research funding and how to write successful grant proposals. Tune in for some top tips and advice from Barbara Mable, Neil Metcalfe and Kathy Dunlop! Episode 8 – How to get research funding There are hundreds of organisations that fund research, but here are […]

After a bit of a hiatus during the summer we’re back with a somewhat fish-themed episode in which we talk with two new faculty members in the Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health, and Comparative Medicine at the University of Glasgow. Listen as Kevin Parsons talks about his work looking at the evolutionary biology of fishes, […]

In this Research Round Table episode we discuss three recent research papers from within the institute: a paper by James Grecian and colleagues examining sex-based differences in foraging behaviour in gannets; a study by Who-Seung Lee, Pat Monaghan, and Neil Metcalfe studying the costs of rapid growth in sticklebacks; and a paper by Annabelle Haudry, […]

With several big conferences rapidly approaching, many students will find themselves at their first scientific conference this summer!  In this edition of the Survivor’s Guide to Academia, David Bailey, Rob Critchlow, Zara Gladman, and Shaun Killen chat about how to survive a conference. Tune in for tips on talks and posters, effective networking, making the most […]