News in 2010
- Heather Whitney wins major European Research Council grant 9 December 2010 Heather Whitney has just been awarded an ERC starting grant of just over 1.1 million euros to investigate iridescence in leaves.
- Life In The Wild Boosts Immune Function 6 December 2010 Life in a demanding environment with limited resources might be better for the immune system than living in comfort, according to new research from the University of Bristol.
- Competition winners celebrate the Art of Science 2 December 2010 The winning entries from last month's Art of Science competition - including one Biologist (Jonathan Potts) - go on display at the Bristol Gallery this week.
- Effects of El Niño land South Pacific reef fish in hot water 1 December 2010 Unseasonal warm temperatures caused by El Niño have a profound effect on the fish populations of coral reefs in the South Pacific, scientists have found.
- Scientists develop new DNA technique to aid crops and trees at risk from deadly 'honey fungus' 25 November 2010 An international team of scientists has developed a new technique to aid crops at risk from a devastating agricultural parasite commonly known as the ‘honey fungus’, one of the most serious diseases of trees and shrubs across the northern hemisphere. The development allows crops to be screened for natural resistance by adding DNA with fluorescent genes to the fungus before being planted out.
- Gangster birds running protection racket give insight into coevolution 18 November 2010 Like gangsters running a protection racket, drongos in the Kalahari Desert act as lookouts for other birds in order to steal a cut of their food catch.
- Wildlife Biology Awards - and Finale 17 November 2010 An Award Ceremony will take place during the evening of Wednesday 17 November for the 2008-10 cycle of the Certificate in Wildlife Biology. The awards will be presented by Professor Juliet Brodie, President of the British Phycological Society and Chair of Botanical Research at the Natural History Museum, London.
- Bristol Students Lead The World with Precision Farming Prototype 10 November 2010 A Biology/Mathematics undergraduate, Katherine Coyte, was one of an interdisciplinary team of students that came third in the finals of one of the most prestigious international events in Synthetic Biology, the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition.
- New research identifies the plight of farmland birds 4 November 2010 Farmland birds that are poorer parents and less "brainy" are faring worse than other farmland bird species, a study at the University of Bristol has found.
- Welcome to Natasha Mhatre, joining the department as a Marie Curie Research Fellow 4 November 2010 Natasha is joining the department as a Marie Curie Research Fellow for the next two years to work in Daniel Robert's research group.
- Possible new twist in GM safety debate 28 October 2010 Scientists at the University of Bristol have discovered a previously unknown route by which GM genes may escape into the natural environment.
- Welcome to Beth Clare, joining as a Visiting Fellow. 21 October 2010 Beth Clare is joining the department as a Visiting Fellow for the next two years to work in Marc Holderied's research group.
- Why the leopard got its spots 20 October 2010 Why do leopards have rosette shaped markings but tigers have stripes? Rudyard Kipling suggested that it was because the leopard moved to an environment “full of trees and bushes and stripy, speckly, patchy-blatchy shadows” but is there any truth in this just-so story?
- 2010 WWF Living Planet Report launched in Bristol 18 October 2010 The 2010 Living Planet Report from WWF was launched last week as part of Bristol's annual Wildscreen festival. The release was timed to coincide with the COP 10 Convention on Biodiversity in Nagoya, Japan, which starts today.
- Tom Gorochowski wins award at International Conference on Systems Biology 15 October 2010 Congratulations to Tom Gorochowski, who has won Best Poster at the International Conference on Systems Biology, 10-16th October. This is the world's main systems biology conference, typically attracting 1000 attendees. Tom's prize was in the Computational Methods and Tools Session chaired by Sophia Ananiadou and Pedro Mendes, and was sponsored by Sulsa.
- Science policy in action 7 October 2010 Hannah Rose, a final year PhD student in the Veterinary Parasitology & Ecology Group, has been awarded a competitive 3-month internship at the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff to work with science policy makers.
- Taking the pulse of coral reefs 20 September 2010 Healthy reefs with more corals and fish generate predictably greater levels of noise, according to researchers working in Panama. This has important implications for understanding the behaviour of young fish, and provides an exciting new approach for monitoring environmental health by listening to reefs.
- Welcome to Daniel Montoya 13 September 2010 A new Research Fellow, Daniel Montoya, will be working on the theory of ecological restoration for the next two years. He is from the Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid and will be based in Jane Memmott's group during his stay.
- Bristol Centre for Evolutionary Studies inaugural meeting today 13 September 2010 An afternoon discussion on "How to Study Adaptation", to celebrate the foundation of the Bristol Centre for Evolutionary Studies.
- Researcher receives award for shedding light on bat conservation 13 September 2010 A PhD student from the University of Bristol has received a national award for her research investigating the impact of artificial lighting on bats.
- Alice Hughes wins award at International Bat Research Conference 1 September 2010 Congratulations to Alice Hughes who won a prize for the best oral presentation by a student at the 15th International Bat Research Conference in Prague, held between 23-27 August. Alice won a professional bat detector worth over £1000 for her presentation 'Predicting distributions of Asian bat species over 20,000 years and solving zoogeographic riddles'.
- UK researchers release draft sequence coverage of wheat genome 27 August 2010 The first sequence coverage of the wheat genome has been publicly released by a team of UK researchers, including scientists from the University of Bristol. The release is a step towards a fully annotated genome and makes a significant contribution to efforts to support global food security and to increase the competitiveness of UK farming. The work was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).
- Scientists discover key to Christmas Island's red crab migration 27 August 2010 One of the most spectacular migrations on Earth is that of the Christmas Island red crab (Gecarcoidea natalis). Acknowledged as one of the wonders of the natural world, every year millions of the crabs simultaneously embark on a five-kilometre breeding migration. Now, scientists have discovered the key to their remarkable athletic feat.
- Dr Andy Radford to lead a £600,000 grant on the impact of anthropogenic noise in the marine environment 25 August 2010 Andy Radford, Marc Holderied and Steve Simpson, along with Cato ten Hallers-Tjabbes of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, have been awarded a £600,000 contract from Defra to study 'The Impact of Anthropogenic Noise on Fish and Invertebrates at the Individual, Population and Community Level'. The project will combine experimental investigations of physiological, behavioural and developmental impacts on individuals with volumetric soundscape mapping and predictive population modeling to consider this rapidly increasing global issue.
- Less is more for a hungry bat 19 August 2010 Like a stealth fighter plane, the barbastelle bat uses a sneaky hunting strategy to catch its prey. A team of researchers from the University of Bristol combined three cutting-edge techniques to uncover the secret of this rare bat’s success.
- A bank holiday celebration of pollination at the University Botanic Gardens 18 August 2010 A celebration of bees and pollination, which coincides with the International Year of Biodiversity, will take place at the University of Bristol’s Botanic Garden at The Holmes, Stoke Bishop, Bristol from Saturday 28 to Monday 30 August.
- Flower Power for the 21st Century: free science discussion event 4 August 2010 To celebrate Simon Hiscock's hosting of this year's International Conference on Plant Sexual Reproduction, come along to the Victoria Rooms on the 5th August at 5.30 pm to talk to leading plant researchers (and BBC Bang Goes the Theory’s Dr Yan Wong), about the amazing world of pollen, seeds and plant reproduction.
- Marine Pied Piper leads Nemo astray 4 August 2010 The growing amount of human noise pollution in the ocean could lead fish away from good habitat and off to their death, according to new research from a UK-led team working on the Great Barrier Reef.
- Seeds of Change: A ballast seed garden for Bristol 13 July 2010 Seeds of Change is an ongoing investigation of ballast flora in European port cities by artist Maria Thereza Alves. The project was part of the 2007 Arnolfini exhibition Port City, with the artist undertaking a period of research to find and photograph possible ballast sites around the river Avon and Bristol's Harbourside.
- Steve Simpson's research featured in "onearth" and on "The WildLife" show 13 July 2010 Dr Steve Simpson's research into coral reef fish and coral larvae behaviour, reef sounds, and anthropogenic noise pollution is featured in "onearth". And Dr Steve Simpson provides a feature-length interview about his research on reef noise, fish and coral behaviour and human noise pollution.
- How birds prepare for war 7 July 2010 Just as human soldiers show greater solidarity when entering combat zones, new research from the University of Bristol has demonstrated that birds also increase their affiliative behaviour in situations where conflict with rival groups is likely.
- Professor Jane Memmott to lead a £1.3m grant on urban pollinators 22 June 2010 Professor Jane Memmott will lead a £1.3m pound consortium project on “Urban Pollinators: Ecology and Conservation”. The project will fund three members of research staff based in the School of Biological Science, along with further staff at the Universities of Reading, Leeds and Edinburgh.
- A Celebration of Bees and Pollination: August bank holiday weekend 11 June 2010 To mark the International Year of Biodiversity, the Botanic Garden will be hosting a festival in celebration of bees and pollination. A weekend of interactive events and displays – come and see what bees and pollinators do for us!
- Double cover success for Bailey and Foster groups 11 June 2010 In the first cover paper, Kilaru et al., Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 75, (pp. 7196-7204), 10.1128/AEM.01151-09, the cover featured the fruiting bodies of the basidiomycete Clitopilus passeckerianus, which produces a natural antibiotic called pleuromutilin. Recently, a derivative of pleuromutilin called retapamulin was approved for use in humans as a treatment for impetigo and infected wounds. However, despite its increasing importance, until now no molecular tools have been available to achieve a full understanding of this antibiotic. The paper describes all the necessary tools to manipulate this important organism.
- Welcome to Prof Mark Beaumont 9 June 2010 The School welcomes Professor Mark Beaumont as Chair in Biostatistics, a joint appointment between Biological Sciences and the Department of Mathematics. Mark specialises in the application of novel Bayesian methods to biological questions. For example, the use of gene frequency information to infer the demographic history of populations, changes in effective population size and patterns of gene-flow and admixture, and also to identify which gene loci are under selection.
- Bristol Festival of Nature this weekend 9 June 2010 The Festival of Nature is at the Bristol Harbourside this weekend, 12 and 13 June. The only event of its kind in the UK, the festival gives people of all ages the opportunity to explore, enjoy and get close to the natural world – all free of charge. The University has two tents there and many enthusiastic volunteers and participants, so come along and participate!
- Hedgehogs adapt to life in the city 2 June 2010 More hedgehogs may now be living in towns and cities than in the countryside but how they trade off the risks and benefits of an urban environment has been little known – until now. New research from the University of Bristol, published in Animal Behaviour, investigated how hedgehogs are coping with life in the city.
- Dr Heather Whitney wins award at Rank Prize Funds Symposium 1 June 2010 Congratulations to Heather for winning the award for the best presentation by a young scientist at the Rank Prize Funds Symposium on the Sensory Biology of Pollination held at Grasmere between 24-26 May 2010.
- Discussion Events for the Festival of Nature 28 May 2010 The Bristol Festival of Nature is thrilled to be hosting a special pre-record live broadcast of "Saving Species" in partnership with Radio 4 and BBC Natural History Unit Radio, on 11th June.
- Dr Chris Thorogood wins Linnean Society of London prize 28 May 2010 Congratulations to Dr Chris Thorogood who has been awarded the Linnean Society of London’s Irene Manton Prize in recognition of his thesis “Host specificity and speciation in the holoparsitic angiosperm Orobanche minorsm. (Orobanchaceae)".