March 2015 - BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Spring BERG seminars
by Kristin Descovich 07 Oct '15

07 Oct '15

Dear BERGers, Happy new year and welcome back! It's time to start planning our BERG seminars for the Spring semester. Please add the following seminar dates to your diary at the usual time of 5:30pm in the Psychology common room. February: 4th and 11th March: 11th, 18th and 25th April: 1st, 8th and 15th We already have some great speakers lined up, but have plenty of space for more, so please consider giving a seminar this semester. Presenting at BERG is an excellent way to practice talks, hone presentation skills, get feedback on grant application ideas, or lead discussion of a research paper. You can sign up by following this link to the doodle poll. https://doodle.com/5kc3zpst4bs2aty2 Please add your name and select a date that is vacant, then email me your presentation title (kristin.descovich(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:kristin.descovich@stir.ac.uk>). You might also like to host a post-graduate student or colleague from a nearby University. We have some funds to support local travel and dinner for external speakers. Also note the upcoming divisional seminars which are likely to be of interest to BERG members. These are held on Thursdays at 4pm in the Psychology common room. January 22nd - Dr Susan Cheyne January 29th - Dr Ian Peers March 5th - Dr Jo Williams Our BERG meetings are only as good as we make them, so please encourage any students or colleagues interested in behaviour and evolution to come along to a meeting, or sign up to the BERG mailing list at http://lists.stir.ac.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/berg. You can also use this link to unsubscribe. I look forward to seeing you all at BERG this semester! Cheers and regards, Kris Dr Kris Descovich Research Fellow in Animal Welfare Psychology, School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland Tel: 01786 467643 E-mail: kristin.descovich(a)stir.ac.uk

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BERG on Wednesday - Sealion training + Research opportunities at Blair Drummond Safari Park
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 31 Mar '15

31 Mar '15

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday, 1st April, we have the wonderful Sam Clark from Blair Drummond Safari Park presenting on: "Advantages of training sealions in a zoo environment". Additionally, several other keepers from Blair Drummond will be joining us to discuss potential research projects that will be available at the park. No commitment - just come and learn about what might be available as potential research projects. As usual, we will meet in room 3A94 (Psychology common room) at 5:30pm, with drinks and nibbles. For details on upcoming BERG seminars please visit: www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-seminars<http://www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-se…>. I hope to see you all on Wednesday night! Best, Hannah To sign up to the BERG mailing list new folk must complete the form available here: http://lists.stir.ac.uk/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/berg You can also use this link to unsubscribe. Check out: New methods for monitoring and improving welfare of laboratory dogs<http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/policy/2014/140918-n-animal-welfate-laboratory-…> Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group Director of Learning and Teaching in SNS Psychology, School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland Tel: 01786 467674 Fax: 01786 467641 E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk> Home page: https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925 http://marmosetcare.com/ http://www.247animalwelfare.eu/index.html

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BERG: Observational learning in parrots
by Kristin Descovich 23 Mar '15

23 Mar '15

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday we will have Deborah Bruce presenting on "Observational learning in African grey parrots". The capacity for vocal imitation in this parrot species is unparalleled, however little is known about their capability for observational learning. Deborah is going to examine recent evidence from a group of African Greys on imitative and emulative forms of observational learning during an artificial fruit paradigm. As usual, we will meet in room 3A94 (Psychology common room) at 5:30pm, and will have drinks and nibbles available. For details on upcoming BERG seminars please visit: www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-seminars<http://www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-se…>. I hope to see you all on Wednesday night! Kris Dr Kris Descovich Research Fellow in Animal Welfare Psychology, School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland Tel: 01786 467643 E-mail: kristin.descovich(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:kristin.descovich@stir.ac.uk> Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) seminar programme: http://www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-se…

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FW: SCAB 2015 Programme
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 19 Mar '15

19 Mar '15

SCAB pogramme attached – looks great – and details of how to register on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SCAB2015 From: Scab The Conference [mailto:scab.the.conference@gmail.com] Sent: 17 March 2015 17:59 To: Axel Wiberg Subject: SCAB 2015 Programme Hi All, Attached you will find a programme, as it stands, of the upcoming SCAB meeting on the 28th March. Talks will be allocated 15 minutes including questions. Additionally, I have attached a list of the current posters that will be presented at the meeting. The size of the boards for these posters are A0 so that is the maximum size we'll be able to accommodate. Registration for posters and general attendees is still open. Please don't hesitate to contact us with questions. Cheers, The SCAB team

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Tonight's BERG is BACK ON: Jim Anderson speaking
by Christine Caldwell 18 Mar '15

18 Mar '15

Hello all, As you will know by now, Iain Valentine was unable to come and talk to us about the pandas at the zoo. But as it happens we are really fortunate to have Jim Anderson back with us at the moment (visiting from Kyoto), and Jim has agreed to give us a short talk about some research that he has been working on. So, if you would like to join us, BERG will start at 5.30pm as per usual in the Psychology common room (3A94). Hope to see you there! Christine. Dr Christine A. Caldwell Senior Lecturer in Psychology School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling FK9 4LA Website: https://sites.google.com/site/christineannacaldwell

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No BERG tonight
by Kristin Descovich 18 Mar '15

18 Mar '15

Dear BERGers, Unfortunately our speaker for tonight is unable to make it. However, this is for very good reasons as the female giant panda has come into season unexpectedly. As you can imagine, this is a significant event that happens only once a year for a very short time and therefore Iain Valentine is in the midst of preparations regarding this. We look forward to welcoming him some time in the near future. My apologies for any inconvenience, Kind Regards, Kris

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Giant Pandas at BERG
by Kristin Descovich 16 Mar '15

16 Mar '15

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday we will have a very interesting guest from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland. Iain Valentine is the Director of the Giant Panda Project at Edinburgh Zoo and he will be visiting us to present on this topic: "Giant pandas at the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland". As usual, we will meet in room 3A94 (Psychology common room) at 5:30pm, and will have drinks and nibbles available. For details on upcoming BERG seminars please visit: www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-seminars. I hope to see you all on Wednesday night! Kris Dr Kris Descovich Research Fellow in Animal Welfare Psychology, School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland Tel: 01786 467643 E-mail: kristin.descovich(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:kristin.descovich@stir.ac.uk> Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) seminar programme: http://www.stir.ac.uk/natural-sciences/research/seminars/psychology/berg-se…

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Global explosion of infrastructure
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 13 Mar '15

13 Mar '15

Some shocking facts about destruction but the good news is the fight back. I have the article if anyone wishes a copy. Best, Hannah ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Laurance, Bill <bill.laurance(a)jcu.edu.au<mailto:bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au>> Date: 13 March 2015 at 10:15 Subject: Global explosion of infrastructure To: "Laurance, Bill" <bill.laurance(a)jcu.edu.au<mailto:bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au>> Dear colleagues, I'd like to draw your attention to our article that has just appeared online in Current Biology—see attached. This is being used as a springboard for a major effort by scores of eminent scientists and luminaries to lobby the leaders of the G20 nations to rethink their astonishing plans to more than double total global investment in roads, hydroelectric dams, power lines, gas lines, mining, fossil-fuel projects, and other major infrastructure over the next 15 years. See also these brief, popular synopses, which provide a nice snapshot of our main findings: https://theconversation.com/roads-to-ruin-the-pitfalls-of-the-g20s-infrastr… http://alert-conservation.org/issues-research-highlights/2015/3/8/alert-sci… Apologies for any cross-postings. Please do forward to interested friends and colleagues! All best, Bill William F. Laurance, FAAAS Distinguished Research Professor & Australian Laureate Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation Director of the Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) [cid:44C4EC78-A517-4CA5-834E-ED6D51BCFB7B] Director of ALERT (ALERT-conservation.org) [cid:19A88B51-0715-435E-AB56-D9B8C373A8C0] Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science (TESS) & College of Marine and Environmental Sciences James Cook University Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia Phones: +61-7-4038-1518<tel:%2B61-7-4038-1518> and +61-7-4232-1819<tel:%2B61-7-4232-1819> Email: bill.laurance(a)jcu.edu.au<mailto:bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au> Lab website: http://laurancelab.org/ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F_Laurance

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FW: SCAB 2015 Talk Deadline
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 12 Mar '15

12 Mar '15

Still time to offer a talk! From: Scab The Conference [mailto:scab.the.conference@gmail.com] Sent: 12 March 2015 16:44 To: Axel Wiberg Subject: SCAB 2015 Talk Deadline Hi All, The deadline for registering your talk at SCAB 2015 is tomorrow! There are still places left and we're looking for more speakers. Pass the news on to all your friends and colleagues. Register your talk here: http://onlineshop.st-andrews.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&c… Once again, I've attached a skeleton form of the programme for the day. Talks will be allocated 15 minutes including question as at previous conferences. General attendees and poster registrations will be accepted for longer. We would also like to make a call for anyone willing to be a judge for the poster and talk competitions to come forward. Looking forward to seeing you all soon! Best wishes, The SCAB team

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Celebrations for Dr Ash to be
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 11 Mar '15

11 Mar '15

Hayley passed her viva with minor corrections - celebrations in the common room now. Check out: New methods for monitoring and improving welfare of laboratory dogs<http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/news/policy/2014/140918-n-animal-welfate-laboratory-…> Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group Director of Learning and Teaching in SNS Psychology, School of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland Tel: 01786 467674 Fax: 01786 467641 E-mail: h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:h.m.buchanan-smith@stir.ac.uk> Home page: https://rms.stir.ac.uk/converis-stirling/person/11925 http://marmosetcare.com/

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