- BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

Funded MPhil in chimpanzee conservation
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 05 Jun '24

05 Jun '24

Funded MPhil in chimpanzee conservation. Project description below - further details in link. Closing date 17th June https://www.derby.ac.uk/research/degrees/applicants/studentship-opportuniti… Project description Best-practice guidelines for surveying and monitoring of great apes are outdated (i.e., Kuehl et al., 2008) and new guidelines are urgently needed that adequately incorporate the latest technological advances that are rapidly transforming wildlife monitoring. Great apes are elusive species, which poses many challenges to their detection, and available methods for monitoring differ in terms of feasibility, outcome, effort, and cost. Line transect nest counts are a standard method, yet time-consuming and expensive. In contrast, passive acoustic monitoring, camera traps and drones are less labor-intensive and thus more cost-effective. Collecting environmental DNA (eDNA), traces of DNA left by individuals in the environment, is a promising tool to target species such as great apes which are elusive, occur at low population sizes, and are endangered. Despite its potential to guide conservation efforts, the feasibility of using eDNA for primate monitoring remains little explored. Community-led conservation activities can play a crucial role in informing about a species’ distribution and conservation status, and Citizen Science approaches have gained traction for involving stakeholders in species monitoring. However, despite their cost-effectiveness and great potential for aiding great ape conservation (McCarthy et al., 2021), citizen science approaches are lacking for most great ape countries. Given the pros and cons of these methodologies, it is important to understand how they complement each other and their applications to countries where great ape surveys are still underrepresented. Since 2003, Guinea-Bissau is a priority area for chimpanzee conservation in the Regional Action Plan, but within-country population trends are still unknown. Thus, this project aims to reassess the conservation status of chimpanzees in Guinea-Bissau and to provide insights into Best Practices (Strategy 1) and eliminate Research and Data Gaps (Strategy 2 in Regional Action Plan 2020-30). Sent from Outlook for iOS<https://aka.ms/o0ukef> ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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FW: UFAW LINK. PhD position on laying hens
by Clare Andrews 29 May '24

29 May '24

In case anyone is interested or knows of others who may be: Funded PhD advert which was circulated to me - development of (cage-free) hen individuality in relation to health/welfare, in the Animal Welfare Division, University of Bern in Switzerland. Best wishes, Clare __________________________________________________________ Students: book to talk with me here<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/PsychologyY1PersonalTuteesTutorD…>. Dr Clare Andrews (preferred pronouns: she/her) MA MSc DPhil FHEA Lecturer in Psychology, Course Director for MSc/MA Human-Animal Interaction<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/human-animal-interaction/> Psychology Division University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Clare_Andrews> X (twitter)<https://twitter.com/clarepandrews?lang=en> LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/clareandrews/> [First Aider for Mental Health logo] I aim to read and respond to email within 3 working days, but during busy periods my response may take longer. I check my emails at varying times of day and I do not expect an immediate response from my correspondents. [signature_211997324] [Facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/universityofstirling/> [Twitter icon] <https://twitter.com/StirUni> [LinkedIn icon] <https://www.linkedin.com/edu/university-of-stirling-12676> [Instagram icon] <https://www.instagram.com/universityofstirling/> [Youtbue icon] <https://www.youtube.com/user/UniversityOfStirling> [Banner]<https://www.stir.ac.uk/> ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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BERG seminar today, 16:00 (online)
by Pawel Fedurek 22 May '24

22 May '24

Dear BERGers, A quick reminder that Elodie Freymann (University of Oxford) is giving a seminar today entitled "Applying Collocation and APRIORI Analyses to Chimpanzee Diets: methods for investigating non-random food combinations in primate self-medication". Please find the abstract below. This will be an online seminar. This is the last BERG seminar this semester! We will start a new series in the Fall. Abstract: Historically, the study of animal self-medication has focused on identifying novel medicinal resources through recognizing unusual or characteristic behaviors like leaf-swallowing or bitter pith chewing. While it is easy to consider these therapeutic self-medicative behaviors isolated occurrences, it is premature to rule out the notion that primate self-medication is a more holistic phenomenon. Rather, like humans, chimpanzees may be using multiple self-medicative resources throughout the duration of a given illness, or within a short period of time, a concept we call the Self-Medicative Food Combination Hypothesis. Identifying non-random resource combinations can, therefore, illuminate potentially synergistic relationships between medicinal resource candidates. In this talk, I will present analytical tools with which such a hypothesis can be tested, in a novel context, to investigate frequently occurring food combinations within the Budongo chimpanzee diet. Specifically, I will evaluate the use of Collocation and APRIORI analyses as effective exploratory tools for identifying binary combinations, and APRIORI as an effective for multi-item rule associations, using a case study from my own data. If non-random food associations can be identified in long-term data sets, a new paradigm for evaluating feeding ecology may be needed. One which evaluates primate diets as holistically calculated rather than as opportunistically encountered. MSTeams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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BERG seminar this Wednesday, 16:00 (online)
by Pawel Fedurek 20 May '24

20 May '24

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday, Elodie Freymann (University of Oxford) will be giving a seminar entitled "Applying Collocation and APRIORI Analyses to Chimpanzee Diets: methods for investigating non-random food combinations in primate self-medication". Please find the abstract below. This will be an online seminar. This is the last BERG seminar this semester! We will start a new series in the Fall. Abstract: Historically, the study of animal self-medication has focused on identifying novel medicinal resources through recognizing unusual or characteristic behaviors like leaf-swallowing or bitter pith chewing. While it is easy to consider these therapeutic self-medicative behaviors isolated occurrences, it is premature to rule out the notion that primate self-medication is a more holistic phenomenon. Rather, like humans, chimpanzees may be using multiple self-medicative resources throughout the duration of a given illness, or within a short period of time, a concept we call the Self-Medicative Food Combination Hypothesis. Identifying non-random resource combinations can, therefore, illuminate potentially synergistic relationships between medicinal resource candidates. In this talk, I will present analytical tools with which such a hypothesis can be tested, in a novel context, to investigate frequently occurring food combinations within the Budongo chimpanzee diet. Specifically, I will evaluate the use of Collocation and APRIORI analyses as effective exploratory tools for identifying binary combinations, and APRIORI as an effective for multi-item rule associations, using a case study from my own data. If non-random food associations can be identified in long-term data sets, a new paradigm for evaluating feeding ecology may be needed. One which evaluates primate diets as holistically calculated rather than as opportunistically encountered. MSTeams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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No BERG seminar this week
by Pawel Fedurek 13 May '24

13 May '24

Dear All, Just a quick message that there is no BERG seminar this week. Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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BERG seminar this Wednesday, 10am (online)
by Pawel Fedurek 08 May '24

08 May '24

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday James Brooks (Kyoto University) will be giving a seminar entitled "The mechanisms and evolution of group-based cooperation". Please find the abstract below. Please note that due to the time difference (James will be talking from Japan), the seminar will take place at 10am. Hope you can attend! Abstract: While humans’ psychological disposition towards both large scale cooperation and intergroup competition has long been recognized, the majority of comparative psychology research has focused on the dyadic level. I here review a set of our recent studies focusing on the evolution of inherently group-level social behaviour with bonobos, chimpanzees, and domestic horses. Bonobos and chimpanzees are humans’ two closest relatives, and, despite diverging only recently, show considerable differences in group-based behaviour in wild contexts. Horses are relatively distantly related to us phylogenetically, but share with us an evolutionary history of domestication and show group-level herding behaviour with multi-level social structure. Methods focused on measurement of changes to social attention as well as naturalistic social behaviour following administration of exogenous oxytocin or saline placebo, along with observation of behavioural responses to outgroup stimuli. On the whole, evidence suggests that oxytocin supports species-typical sociality, including in group-level contexts, and that, as in humans, perceived outgroup threat promotes ingroup cohesion in our closest relatives. These results provide empirical support for some existing hypotheses about the relation between intergroup competition and group cooperation, highlight areas of study warranting continued future investigation, and suggest that the evolutionary origins of human group-mindedness may, in part, be understood through a history of intergroup competition supported by the oxytocin system. MSTeams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… [cid:9ef5eae6-ef6e-46b4-8c7b-4ce56f4c6233]<https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…> Join conversation<https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee…> teams.microsoft.com Remaining meetings: Date Time Speaker Format 08/05/2024 10:00 James Brooks (Kyoto) Online 15/05/2024 tbc 22/05/2024 16:00 Elodie Freymann (Oxford) online Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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BERG seminar this Wednesday, 16:00 (common room)
by Pawel Fedurek 01 May '24

01 May '24

Dear All, This Wednesday Dr Victoria Lee (Scotland's Rural College) will be giving a seminar entitled "Do jackdaws learn socially about dangerous people? Please find the abstract below. Hope to see you there! Abstract: In anthropogenic habitats, humans can present both an opportunity and a threat to wildlife. In these situations, it may be beneficial for animals to use social information to learn about dangerous people and avoid direct encounters that could be costly. We tested whether jackdaws use social information to learn about the level of danger posed by unfamiliar people. Using a within-subjects design, jackdaws were presented with an unfamiliar person near their nest, paired with conspecific alarm calls or a neutral control. Jackdaws that heard alarm calls showed a heightened fear response in subsequent encounters with the person, suggesting that jackdaws use social learning to assess the level of risk posed by people. MSTeams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… Remaining meetings: Date 01/05/2024 Time 16:00 Speaker Victoria Lee (SRUC) Format F2F/hybrid 08/05/2024 10:00 James Brooks (Kyoto) Online 15/05/2024 tbc 22/05/2024 16:00 Elodie Freymann (Oxford) online Best wishes, Pawel ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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FW: UFAW LINK. Research technician, Prairie Swine Centre, Canada
by Clare Andrews 23 Apr '24

23 Apr '24

Anyone or their connections interested in a research technician job relating to farm animal welfare in Canada? Info below/attached ---------------------------------------- Dear all, Prairie Swine Centre (PSC, in Saskatchewan, Canada) is hiring a permanent research technician position. PSC is a non-profit research institute dedicated to pig research in ethology & welfare/nutrition/engineering/contract research fields. I just took the new role to lead on ethology and welfare at PSC, and I would really like to strengthen our welfare focus. Although this research technician position is not directly behaviour/welfare focused, I believe this is an important step if we can hire staff with an understanding and care about animal welfare. Please help share with whomever may be interested. If you know of any suitable candidate that may fit the profile and is looking for employment, please also kindly put me in touch with them! I am happy to discuss more and answer any questions they may have. Thank you! Best, Jen Dr Jen-Yun Chou PhD, MSc, MA (she/her) Research Scientist - Ethology and Welfare Group @ Prairie Swine Centre, Saskatchewan, Canada PhD in Clinical Veterinary Sciences - Animal Behaviour & Welfare @ University of Edinburgh/Teagasc/SRUC jenyun.chou(a)usask.ca<mailto:jenyun.chou@usask.ca> Twitter<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> LinkedIn<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> ORCID<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> Researchgate<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> Google Scholar<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> Blog <http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> [cid:image001.png@01DA9589.E9EECB10] ---------------------- [cid:4336114291-1]<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> For further information about UFAW awards, scholarships, meetings and other news follow us on: Facebook: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare - UFAW<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> ; Twitter: @UFAW_1926<http://dhvpb.smtptrack.com/tracking/qaR9ZGt5AQNmZwt5AGDjAQt1BGZ5ZvM5qzS4qaR…> The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) is an UK charity that works to develop and promote improvements in the welfare of all animals through scientific and educational activity worldwide. Registered Charity No 207996 (Registered in England) and Company Limited by Guarantee No 579991 Science in the service of animal welfare To unsubscribe from further emails on this meeting,click here<mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk> and enter unsubscribe in the subject ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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Animal Welfare Research Network workshops: Insect Welfare / Animal Rehoming
by Clare Andrews 19 Apr '24

19 Apr '24

Dear BERGers and SHAIRers, The Animal Welfare Research Network<https://awrn.co.uk/event/awrn-funded-workshop-on-farmed-invertebrate-welfar…> is advertising two upcoming workshops which may be of interest to some: Online workshop 23 May: "Fostering novel research opportunities on animal rehoming across AWRN stakeholders<https://awrn.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=e0d173b297af63f23784385b9&i…>" London/Online 16 May: "Farmed invertebrate welfare: What do we know, and what's left to find out?". <https://awrn.co.uk/event/awrn-funded-workshop-on-farmed-invertebrate-welfar…> [AWRN members] Best wishes, Clare __________________________________________________________ Students: book to talk with me here<https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/PsychologyY1PersonalTuteesTutorD…>. Dr Clare Andrews (preferred pronouns: she/her) MA MSc DPhil FHEA Lecturer in Psychology, Course Director for MSc/MA Human-Animal Interaction<https://www.stir.ac.uk/courses/pg-taught/human-animal-interaction/> Psychology Division University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA ResearchGate<https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Clare_Andrews> X (twitter)<https://twitter.com/clarepandrews?lang=en> LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/in/clareandrews/> [First Aider for Mental Health logo] I aim to read and respond to email within 3 working days, but during busy periods my response may take longer. I check my emails at varying times of day and I do not expect an immediate response from my correspondents. [signature_211997324] [Facebook icon]<https://www.facebook.com/universityofstirling/> [Twitter icon] <https://twitter.com/StirUni> [LinkedIn icon] <https://www.linkedin.com/edu/university-of-stirling-12676> [Instagram icon] <https://www.instagram.com/universityofstirling/> [Youtbue icon] <https://www.youtube.com/user/UniversityOfStirling> [Banner]<https://www.stir.ac.uk/> ________________________________ Scotland's University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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BERG seminar today, 16:00 Room 4B96
by Pawel Fedurek 17 Apr '24

17 Apr '24

Dear All, Just a quick reminder that Dr Victor Shiramizu <https://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/staff/dr-sylvain-lemoine> (University of Strathclyde) is giving a seminar today entitled "How disgusted? Reviewing findings of the Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis". Please find the abstract below. Please note that the seminar will take place in Room 4B96 (and hybrid, since our common room is not available that day). The seminar will be chaired by Anthony Lee. We hope to see you there! Abstract: Several studies have suggested that disgust, particularly pathogen disgust and contamination sensitivity, varies throughout women's ovulatory cycle, peaking in the luteal phase due to increased progesterone levels. The Compensatory Prophylaxis Hypothesis (CPH) proposes that women exhibit heightened disgust sensitivity to pathogen cues during the luteal phase (or when progesterone levels are elevated) because progesterone is linked to suppressed immune responses. However, evidence supporting this hypothesis is mixed. I will review current findings in the literature of studies testing the CPH using both large-scale between- and within-subjects designs. MSTeams link: https://teams.microsoft.com/dl/launcher/launcher.html?url=%2F_%23%2Fl%2Fmee… Remaining meetings: Date Time Speaker Format 17/04/2024 16:00 Victor Shirimizu (Strathclyde) F2F (Room 4B96) 24/04/2024 16:00 no seminar 01/05/2024 16:00 Victoria Lee (SRUC) F2F/hybrid 08/05/2024 10:00 James Brooks (Kyoto) Online 15/05/2024 tbc 22/05/2024 16:00 Elodie Freymann (Oxford) online ------------------------------- Dr Pawel Fedurek (he/his) Lecturer in Psychology Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Division of Psychology, Faculty of Natural Sciences University of Stirling Stirling, FK9 4LA Scotland, UK Tel: +44 (0)1786 467844<tel:+441786467844> Twitter: @fedurekp<https://twitter.com/fedurekp> @BERG_Stirling<https://twitter.com/BERG_Stirling> Staff page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1080868> | BERG page<https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/faculties/natural-sciences/our-research/resear…> I aim to reply within 3 working days (my working days are between Monday and Friday). ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

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