Dear BERGers,
I have attached this semester's BERG seminar schedule. As you can see, there are still available slots so if you would like to give a talk or know of someone who would, please sign up via the doodle poll (https://doodle.com/poll/pa33ypah8bmchuau).
After you sign up, please send me the title of your talk and a short blurb about it for the BERG emails/posts. It's also helpful to attach a topic/talk-related image that I can include in the posts - images look nice and they are helpful in advertising the talks.
We all look forward to some great speakers (and topics) this semester. It could be you!
Best,
Paxton
______________________________
Paxton Culpepper, BSc, MSc
PhD Candidate | Psychology
Department of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK
Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852
Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641
Email: p.d.culpepper(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk>
Dear BERGers,
This Wednesday (Jan 24th) we have Prof Hannah Buchanan-Smith giving a talk entitled: Welfare of Primates: Why Should we Care?
She gave this presentation at the prestigious PSGB 50th anniversary meeting in London back in November 2017 - it will to be very interesting and informative.
Abstract:
Welfare of Primates: Why Should we Care?
We are primatologists, and as such we are all ambassadors for these animals. Through our own research, action, and interactions we can influence the welfare of primates, directly and indirectly, and both positively and negatively. The 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction and Refinement - the basic principles underpinning humane science) are generally considered with invasive research but they apply beyond the laboratory. In this presentation, I shall describe how primatologists from a range of backgrounds have informed welfare-related legislation and practice. For example, findings from cognitive research on primates has positively impacted on legislation (e.g. great apes are no longer used in invasive research - with few exceptions globally); understanding natural adaptations from field research has informed how we treat primates, their enclosure design and husbandry. Studying primate welfare is also of interest in its own right. There is a range of exciting new technologies and methodologies to explore affective states, the links between welfare and biological markers, and how these are connected over the lifespan.
We look forward to seeing you there at 5:30pm sharp!
Best,
Paxton
______________________________
Paxton Culpepper, BSc, MSc
PhD Candidate | Psychology
Department of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK
Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852
Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641
Email: p.d.culpepper(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk>
Dear BERGers,
I hope everyone is safely enjoying the snow. I will send out the weekly BERG email on Monday as usual, but for now I'm sending out this message to provide interested persons with a short list of upcoming related conferences and workshops.
* Mar-April: Edinburgh Science Festival. Details: https://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/
* April 2018: The 13th Conference of the European Human Behaviour and Evolution Association (EHBEA). Details: http://psychology.pte.hu/ehbea2018
* April 2018: The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB). Details: http://www.asab.org/conferences/
* May 2018: Future Directions on the Evolution of Rituals, Beliefs, and Religious Minds. Details: http://schools.centromajorana.it/relmind2018/
* June 2018: Culture Conference and Young Social Learning Research Group (see Christine Caldwell for details on both)
* July 2018: The 30th annual Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) conference. Details: https://www.hbes.com/conference/hbes2018/
* September 2018: International Society for Human Ethology (ISHE) Congress. Details: http://ishe.org/chile-2018/
* Sophia Marieangela St Claire has kindly brought this calendar of talks on primate conservation to our attention. Details: https://www.facebook.com/PrimConsOBU/posts/2047196768623839
* Jade Hooper has kindly brought this workshop on pets and children to our attention. Details: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-pet-effect-a-reflective-workshop-tickets…
It's not a comprehensive list but hopefully useful nonetheless. If you know of other conferences not mentioned here, please feel to speak up/share.
Enjoy your weekend - see you on Wednesday!
Paxton
______________________________
Paxton Culpepper, BSc, MSc
PhD Candidate | Psychology
Department of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK
Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852
Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641
Email: p.d.culpepper(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk>
Dear BERGers,
Unfortunately, we do not have a speaker this week. However, instead, we will take the time to discuss/answer questions regarding potential BERG speakers or topics (e.g. discussing a journal article, or potential grant proposal), as well as any other BERG-related issues. I'm sure Hannah, Christine, Phyllis, Eoin, and/or others will have some updates on things such as UFAW, animal welfare, related-conferences, etc. It will be fun and informal, and I am sure very informative.
BERG time/location:
Wednesday, Jan 17th (5:30-6:30)
Common room, Psychology Department, Cottrell
Bring your brain and your enthusiasm, I'll bring the nibbles and drinks.
Best wishes,
Paxton
______________________________
Paxton Culpepper, BSc, MSc
PhD Candidate | Psychology
Department of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK
Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852
Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641
Email: p.d.culpepper(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk>
Dear BERGers,
Happy New Year to all and welcome to the new Spring Semester of BERG meetings! Our first meeting this semester will be on Wednesday 18th January (next week!), in the common room (3A94) - 5.30pm SHARP.
We are recruiting speakers for the programme (approx. 12 speakers) via a Doodle poll. Please sign up and/or feel free to suggest local speakers that we may wish to invite. The Doodle poll is here: https://doodle.com/poll/pa33ypah8bmchuau
We do not yet have anyone scheduled to speak at the first meeting, so if anyone is interested in starting us off this semester, please sign up asap.
As we have noted, speaking about your work at BERG is a great way to practise talks and develop valuable skills, and to get valuable yet friendly feedback from high-quality researchers and colleagues.
If you have new students who might wish to be on the BERG mailing list, please send them this e-mail. 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
We look forward to a great semester!
Best wishes,
Paxton
______________________________
Paxton Culpepper, BSc, MSc
PhD Candidate | Psychology
Department of Psychology
Behaviour and Evolution Research Group
Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, UK
Office: 3B134 Cottrell Building
Phone: +44 (0) 1786 466852
Fax: +44 (0) 1786 467641
Email: p.d.culpepper(a)stir.ac.uk<mailto:p.d.culpepper@stir.ac.uk>
Dear BERGers,
For our final BERG of the semester we have Lesley Craig giving a talk entitled:
Impact of Interpretation on Attitudes to Great Ape Conservation and Welfare.
Research has examined the impact of zoo interpretation (enclosure design and signage) on visitor perception and attitudes, however, there has been less consideration of the potential impact of the form of information provided, in terms of type of context and contextual framing. Previous research suggests that as social animals, human beings are more interested in social relationships than physical information (Dunbar, 2011). There has been no research investigating whether providing information regarding non-human primate social behaviour in interpretation impacts visitor attitudes to conservation.
This talk will be dedicated to the life of Blossom (pictured) who sadly passed away recently and is greatly missed.
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There will be drinks and nibbles, and we will be going for drinks/food afterwards at No 2 Baker Street in town – all welcome! Looking forward to seeing you all.
Best wishes,
Donna
Dear BERGers,
This week we will have Janica Niven discussing her UFAW project entitled:
"What is most enriching about learning; novelty and challenge, or achievement and control?"
She will be talking about which phase of learning (training or mastery) provides more welfare benefits to Squirrel monkeys.
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Snacks and drinks as usual, see you all there!
Best wishes,
Donna
Dear BERGers,
I’ve been asked to circulate the details of an excellent new (& fully funded!) summer opportunity for researchers interested in mind, cognition, and intelligence. Please see below for information and contact details.
Best,
Donna
-----Original Message-----
From: Erica Cartmill [mailto:cartmill@anthro.ucla.edu]
Sent: 04 December 2017 07:06
To: Luke Rendell
Subject: A new interdisciplinary summer institute!
Dear Luke,
I hope you’ve had a terrific 2017. It's been far too long since we've had a
chance to chat! I wanted to share some exciting news. In 2018, I will be
launching a new summer program, the Diverse Intelligences Summer
Institute (DISI for short), with my colleague Jacob Foster, a computational
sociologist at UCLA. The basic idea is to bring together promising graduate
students and postdocs interested in the study of mind, cognition, and
intelligence for two weeks of transdisciplinary exploration. Participants and
faculty will fall roughly into three sub-themes: Recognizing Intelligences (i.e.,
non-human biological intelligences); Shaping Human Intelligences (how
development, culture, technology, etc. shape human capacities); and
Programming Intelligences (artificial intelligence and its social/philosophical
implications). We’ve already assembled an outstanding international faculty,
and anticipate stimulating discussion and debate across a range of cutting-
edge topics. In addition to attending lectures and engaging in discussions,
participants will have the opportunity to develop collaborative
interdisciplinary research projects with guidance from DISI faculty and staff.
We’ll be holding the Summer Institute at the University of St Andrews from
July 29 to August 12.
I’ve attached a flyer advertising the Institute, and included a link to our
website below. I would be grateful if you could forward this to talented
graduate students, postdocs, and other early career researchers who might
be interested. We are looking for creative, open-minded participants who
want to take intellectual risks and break down disciplinary barriers in the spirit
of dialogue and discovery. We’ll begin reviewing applications on February 1,
2018. We anticipate selecting and fully funding 40-45 participants.
If potential applicants have any questions, they can reach out to our
wonderful Program Administrator, Dr. Stephanie Meredith, at
disicontact(a)gmail.com<mailto:disicontact@gmail.com>.
Thanks so much for helping us build an exciting new intellectual community!
www.diverseintelligencessummer.com<http://www.diverseintelligencessummer.com>
<http://www.diverseintelligencessummer.com/>
All the best,
Erica
----------------------------------------------
Erica Cartmill
Assistant Professor
341 Haines Hall
Department of Anthropology
Department of Psychology
UCLA
Dear BERGers,
There will be no BERG this week due to the PSGB meeting in London. We will resume as normal next Wednesday.
Have a great week!
Best wishes,
Donna
Dear BERGers,
This week we are very excited to have Dr Cynthia Moss in conversation with BERG members - this will be a question and answer session.
Cynthia is founder and director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants and is involved in research & monitoring of elephants, training elephant researchers and promoting public awareness, to name a few. She has also written numerous influential books & articles, and created award-winning documentaries. Please find links below for further information on her work.
Amboseli Trust for Elephants
https://www.elephanttrust.org/
Interview with Cynthia & Vicki Fishlock
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSOPqacr2iQ
Recent articles:
African Elephant Play, Competence and Social Complexity
http://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/20549/1/05.Lee_Moss_Final.pdf
Elephants can determine ethnicity, gender, and age from acoustic cues in human voices
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/14/5433.full.pdf
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Drinks and nibbles from 5.30pm as usual. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
Best,
Donna