- BERG - University of Stirling Mailing Lists

This week's BERG meeting: Wed 10 May - Claire Watson
by Christine Caldwell 08 May '17

08 May '17

Hi all, Just a reminder that we have Claire Watson giving a talk at BERG this Wednesday (poster attached). If anyone would like to come for a drink or dinner after the meeting, the plan is to head into town to the big Wetherspoon's pub (The Crossed Peels at the top of Friar's Street) - a fairly unsophisticated venue admittedly, but quite a practical option under the circumstances! There should be plenty of room for anyone who wants to come along, and there's no need to commit to staying for dinner if you just want a quick drink. Also, we will be well-placed for anyone making the (now traditional) dash for the train station in time for the last proper train to Edinburgh before the bus replacement services take over. The meeting starts at 5.30pm as per usual in the Psychology common room (3A94). Drinks and nibbles will be provided. Hope to see you there! Christine.

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Claire Watson seminar next week (Wed 10 May)
by Christine Caldwell 03 May '17

03 May '17

Dear all, Please find attached a poster with details of a forthcoming seminar to be held in our usual BERG discussion group slot next week. I am distributing this to others in Psychology as well as our BERG distribution list, because the speaker is Claire Watson who some people may remember as a former Stirling PhD student (2007-2011). She is now based in Japan, where she has been doing postdoctoral work at the University of Kyoto. If you would like a chance to catch up with Claire (or indeed to meet her for the first time!) then please do come along. All welcome! Apologies for cross-postings. Christine.

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Macaque volunteer
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 27 Apr '17

27 Apr '17

Here is a great volunteer opportuity at the Safari Park - if interested please contact Katie Macfarane with requested information ( education(a)blaidrummond.com<mailto:education@blaidrummond.com> ) "Macaque Habitat Warden A voluntary position has arisen for a self-motivated person to join our macaque team as a macaque habitat warden. The role is unpaid, but you will build up experience and knowledge of working with captive primates. Perfect for someone looking to further their career in an animal related discipline. The main duties will include patrolling the macaque habitat and monitoring behaviour of the Safari Parks large troop of Barbary Macaques, supervising the public within the drive through habitat, recording any interesting behaviours and reporting back to the Macaque team. This voluntary position will be best suited to someone who enjoys being outside (in all weather), self-motivated, confident and reliable. We would also like someone who can commit to at least a two week placement. In return, you will get to volunteer within a team of dedicated macaque keepers and learn about captive primate husbandry. You will also be provided with a lunch voucher for the days that you are on duty. For those interested, please email your details along with a covering statement to education(a)blaidrummond.com<mailto:education@blaidrummond.com>" Kind Regards, Katie Macfarlane -Education and Inspiration Team Officer -Work Placement Coordinator [edulogo] Blair Drummond Safari Park, Stirling, FK9 4UR. Direct Line: 01786 843 105

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26.04.2017: Paxton Culpepper- assortative social features of the behavioural immune system
by Eoin O'Sullivan 24 Apr '17

24 Apr '17

Dear BERGers, This Wednesday, 26th, we have PhD candidate Paxton Culpepper giving a talk entitled: "Experimentally testing the main assortative social features of the behavioural immune system." After Paxton's talk we will be going to the Allanwater Brewhouse to celebrate the end of semester (http://bridgeofallan.co.uk/) so please do join us?. All are welcome! I look forward to seeing you then! Eoin? The Relationship between the Behavioural Immune System, Assortative Sociality and Religiosity Throughout evolutionary history humans have evolved psychological mechanisms fashioned to solve adaptive problems of survival. Parasite-stress has been a major adaptive problem throughout the evolutionary history of all animals, including humans. Evidence suggests that humans have evolved a behavioural immune system, which includes the emotion disgust, to motivate avoidance of potential threats of infectious microorganisms and individuals who may carry them. Throughout ancestral history out-group individuals were most likely carrying pathogens to which the locals were not immunologically adapted, thus leading to in-group-out/group bias via assortative social behaviours such as philopatry, ethnocentrism, and xenophobia. It is argued that these behaviours facilitated isolation between groups, which led not only to genetic divergence, but to a divergence in beliefs, practices and values - the 'genesis' of religion and religious diversity. Correlational evidence supports this theory - I am currently experimentally testing the theory.

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European Student Conference on Behaviour & Cognition meeting
by Hannah Buchanan-Smith 22 Apr '17

22 Apr '17

Message from Michaela Másílková to MSc and PhD students. Feel free to forward. Registration is FREE Dear students, On behalf of student organisational team, I am pleased to invite you to participate in 4th European Student Conference on Behaviour & Cognition. The conference will be held at University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Czech Republic on 7-8 September 2017. The aim of the conference is to bring together early-career researchers (MSc and PhD students) to present and discuss their work in the fields of animal and human behaviour and cognition. The program will offer 2 keynote speakers: Dr. Alecia Carter (University of Montpellier) and Prof. Thomas Bugnyar (University of Vienna). The call for abstracts is now open! The closing date for abstracts is 10 July 2017. Registration is free! For more details regarding the conference, visit our website (https://escbc2017.wordpress.com) facebook (https://www.facebook.com/escbc2017) or contact us (behave.cog2017(a)gmail.com<mailto:behave.cog2017@gmail.com>). We are looking forward to meeting you all in České Budějovice! Sincerely, Michaela Másílková Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice -- Michaela Másílková PhD student Department of Zoology Faculty of Science University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice Czech Republic tel: +420 602 226 692 [https://ipmcdn.avast.com/images/icons/icon-envelope-tick-round-orange-anima…]<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…> Bez virů. www.avast.com<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…>

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No BERG tomorrow; Pub next week!
by Eoin O'Sullivan 18 Apr '17

18 Apr '17

Dear all, There will be no BERG meeting this week, but we are back on the 26th when PhD candidate Paxton Culpepper will discuss his ongoing research on the assortative social features of the behavioural immune system. After next week's BERG meeting we are planning on visiting the Allanwater Brewhouse (http://bridgeofallan.co.uk/) to mark the end of another semester, so please do join us?. All are welcome! I hope you have a good week! Eoin?

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Extra BERG meeting on Wed 10th May: Claire Watson
by Christine Caldwell 12 Apr '17

12 Apr '17

Dear all, As you probably know, semester is winding down now and our BERG meetings will soon be doing the same (definitely still on tonight though!). However, in case anyone wanted to put it in their calendars I thought I would let you know that we will be holding an extra meeting on Wednesday 10th May. We will have Dr Claire Watson visiting us from the University of Kyoto, where she has been doing postdoctoral work since finishing her PhD here in Stirling. Claire is planning to talk to us about various research projects - old and new - that she has been working on, mostly on the topic of social learning in nonhuman primates. You can find Claire's website at: http://www.cicasp.pri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/people/claire-f-i-watson We will send out reminders closer to the time of course. Anyway, I hope that people will be able to make it for Claire's talk, and I hope to see lots of you tonight for Lesley's as well! Christine.

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BERG 12.04.17: Lesley Craig - attitudes to ape conservation and welfare
by Eoin O'Sullivan 11 Apr '17

11 Apr '17

Dear BERGers, Tomorrow, we have our penultimate BERG meeting of the semester, with PhD researcher Lesley Craig giving a talk entitled: "Impact of species interpretation on attitudes to great ape conservation and welfare". As usual, we will be meeting from 5:30pm in the psychology common room for drinks and nibbles. See you then! Eoin

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BERG: 05.04.2017 - Josephine Smit discusses the behavioural responses of elephants to human-mediated risks
by Eoin O'Sullivan 03 Apr '17

03 Apr '17

?Dear BERGers, This Wednesday we have PhD student Josephine Smit presenting a talk entitled: "Elephant behavioural responses to human-mediated risks". We will be meeting in room 2A54 this week from 5:30 pm, and as usual, drinks and nibble will be provided. I look forward to seeing you there! All the best, Eoin

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29.03.2017 - Kieran Lee: Auditory enrichment for captive chimpanzees
by Eoin O'Sullivan 28 Mar '17

28 Mar '17

Dear all, ?Tomorrow we have final year student Kieran Lee talking to us about his dissertation project with the Blair Drummond chimpanzees. As well as giving a talk on his project he will be hosting a discussion on the question of animal consciousness. The title of his talk is: "Auditory enrichment for captive chimpanzees and the question of animal consciousness." As usual, we will be meeting in the Psychology Common Room from 5:30pm for drinks and nibbles. See you then! All the best, Eoin

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