BERG

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1031 discussions

Animal Welfare Student Scholars’ Meeting- 25th of January 2017

by Eoin O'Sullivan

Dear BERGers, You are invited to the annual UFAW Animal Welfare Student Scholars’ Meeting that will take place here at the University of Stirling on the 25th of January 2017. At this meeting, students who received UFAW animal welfare scholarships in 2016 will discuss their findings and there is a great series of talks planned (see attached poster for topics). This is a great opportunity for BERG members to learn about a wide range of research that is funded by the wonderful UFAW (who also happen to fund our BERG meetings). Attendance is free, but you must register your intention to attend by emailing Dr. Stephen Wickens (wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk). For more information please see the attached poster or this website: http://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/animal-welfare-student-scholarsa-meeting… I look forward to seeing you there. Please let me know if you have any questions. All the best, Eoin ? Eoin O'Sullivan, PhD Early Career Fellow Psychology, School of Natural Sciences Behaviour and Evolution Research Group University of Stirling FK9 4LA

9 years, 4 months

BES seminar on sexual selection in birds: Monday Nov 14th

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

An interesting talk at 12 noon on Monday 14th November in LT A6 Circulated on behalf of Adam Hayward How studying post-copulatory sexual selection can save endangered birds. Nicola Hemmings, University of Sheffield (https://nicolahemmings.wordpress.com/) In many endangered birds, more than half of all eggs never hatch. Identifying the cause(s) of this failure is a crucial goal for conservation science, with the potential to invigorate captive breeding and reintroduction programmes. My research has taken an evolutionary approach to the problem of hatching failure, applying basic research on post-copulatory sexual selection to identify the features of reproduction's winners and losers. In this talk, I will describe the formidable path to fertilisation in birds, and explain why a thorough understanding of post-copulatory processes is essential for the successful management of threatened populations. Nicola's research focuses on sexual selection in birds, in particular on sperm competition in males and the reasons for reproductive failure in female birds. As well as exploring the implications for the evolution of sexual traits, Nicola has applied her work to the conservation of endangered bird species, in the context of breeding success in both the wild and captivity. She's a fantastic speaker with a passion for communicating science to both academic and non-academic audiences, so it should be a great talk- please let any relevant groups of undergrads know and encourage them to attend (LT A6, 12pm). Nicola will be in the department until around 3pm on Monday. If anyone would like to chat to her during her visit, or come for lunch after her talk, please let me know. Cheers, Adam Adam Hayward Impact Research Fellow Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Stirling Stirling FK9 4LA Website: http://adhayward.wordpress.com<http://adhayward.wordpress.com/> Tel: +44(0)1786 467757

9 years, 5 months

Please consider signing the protect primates petition!

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

I have been supporting the movement against keeping primates as pets for sometime….please also consider signing the petition. http://www.wildfutures.org/petition/<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a60…> From: Sarah Hanson, Wild Futures [mailto:info=wildfutures.org@mail104.suw11.mcdlv.net] On Behalf Of Sarah Hanson, Wild Futures Sent: 04 November 2016 17:01 To: Hannah Buchanan-Smith <h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: Thank you for signing the protect primates petition! Thank you for signing the protect primates petition View this email in your browser<http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6088b&id=7ac586103e…> [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6088b/images/ddce9f11-8e0…] Thank you for signing the Protect Primates petition and speaking out for each and every primate being kept as a pet. Primates are wild animals with complex needs which simply cannot be met in captivity. Damage caused to primates kept as pets is not just physical, but emotional and psychological. Thanks to people like you, we now have over 35,000 signatures on our petition calling for an end to keeping primates as pets in the UK. We are continuing to gather support for the campaign and we ask for your help once more! Please share our petition with friends and family and urge them to add their names to the petition and help us end the UK primate pet trade today. http://www.wildfutures.org/petition/ Thank you for choosing to hear about the work of Wild Futures and we hope you continue to support our work, protecting primates and habitats worldwide. [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6088b/images/3b90ed78-86f…] Sarah Hanson Campaigns Officer [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-facebook-48.png]<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6…> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-twitter-48.png]<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a60…> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-link-48.png]<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a60…> [https://cdn-images.mailchimp.com/icons/social-block-v2/color-forwardtofrien…]<mailto:info@wildfutures.org> Copyright © 2016 Wild Futures, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to receive Wild Futures news and updates either via our website, newsletter, Sanctuary or through your adoption. Alternatively because you have purchased from our shop or have been a volunteer or are an ambassador. Our mailing address is: Wild Futures Murrayton House Looe Cornwall, England PL13 1NZ United Kingdom Add us to your address book<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage.com/vcard?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6088b&id…> unsubscribe from this list<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage1.com/unsubscribe?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6…> update subscription preferences<http://wildfutures.us2.list-manage.com/profile?u=0c917f8ce561316a7c6a6088b&…>

9 years, 5 months

This week's BERG (Wed 2 Nov): Sarah Davis from University of St Andrews

by Christine Caldwell

Dear all, I hope everyone had a good mid-semester week! BERG is back again this week, and we have a speaker coming over from St Andrews. Sarah Davis will be giving us a talk on the topic of "Behavioural flexibility and the foundations of cumulative culture". Sarah is currently in the final stages of her PhD under the supervision of Andrew Whiten, and she has been studying chimpanzees as a means to understand the evolution of human cumulative culture. We'll take Sarah out for some dinner after the meeting (probably in town in Stirling, close to the station, as she will be travelling by train). Please let me know if you would be interested in joining us! The most likely options are Rana's, Pizza Express, or Smiling Jacks. The BERG meeting will begin at 5.30pm as per usual in the Psychology Common Room (3A94). Hope to see you there! Christine.

9 years, 5 months

FW: Matsuzawa's MOOC: Origins of the Human Mind, From Oct 27 to Dec 1st 2016, FREE, registration please

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

This may be of interest to some…. Subject: Matsuzawa's MOOC. *MOOC: Massive Open Online Courses A free online course by Matsuzawa will be offered for five weeks, from October 27th to December 1st, via edX, which is one of MOOC providers. You can access its registration page from the link: https://www.edx.org/course/origins-human-mind-kyotoux-007x Anyone from all over the world can register for the course as a student, and learners can exchange their opinions and post questions on its Discussion Forum in English. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Dear my ex-students and close friends: I picked up 101 names. Please forward this announcement to your colleagues and students via e-mail, FACEBOOK, etc. I tried to do my best describing my parallel effort of studying chimpanzees in the wild and the laboratory. Thank you. and Have a nice day. Tetsuro Matsuzawa, Kyoto Please visit my site, http://matsuzawa.kyoto/

9 years, 5 months

Next week's BERG seminar

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

Dear BERGers - cc Psychology staff and PhD students in case of interest As part of our Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) seminars, next Wednesday (19th October, 5.30pm ) we have Professor Vernon Gayle, University of Edinburgh giving a short presentation on: Reproducible Research is 'Show Me' not 'Trust Me' Psychology Common Room, 3A94, Cottrell building, with usual drinks and nibbles. I think this topic is really important to consider in terms of our research process and workflow. Hope to see some of you there. Best, Hannah Abstract Despite the explosion in the number of research publications it is impossible to 'reproduce' the results of most analyses that are published. This is because information on how the work is undertaken in seldom made available. Most researchers will have a happy, or possibly even a terrifying, early educational memory of being told to "show their working out". Somewhere between primary school and graduate school this requirement has evaporated. Currently published research is far from transparent and a culture of 'trust me' rather than a culture of 'show me' exists. In this presentation I make an appeal for researchers to routinely provide enough information so that others can check that results are accurate, and that correct inferences and conclusions are reported in published work. This transparency will also allow others to test the robustness of the original piece of research, for example by employing new or additional data and alternative methods. I highlight the obstacles that are commonly encountered and provide some practicable steps for rendering research 'reproducible'. I argue that conventional research publications should, at best, be regarded as a palimpsest of the 'real work' undertaken within the data analytical process. Drawing on insights from computer science and other disciplines that have been engaged in e-Research I illustrate how contemporary digital resources could provide a useful and effective aid to making social science research more easily reproducible. I propose a set of guidelines which researchers should follow in order to enhance the reproducibility of their research. I conclude by suggesting a set of benchmarks against which the reproducibility can be assessed. Hannah M. Buchanan-Smith Professor, Behaviour and Evolution Research Group (BERG) Psychology, Faculty 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 Just launched: http://refiningdogcare.com/ http://www.refiningdogcare.com/images/RDC%20Flyer.pdf

9 years, 5 months

Re: [BERG] Marmosets at BERG tonight

by Hayley Ash

Dear BERGers, Tonight, I'll be talking about 'The long term impact of infant rearing background on the affective state of common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus).' We'll be in the Psychology Common Room (3A94) from 5:30 pm, with drinks and nibbles. I've attached the schedule for this semester. Thank you to everyone who has signed up to do a talk so far! It would be great if you could also forward on a title for me to add. There are a few spaces left, if anyone would like to practice a presentation or lead a group discussion. http://doodle.com/poll/s6qagssqe6zfimgr? I hope to see you all later! All the best, Hayley

9 years, 6 months

Life Scientific: Frans de Waal

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

BERG folk might be interested in Frans de Waal on Life Scientific: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wt6bj "Charles Darwin first alerted us to our ape ancestry. Genome analysis tells us we share 99% of our DNA with our closest relatives in the animal kingdom, the chimpanzee and the bonobo. And yet we seem surprised to learn that apes are kind and clever, traits we tend to like to think of as being uniquely human. Behavioural biologist and best-selling author, Frans de Waal has spent many years in offices overlooking chimp colonies, observing their behaviour on a daily basis. He pioneered studies of kindness and peace-making in primates, when other scientists were focussing on violence, greed and aggression. Empathy, he argues, has a long evolutionary history; and he is determined to undermine our arrogant assumptions of human superiority. Frans talks to Jim Al-Khalili about growing up on the Dutch polders, chimpanzee politics, and the extraordinary sex lives of the bonobos."

9 years, 6 months

Life Scientific: Frans de Waal

by Peter Hancock

BERG folk might be interested in this: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07wt6bj Peter

9 years, 6 months

FW: Call for papers: Measuring animal welfare and applying scientific advances - Why is it still so difficult? UFAW International Symposium 27-29th June 2017, UK

by Hannah Buchanan-Smith

This looks like a really interesting conference next year - with a request for a call for papers. From: Stephen Wickens [mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk] Sent: 13 September 2016 10:09 To: Hannah Buchanan-Smith <h.m.buchanan-smith(a)stir.ac.uk> Subject: Call for papers: Measuring animal welfare and applying scientific advances - Why is it still so difficult? UFAW International Symposium 27-29th June 2017, UK Dear UFAW LINK, We are seeking papers for our symposium in June 2017. I'd be grateful if you could share this call with your colleagues and students. Thanks. Steve ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measuring animal welfare and applying scientific advances - Why is it still so difficult? Venue: Royal Holloway, University of London, Surrey, UK Dates: 27-29th June 2017 Background and Aims of the Symposium Animal welfare science is a relatively young field but it is developing rapidly. A recent review noted that over the last two decades the number of scientific publications in this area has increased by 10-15% annually. This research has been used to make many real improvements to the welfare of animals throughout the world. There seems to be a growing consensus that what matters to those animals that are presumed to experience feelings, and therefore what should matter most to those concerned about animal welfare, is how those animals feel. However, this raises difficult questions, some of which are fundamental to the development of animal welfare science as a rigorous scientific discipline and the assessment of animal welfare. For example: * Will we ever be able to demonstrate sentience? Knowing where to draw the line about which animals to care for is important to, avoid wasting scarce resources on animals that are not sentient, and to ensure that animals that are sentient are protected. Are there new techniques that could help or is the problem insoluble? Where should the line be drawn? * Are the techniques that we have to study emotional state (affect) adequate or are there new and better ways of assessing how animals feel about themselves and their environment? How should we best choose and interpret measures? Do technological advances offer us alternative approaches? Is it worth trying to put a numerical value on animal welfare or are qualitative measures more appropriate? * How does time fit into the equation? Over what period of time should welfare be considered - what is meaningful and relevant to the animal? Do animals experience time as we do? How should we weigh up the challenges and good experiences to come so as to arrive at a view about the animals lifetime experience, and is this worth doing? * How important is positive welfare? Should preventing suffering be our first priority or should we now be looking to maximise enjoyable experiences for animals in our care too? Is a permanent state of positive welfare possible, or do animals reset their emotional state so that attempts to achieve positive welfare are doomed to failure as the animal habituates to a better than adequate environment? What happens when those experiences preferred by an animal have a long-term negative impact on health? * How robust is the data collected on animal welfare? Are there lessons to be learnt from other areas of research with respect to e.g. blinding, randomization, pre-registration of hypotheses, null results, meta-analysis, clinical trials? With the aim of developing new ideas and of promoting higher quality and better-focused animal welfare science, this symposium will consider whether and how animal welfare scientists can make progress in these and other areas. Speakers will include: * Professor Georgia Mason (University of Guelph, Canada), 'Using welfare indicators to make valid inference about animals' subjective states, with a focus on HPA responses and stereotypic behaviour' * Professor Mike Mendl (University of Bristol, UK) 'Animal affect: What is it, what do we know, and what can we know?' and * Professor Jaak Panksepp (Washington State University, USA) 'The emotional feelings of other minds: From neuroaffective foundations to novel therapeutics (especially depressions)' Call for papers We would like to hear from anyone interested in making a contribution to the symposium on the subjects and themes detailed above or others relating to measuring animal welfare and to animal welfare and the sciences and other disciplines associated with it - eg applied ethology, veterinary, physiological and neuroscience. Submissions should feature the title of the proposed presentation, the nature of the presentation - talk or poster, and the name and full contact details of all contributors. Abstracts must be in English and should be no longer than 400 words. Full details on formatting these can be found on the UFAW website. Time allocated to talks at the meeting is likely to be in region of 20-25 minutes. The deadline for submission of abstracts is 30th November 2016. Further details on this meeting can be found here: http://www.ufaw.org.uk/ufaw-events/ufaw-events and updates on social media<http://www.facebook.com/ufaw.org.uk/>. Contact details: Stephen Wickens, Royal Holloway 2017 UFAW, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, AL4 8AN, UK Tel: +44 (0) 1582 831818; Fax: +44 (0) 1582 831414 Website: www.ufaw.org.uk<http://www.ufaw.org.uk/>; Email: wickens(a)ufaw.org.uk<mailto:wickens@ufaw.org.uk> Follow us: Facebook: Universities Federation for Animal Welfare - UFAW<http://www.facebook.com/ufaw.org.uk> ; Twitter: @UFAW_1926<https://twitter.com/ufaw_1926> Other details: The Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW), the international animal welfare science society, is a UK registered scientific and educational charity that brings together the animal welfare science community, educators, veterinarians and all concerned about animal welfare worldwide in order to achieve advances in the well-being of farm, companion, laboratory and captive wild animals, and for those animals with which we interact in the wild. Registered Charity No 207996 (Registered in England) and Company Limited by Guarantee No 579991

9 years, 7 months

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