An interesting talk at 12 noon on  Monday 14^th 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

Tel: +44(0)1786 467757