Hi BERGers!
Just a quick reminder that the BERG seminar is beginning NOW online!! The link is below!
Sharon
--------------------------
Sharon Kessler (she/her), PhD
Lecturer in Psychology
Cottrell Building Room 3B92, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, SCOTLAND
Tel: +44(0)1786 467 651
Email: sharon.kessler(a)stir.ac.uk
Website:
https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1104622#research;
https://www.sharonekessler.com/
Book review editor: International Journal of Primatology
Academic editor: PLOS ONE
________________________________
From: BERG <berg-bounces(a)lists.stir.ac.uk> on behalf of Sharon Kessler
<sharon.kessler(a)stir.ac.uk>
Sent: Tuesday, May 2, 2023 9:24 AM
To: berg Mailing List <berg(a)lists.stir.ac.uk>
Subject: [BERG] Berg seminar - 10 AM WED - Dr Sarabian
Dear Bergers,
I just wanted to send out a quick reminder that this week, Wednesday, May 3rd, Cécile
Sarabian will be giving the BERG seminar at 10 am -- not 4pm!! This is because she's
at the University of Hong Kong, so she needs an early morning slot. It will be online. The
abstract looks great!
Risk perception and potential applications in wildlife management and conservation
Risk perception – or an individual's susceptibility to perceive a threat (e.g.
disease, predator, competitor) – has shaped the physiology, cognition, behavior and
ecology of animals for millions of years. While a lot of research has focused on lethal
threats (i.e. predation), only recently have we increased our understanding of how
animals, and more particularly our closest phylogenetic relatives, detect disease risk and
prevent infection. My work and that of my collaborators has been able to demonstrate that
(1) non-human primates avoid sensory cues associated with biological contaminants and the
risk of infection; (2) individuals who avoid contaminated food and places and diseased
conspecifics show lower levels of infection or parasite diversity, compared to less
cautious individuals; (3) certain behaviors exposing individuals to fecal-oral disease
risk are learnt; and (4) risk perception affects certain cognitive processes in primates,
in different ways depending on the type of risk (infection vs. predation). Although
disease risk avoidance and disgust have been used to promote behavioral changes in human
health, and predation risk avoidance and fear have been used in wildlife management
contexts, disgust and fear can have a much wider range of applications and can be
co-opted. Building on my previous work and the resulting theoretical framework, some of my
ongoing and future projects aim to (re)create a landscape of risk in order to exploit the
protective phenotypes of animals and humans and reduce the frequency of negative
interactions between them. I introduce some of the contexts in which disgust-related
avoidance behaviors could be applied, such as crop-raiding and animal tourism. Finally, I
highlight some of the perspectives and challenges of testing disgust and risk perception
in wild animals.
This is the link:
https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_MjI5NTVhOGItNWM0OC00Nz…
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conversation<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19:meeting_MjI5NT…
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Best,
Sharon
--------------------------
Sharon Kessler (she/her), PhD
Lecturer in Psychology
Cottrell Building Room 3B92, Faculty of Natural Sciences
University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, SCOTLAND
Tel: +44(0)1786 467 651
Email: sharon.kessler(a)stir.ac.uk
Website:
https://www.stir.ac.uk/people/1104622#research;
https://www.sharonekessler.com/
Book review editor: International Journal of Primatology
Academic editor: PLOS ONE
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159
________________________________
Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence
The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159