Trinity College Dublin, Ecology and Evolution
With just over a month of confinement behind us and the uncertainty of when it will end, we thought we’d ask the EcoEvo community at Trinity College how they were coping. From the relief provided by our trusty companions to the energising outdoors, find out what measures academics have taken to remain sane, even when the world has seemingly gone insane. You might even find some inspiration for yourself!
Continue reading “Staying Sane in the Insanity”
Esteemed and valued colleague, educator and mentor to so many, Professor John Rochford, retired in September 2019 after 34 years of service. His retirement was very fittingly marked on January 10th by a symposium which celebrated the influence of John’s teaching and mentorship and the far-reaching impact he has had on his research area of wildlife biology. The symposium was organized by Prof. Celia Holland and Fiona Moloney who put together a fantastic variety of contributions. The speakers were all John’s former students who have gone on to make their mark in academia, journalism, public education and as professional ecologists and wildlife rangers.
Continue reading “Celebrating 35 years of Professor John Rochford”
What started as a good excuse to take a break from thesis writing (while still being productive), ended up being two of the best days I’ve ever had in college – the 2020 Zoology/Botany Postgrad Symposium.
For two days we were treated to the most incredible talks on a wide range of topics, covering theoretical, lab-based, and field work. It was incredible to see the wide range of research being done in the department. It’s difficult to keep up with everything that’s going on, but these talks gave a great insight into some of the incredible work being done.
Continue reading “The 2020 Postgraduate Symposium: putting the broad range of research in the School of Natural Sciences under the limelight”
Every year, contributors to the blog look back on their favourite papers of the previous year and tell us what it was about these publications that stuck in their mind so much. With a range of different topics and reasons, it’s always great to see what each of us thinks makes for a great paper! Find out what we elected as our favourite papers in 2018 and 2017, and read on for this year’s entries:
Chosen by Paula Tierney
Read the full International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and Wildlife paper here
Sometimes a paper doesn’t have to make huge waves in the broader ecology world to be a great paper and sometimes a paper comes along at just the right time to answer the questions you need answering. Perrot-Minnot et al. 2019 did both for me this year. Since the taxonomic revision of the acanthocephalan parasite Pomphorhychus laevis by Špakulová et al in 2011 resurrected the closely-related species Pomphorhynchus tereticollis, the systematics of the genus in Europe has been something of a taxonomic dumpster fire. It also left one of my PhD chapters with a bit of an identity crisis since,
Continue reading “The 2019 EcoEvo Hall of Fame”
Once again, the time has come for the annual Eco Evo photo competition! The third instalment of the competition saw some wonderful submissions from across the School of Natural Sciences, and the top spot was fiercely contested. Due to their desire to participate, the editors stepped away from the judging process and the shortlisting was conducted by an unbiased third-party and the photos were anonymised. Finally, the vote for the winning photo was put to the Trinity School of Natural Science, again the photos were anonymised.
A Green turtle swims away with its trusty remora after feeding on seagrass in the Bahamas. Remoras and turtles enjoy a symbiotic relationship as the fish removes parasites and keeps the shell clean while receiving benefits in the form of food, transport and protection.
Continue reading “EcoEvo Blog Photo competition winner announcement!”
Time flies and it’s time for yet another academic year! We’re a bit late for our introduction, students are already heading into reading week but we were too busy getting over the shock that first years were born in 2001… Do you feel old too?
And with that, we wave goodbye to our fantastic 2018-19 editor, Fionn Ó Marcaigh. Thank you for your hard work and enthusiasm for sharing people’s stories! We have big shoes to fill… We say “we” because this year, you get two editors for the price of one! Let us introduce ourselves:
Continue reading “Meet the new editorial team for 2019/20!”
As we launch into another year of research, we thought it would be interesting to look back on some of the work that came out in 2018, so we asked the School of Natural Sciences what papers they would like to induct into our second annual Hall of Fame. Read on for the papers we thought were fascinating, notable, or just cool. When you’re finished, you can check out 2017’s Hall of Fame here.
Continue reading “The 2018 EcoEvo Hall of Fame”
Photos have been submitted, votes have been cast, and we are now ready to announce the winner of the Eco Evo Photo Competition! Read on to view the whole gallery of entered photos, with the winner at the end. It was brilliant to receive so many great entries, on such varied subjects. This gallery is a testament to the diverse array of interesting things the people of our Zoology and Botany Departments are involved in.
Continue reading “Eco Evo’s 2nd Annual Photography Competition”
On the evening of Friday the 28th of September, the event known as PROBE took place in Front Square. Part of European Researchers’ Night, PROBE was described by organisers as “a free public pop-up festival showcasing the diverse range of academic research taking place in Dublin”. No event on Dublin research would be complete without representatives from Zoology and Botany, so Eco Evo spoke to some of the researchers bringing parasitology, fire ecology, and pollinators to the people of Dublin. Continue reading “From Worms to Wildfire: Natural Sciences at PROBE 2018”
Featured post by Adam Fowler, Connected Nature Intern at Trinity College Dublin.
An outlaw, a scoundrel, a trickster… the cunning fox. From Roald Dahl’s depiction of Mr. Fox, the tricky, shrewd thief in Fantastic Mr. Fox, to Jason Bateman’s voicing of the ‘shifty and untrustworthy’ Nick Wilde in the 2016 movie Zootopia, foxes are often portrayed as a scourge to human living. Is it a warranted portrayal, or should we be more open to them?
No matter how they are depicted in the literature, some do view the urban red fox (vulpes vulpes) as a welcome visitor to their gardens. Young foxes look appealing, they are playful and almost majestic. Some people even offer food to try and encourage repeat visits. Continue reading “Outfoxing the fox: an urban/wild conflict”
