Trinity College Dublin, Ecology and Evolution
One of the best parts of my PhD in the Zoology Department at TCD has been working with undergraduate students. The strength, creativity, and dedication of the students shines brightest in their fourth-year theses. Like many programmes, TCD requires final year students to plan, conduct, analyse and report a novel piece of science- whether it’s …
Studying island bird biogeography in the tropics for my PhD has presented me with many weird and wonderful opportunities. None more so than accidentally becoming a mammologist along the way. My study region of Sulawesi, Indonesia, is home to the westernmost marsupial species in Asia, the Cuscus. Cuscus are like marsupial sloths, living life in …
Fire is an essential part of the ecology of many savannah and grassland ecosystems. In some cases, fire is the only way of removing older grasses that are no longer profitable for herbivores to consume. As well as having benefits for local ecology, grassland fires also offer great feeding opportunities. I have seen large groups …
Continue reading “Firehawks: waking up to stories of the Dreamtime”
Sometimes a species is so well studied it is hard to believe that there is anything new to discover about them. I’ve often felt this about badgers, the subject of my PhD research. Don’t get me wrong, I love badgers and they could never bore me. Ever. But there are just so many papers already …
Continue reading “Super-Ranging: Ranging behaviour in badgers isn’t always black and white!”
Many linguists, psychologists, and anthropologists have discussed the concept of linguistic relativity: the relationship between the language a person speaks and the way that person thinks and views the world. As the primary language of the people of Ireland up until the 19th century, the Irish language (aka Gaeilge or sometimes Gaelic) is the repository of …
As the year draws to a close, we thought we’d reflect on a some of our favourite scientific papers from 2017. There were only five entrants this year, but representing a broad range of work from across ecology and evolution, as chosen by PhD students and postdoctoral researchers from the School of Natural Sciences. So, …
When you live in Ireland, it’s easy to forget that a good proportion of the world’s ecosystems regularly burn. In many regions, plants and animals have evolved to tolerate or even rely on fire. My recent paper investigates the factors that drive the success of an Australian gecko after fire. I found that the geckos …
Continue reading “What happens to animals when their habitat burns?”
Secret Vatican archives, xenophobia, de-extinction, parasitism and hoovers were just a few of the many topics on the menu at the 2017 School of Natural Sciences Lightning Talks. This annual event brought together 24 PhD students and Professors from across the Botany, Geography, Geology and Zoology disciplines to present their research and battle it out …
A recent study led by Sam Ross (Trinity College Dublin) and Dr. Nick Friedman and published in the journal Ecological Research, aims to ask how much we can learn from bioacoustic monitoring of ecosystems. Read more in the blog post snippet below, or see the full blog post on the IMECO blog: “A recent study led by …
Continue reading “If a tree falls in the forest, does it make a sound?”
EcoEvo@TCD is getting a new look – one focused around the work we do here in the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin. To get a broad picture of what goes on here at Trinity, we’ve put together some photos that represent a range of research and teaching activities from across the school. …