Professor Timothy Schowalter argues that a better understanding of insect contributions to ecosystem services will improve our ability to sustain delivery of ecosystem services. Read full article here.
I am delighted to have been awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship to carry out research at the Université de Rennes 1 in France. The research, in collaboration with Professor Joan van Baaren and Global cosmetics company Yves Rocher, will investigate potential synergistic and antagonistic relationships between ecosystem services. Industrial partner Yves Rocher, who are constantly seeking to improve their production system and develop sustainable biodiversity management, devote 100% of their industrial sites as biodiversity refuges. The research aims to elucidate how we may utilise functional agricultural biodiversity to optimise ecosystem service provision and function at the landscape scale.
In the latest MCSB podcast, I had the pleasure of talking to Chief Technician Paul Paterson to learn more about his successful career as a technician at the University of Glasgow. He provides insightful advice to those wishing to pursue a technical career in science, discusses his views on the Technician Commitment and shares his passion for football.
It is always exciting to develop new skills and expand your research in new directions. During my time at the University of Glasgow, I was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to try my hand at confocal microscopy. As someone who came very close to pursuing a career in art instead of science, I found confocal microscopy a great way to combine my love of both science and art. I view the resultant images as beautiful pieces of artwork. In my latest paper recently accepted in Pest Management Science, I use confocal microscopy to map neuropeptide binding within the aphids. Who knows, maybe one day I will hang this image alongside the Schieles and Basquiats.
In my experience, two types of scientists exist; those who persist in a state of complete chaos and share their bench space with mounds of empty pipette tip boxes, teetering towers of printed manuscripts, broken computers and the odd sombrero (Pablo, I am talking to you!). And then there are others who seem incapable of making it through the day without a detailed to-do list and would turn pale at finding even a paper clip out of place. I am definitely the latter. I like things neat. I have therefore decided to move my research blog to this website so that everything is under one virtual roof. However, should anyone wish to access my old Tumblr research blog, you can do so here.
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