Trinity College Dublin, Ecology and Evolution
“Green future”, “Green initiatives”, “Green energy” All references to the color green are impossible to avoid if we want to preserve or improve the environment. It is clear that “going green” is in, but which shade of green should we look at? There is the ‘bright electric green’, commonly posed on renewable energy advertisements and …
In Oscar Wilde’s comedy “The Importance of Being Earnest”, Cecily and Gwendolen want to marry a man named Ernest simply because of the name’s connotations. They are so fixated on the name that they would not consider marrying a man who was not named Ernest. The name, sounding like “earnest”, shows uprightness, inspires “absolute confidence”, …
Continue reading “The importance of being Earnest – The case of climate change”
The Easter Bunny apparently originated in German Lutherans’ traditions before 1682 when it was first mentioned in von Franckenau’s De ovis paschalibus. In France and Belgium however, it’s not a rabbit that hides eggs in the garden for Easter morning but flying bells coming back from Rome (they went there for their holidays since the …
Continue reading “The Easter bunny’s origins are linked with climate change”
Mathematics is the language of science and when it comes to biology this is no exception. It’s only when you start researching for yourself that you realise how useful a skill it is. Consider, for example, the mathematical approach that Graeme Ruxton and collaborators bring to their research in ecology and evolution. Ruxton has addressed …
Continue reading “Thunder lizards + methane = climate change”
The TCD Botany-Zoology Postgraduate Symposium made its annual return this month on the 7th and 8th of March for its 13th edition. This is a time when postgraduates and research assistants from the departments in the School of Natural Sciences could showcase their work and gain valuable experience presenting to peers. There was a diverse …
Continue reading “The 2024 TCD Botany-Zoology Symposium – a Roaring Success!”
We would like to say a big thank you and goodbye to the 2022/2023 editors Aedín McAdams and Luke Quill. Throughout the year they have provided a wide variety of posts including saying goodbye to Prof. Celia Holland and the annual 2023 Botany-Zoology Postgraduate Symposium. They were also responsible for the revival of the annual Photo …
We’re back with the last instalment of our two-part series showcasing the wonderful world of science podcasts. If the below list isn’t enough for you, don’t forget to check out Part 1 if you missed it! General Science This one is pretty self-explanatory! If you want to widen your knowledge of science to new topics, …
Continue reading “Fancy a listen? The podcasts our researchers are listening to: Part 2”
The start of term is here and with it you may be back from field work and starting to commute to campus again, or perhaps you are looking for an escape from those busy term-time work days, or maybe you are already a veteran podcast listener? Either way we’ve got you covered. We asked our …
Continue reading “Fancy a listen? The podcasts our researchers are listening to: Part 1”
by Midori Yajima How unlikely it is to think that many people who decided to dedicate themselves to a natural sciences-related field wondered at least once about the life of an eighteenth-century naturalist? Picture Alexander von Humboldt, Charles Darwin or Joseph Banks expeditions, or René Malaise and Gustav Eisen‘s impressive efforts in gathering human specimens …
After a hiatus during which the Symposium had to move online, the annual TCD Botany-Zoology Postgrad Symposium finally made it’s return to an in-person format at the start of June 2022 for its 11th edition. It was a great opportunity to for the departments of Botany and Zoology to come together and hear about the …
Continue reading “The Annual TCD Botany-Zoology Postgrad Symposium comes back with a bang!”