December 2020
The Opti-Mum condition: How brown bears use humans to prolong maternal care
Sexual conflict between males and females is well documented in the animal kingdom. Often, the best strategy for one sex is not the optimum for the other. In mammalian species, lactation of new mothers suppresses ovulation. Therefore, males gain a reproductive advantage (earlier mating opportunity) by forcing early mother-offspring separation. On the other hand, females […]
How Being Obvious Can Make You Discrete
Camouflage is all about staying hidden. Hiding is useful for animals because they’re less likely to get eaten - or are better able to sneak up on prey! So why do some animals display "flash behaviour", making them temporarily more obvious and undermining their camouflage?
Endophytes for Heavy Metal Bioremediation
Human activity has affected every part of the biosphere – the soil is no exception. Agricultural and industrial practices have deteriorated soil health, impacting ecosystem function as well as food security. For the past two years, I have been working with the e-Seed Start-up to develop an innovative technique called endophytic inoculation, which uses naturally […]