British Ecological Society

Mar 04 2025 239 ep. 16 mins 475

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Podcasts from the British Ecological Society

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The Superb Lyrebird: Nature’s Ecosystem Engineer - The Story Behind the Paper

Mar 04 2025 25 mins

We spoke with Dr Alex Maisey, author of "Foraging activity by an ecosystem engineer, the superb lyrebird, ‘farms’ its invertebrate prey", to hear the story behind the paper. Alex also shared his personal journey into animal ecology and some unexpected sounds from a local lyrebird. You can read Alex's full paper, co-authored by Angie Haslem and Andrew F. Bennett, here: https://b

Ella Plumanns Pouton: How do intervals between fires influence canopy seed production and viability?

Jan 30 2025 36 mins

Functional Ecology author Ella Plumanns Pouton chats to Amelia Macho about her research article, 'How do intervals between fires influence canopy seed production and viability?' Ella's study sought to understand how the frequency of fire shaped the quantity of available cones and the seeds within those cones. Her findings, in the context of expected increases in wildfire frequency

ELM Network | Episode 1: What leadership looks like with Professor Yadvindar Malhi

Dec 02 2024 37 mins

As part of our 'Community' series, we’re launching a new series called the Emerging Leadership Management (ELM) Network, hosted by Professor Rob Brooker, Professor Thorunn Helgason, and Professor Pen Holland. The new BES ELM network is born out of a shared vision to help and celebrate researchers' transitions into management and leadership roles. In this episode, they intervie

Journal of Animal Ecology | Editor Expertise: Dr Lesley Lancaster

Nov 06 2024 28 mins

For our ‘Editor Expertise’ series, we will be meeting with each of our Senior Editors, who will share the reason they went into animal ecology, their current and future research focus, and their experience working as an editor for the Journal of Animal Ecology. Our aim is to spread awareness of their research area and give you a chance to get to know the editors behind the jour

Black History Month 2024: Mthokozisi Moyo on Research in Africa, Funding, and Representation

Oct 30 2024 21 mins

For Black History Month UK 2024, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Mthokozisi Moyo shares his experience in ecology and academia. Mthokozisi previously shared a blog post on The Applied Ecologist in 2022 detailing his background in African Ecosystems, Seasonality, and Functional Traits, and his thoughts o

Black History Month 2024: Damilola Olanipon on Mycorrhiza, Opportunities and Reclaiming Narratives

Oct 25 2024 29 mins

For Black History Month 2024, the British Ecological Society is celebrating the work of Black ecologists around the world. In this episode, Dr Damilola Grace Olanipon speaks to Amelia Macho about her experiences in the field, working on plant-mycorrhizal relationships in forest ecosystems. Damilola discusses the importance of reclaiming narratives for Black ecologists in Africa, as

Patrick Finnerty: Plant odour enables patch choice by mammalian herbivores from afar

Oct 24 2024 23 mins

Amelia Macho chats to Functional Ecology author Patrick Finnerty about his recently published research article "Odour information enables patch choice by mammalian herbivores from afar, leading to predictable plant associational effects". The team demonstrated that elephants can make patch choice decisions from afar using plant odour cues alone, and that these decisions lead to p

PhD student Nina Bosch on post-fire recovery in heathlands and her BES Annual Meeting experience

Oct 20 2024 15 mins

As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology. In this episode, we chatted with Nina Bosch, a PhD student from the University of York and a valuable member of the BES. Nina’s research focuses on the recovery of landscapes after fire disturbance in alpine heathlands with an emphasi

Special Interest Groups | Rewilding

Oct 08 2024 36 mins

As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology. In this episode, Lydia Groves is joined by eight committee members of the newly-launched Rewilding Special Interest Group. A range of topics are discussed, including what rewilding is, how it can be used effectively, and what the commit

Annual Meeting | In conversation with Dr. Rob Brooker

Oct 01 2024 15 mins

As part of our 'Community' series, we’re bringing together a global community of ecologists to discuss their experience and relation to ecology. In this episode, we are focusing on the most exciting event on the BES’s calendar – our Annual Meeting with renowned ecologist and a longstanding BES member Dr. Rob Brooker. Tune in to understand what makes this event such a specia