Public Engagement
In addition to our academic research papers our members communicate their research to wider audiences, writing articles and blog posts for all those with an interest in seabirds, as well as making use of other forms of media such as Twitter.
- Several group members contributed to the 5th World Seabird Conference #WSTC5 this year. You can have a look at session summaries here. Make sure to check out the work of our masters students James Scarlett (@jvascarlett), Roselle Smith (@RoselleSmith_) and Klaudyna Maniszewska (@m_klaudyna).
- Cat Horswill recently wrote a blog post based on the ECR session at the 2018 BOU Conference containing lots of tips from academics from different career stages on how to have a successful career in ornithology. Lots of great tips!
- Ruedi Nager (@RuediNager), Laura Gordon (@laurabgordon) and Agnes Olin (@agnesbirgitta) all participated in the 4th World Seabird Twitter Conference #WSTC4. Try the hashtags #ForgEco1 and ForgEco2 to find the presentations!
- Storify of one of the sessions from the BOU Twitter Conference, which includes presentations both from Ruedi Nager and Agnes Olin: #BOU17TC Session 6
- Blog post by Cat Horswill on the importance of considering density dependence when evaluating the effect of wind farm developments on seabirds: Density-dependence and marine bird populations (original article)
- Another great blog post by Cat Horswill on penguin colony changes on South Georgia (including beautiful photographs!): Penguins on Parade
- Julie Miller was the well-deserving winner of the Best Data Story Prize at the Impact in Sixty Seconds Competition 2016. This competition looks to make a short communication of PhD projects that an audience of any age and ability can engage with. You can watch Julie's entry here.
- A Storify of a great Twitter-interation between Jana Jeglinski and willing strangers in Portugal who volunteered to help find one of our GPS tags which had washing up on a beach there: Crowdsourcing the hunt for GPS tag data
- How do parents respond to changing offspring energy demands throughout the breeding season? Blog post on the British Ornithologist's Union blog, written by Gail Robertson: Parental resource allocation varies throughout offspring development
- A research blog post by Jana Jeglinski describing her work in seabird population dynamics: Texting teenage gannets
- Article on the impact of wind farms on gannets from the German colony on Helgoland, featuring work between Jana Jeglinski and collaborators at the University of Kiel [German text]: Kieler Wissenschaftler sind den Basstölpeln auf der Spur, Hamburger Abendblatt.
- Where do seabirds forage? And why do we need to know? Blog post on the British Ornithologist's Union blog, written by Gail Robertson & James Grecian: Identifying offshore protected areas for seabirds. [Read the original research paper]
- Research Associate, Dr James Grecian, spoke to the online radio show 'The Naked Scientists' about his work assessing the impact of climate change on prion seabirds. This gives a great overview about prions, what they eat and how we can use this information to understand the impact of climate change on their foraging behaviour. You can read the transcript, or alternatively listen to the podcast (time slot: 35:55 - 41:20 min).
- A short article by the British Trust for Ornithology describes a recent research paper by Helen Wade, a PhD student and collaborator based at Environmental Research Institute - University of the Highlands and Islands. The research investigated the effect of marine renewable energy developments on an iconic northern seabird: Scottish skuas in changing seas. [Read the original research article]
- PhD student Cat Horswill recently published her work look at survival rates of macaroni penguins in South Georgia (in the southern Atlantic), showing a startlingly low survival rate in fledglings. Read more in a blog post written about the paper.
- A video featuring Dr James Grecian shows the lengths we go to to collect data recorders from our study species. The video was made by the New Zealand Department of Conservation and whilst primarily about shearwaters, features James' work with prions - a related species in the Procellariidae-family.
- Research by Professor Bob Furness and other colleagues in the Institute has looked at how to assess the impact of various marine renewable developments on seabirds. The research has been impactful, leading to reports that provide a framework for various stakeholders (Government regulators, landowners and developers) to guide the planning and consenting process: Assessing the impact of marine renewable energy on seabirds.
Several of our members have also written about their research for the institutes Naturally Speaking blog: