Tagged With: agriculture
The petri dish dinner party – a solution served up by science
Philippa Skett is an intern at the Society of Biology helping out with Biology Week 2013. This year in partnership with the Global Food Security programme we have developed classroom resources about where our food comes from, and just how many resources our food production needs. The concept of food security may be an alien one to many, although it … Continue reading
The meadows of Transylvania – a biodiversity hotspot
Dr Barbara Knowles FSB, Senior Science Policy Adviser at the Society of Biology, devotes much of her time to preserving Transylvania’s hay meadows. Dr Laura Bellingan FSB, Head of Policy at the Society of Biology, visited her recently and has written about her experience: If I’m asked to think of biodiversity hot-spots worthy of conservation, wilderness … Continue reading
Feeding Life – Photography Competition 2013
Jenni Lacey from the Society of Biology explores inspiration for this year’s photography competition Like most people my taste and eating habits have dramatically changed over the years. Influenced first by family habit, tradition and what was put in front of me, and later by new surroundings, culture and choice, I’ve thankfully now developed a … Continue reading
Are neonicotinoids distracting us from the bigger picture?
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology The much awaited vote by EU member states on the potential neonicotinoid ban takes place on Monday. There has been strong environmental lobbying to encourage Environment Minister Owen Patterson to vote in favour of a ban, but to what extent is the fate of bees really hanging on this … Continue reading
Farming and the environment: Biology Week Q&A
Dr Frances Downey, Public Liaison at Sense About Science, writes about the Biology Week event: Environmental scientists answer your questions: How does farming affect the environment? This summer, when plant scientists from Rothamsted Research appealed for discussion not destruction when their GM wheat crop was under threat, the public came out in support. More than … Continue reading
bTB or not bTB? How to control it is still the question
Guest post by Catherine O’Connor, Epidemiologist for the Health Protection Services, discussing the badger cull As an epidemiologist, my job is to understand the how, what, when, where and whys of disease transmission. Though we now possess much fancier tools than those used by the father of epidemiology, John Snow (he of the Broad Street … Continue reading
Amazing plant facts from PlantSci
The Society of Biology hosted its first academic conference this week, which was a huge success. I certainly learnt a lot from the talks at PlantSci 2012, and thought I’d share some of my top facts. The conference opened with an inspiring address from Professor John Beddington, the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor. He spoke of … Continue reading