We're back for a short special this January - I talk to Dr Cassandra Raby about a paper she led evaluating the first Animal Behaviour Twitter conference back in 2021. What perfect timing to discuss this, as the Animal Behaviour Society/Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour joint Twitter conference is running again this week! (18th-19th Jan) So, consider this a perfect pairing if you are planning to check out that completely free and totally online conference ! Or, if you're listening in *the future* and already followed the conference, consider having a listen to hear more in depth what the metrics say about the value and impact of this sort of conference.

I'll be back to regular programming soon, so stay tuned for more great science in 2023!

• Cass' paper: An inclusive venue to discuss behavioural biology research: the first global Animal Behaviour Twitter Conference
• Cass on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cassie_Raby
• Follow the ABS/ASAB conference using #AnimBehav2023 on Twitter. Full program available here.

As always, your host is Dr Kirsty MacLeod; find me on Twitter/Insta @the_wee_podcast

In this episode I'm talking to Professor Nokwanda (Nox) Makunga about her fascinating research on medicinal plants and indigenous knowledge in the Cape region of South Africa. Today's paper in focus comes from Elisa Fernández Fueyo - an insightful comparative study looking at behaviour after infant loss in primates (content warning: if infant loss is a topic you'd rather skip, after my conversation with Nox, skip to 26:00). Lastly, I'm joined by two of the authors of a new study showing how colonial history and its effect on global economics influences our understanding of biodiversity through the fossil record - fascinating stuff! That's with returning guest Nussaïbah Raja Schoob, and Dr Devapriya Chattopadhyay.
Remember that I've dropped the dedicated email address - you can still contact me via the socials @the_wee_podcast.

Links and resources:

• Twitter handles: @noxthelion @elisaffueyo @mauritiantales @Devapriya_Chat
• Paper: Colonial history and global economics distort our understanding of deep-time biodiversity
• Paper in Focus: Why do some primate mothers carry their infant's corpse? A cross-species comparative study

Happy midsummer! Bringing you a cheerful episode - honest! - even though we broach a tough topic that we're all familiar with: rejection with a capital R. It seems like an unavoidable part of the academic and scientific life (and beyond), so I brought together a great group to talk through how we deal with it when it inevitably comes. My main guest today is Dr Elizabeth Carlen - as well as rejection, we talked about her work on urbanisation ecology! The two amazing guests joining Liz and I in the discussion are Dr Megan Petersdorf and Alexus Roberts. And the paper in focus this episode is such a cool one: everything you ever wanted to know about sperm morphology with Dr Ariel Karl (and possibly a little bit more 😂). Please note I'm dropping the dedicated email address at the end of this month! You can still contact me via the socials @the_wee_podcast.

Links and resources:

• Le Twitter handles: @E_Carlen @meganpetersdorf @Alexuss_Symone @arielkahrl
• Database of Sperm Morphology: https://spermtree.org
• Paper in Focus: Fertilization mode drives sperm length evolution across the animal tree of life.