Shaping the Environment

Sea turtles have lived in our seas since the time of the dinosaurs. Never in their history have they faced the challenges for survival as they do today. All seven species of sea turtle are at risk for becoming extinct in the wild, being greatly affected by human activity at sea and on shore. This talk will explore the biology of sea turtles, how our activities impact their chances for survival, and what we can do to help ensure their continued existence.

The European eel (Anguilla anguilla) is an important commercial freshwater fish species. It has been exploited in nearly all of its range countries. Due to the species stock decline, it is currently classified as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Has been proven live European juveniles eels are illegally exported to Asia and Japan to be grown and farmed. The illegal trade is worth 2 Billion Pounds per year. Why do we like eels so much?

In many animals, from fishes and insects to birds and mammals, parents work together to look after their young. During these interactions, parents typically try to shirk their duties and shift as much of the workload as possible to their partner. This raises an important question: is it possible that the young might be better off with only one parent? Or is there actually a benefit to having both parents around despite this conflict between them? In my talk, I will describe an experiment we did to answer this question using burying beetles (also known as nature’s undertakers).