Singing in Harmony: How Humans, Animals and Ecosystems Co-Exist

As human beings, we have had a lot of industry. Our various industries have had a noticeable and irreversible impact on the planet. Such activities often result in waste products or by-products which, in the past, were dumped indiscriminately in places close to the centres of industry. In the UK, some of these sites have wildlife on them, various plants and animals have colonised these waste substrates, despite or, perhaps because of, the sites' chemistries and characteristics. We still have much to learn about the biodiversity found on such sites.

Discover the hidden world of insects and their homes all around you. Through exploring the needs of these small creatures, we can learn how to map and protect their environment. At the University of Glasgow, we are trying to map ecosystems, such as florally diverse grasslands using satellites and the public. How are we doing this and how can you help? Ecosystem Explorers like you can tell us if our mapping systems are working by surveying predicted grasslands across Scotland. You learn what these threatened creatures need to survive and why we require this information!

One Health demonstrates how the health of people, animals and the environment is highly inter-dependent and how creative approaches are needed to tackle disease threats and health inequalities that threaten people's lives and livelihoods. Most of my work has been carried out in Africa and I will draw on examples of diseases, such as rabies, to illustrate the wide-ranging impacts of diseases that can infect both people and animals, and the broader implications of these infectious diseases on food security, land-use and wildlife conservation.

Mosquitoes transmit a handful of parasites and viruses, causing thousands of deaths every year. Increasing temperatures due to climate change are making them migrate to new regions, exposing millions of people to new pathogens. To fight against this threat, new technology based on infrared lasers and artificial intelligence is being developed to monitor mosquito populations across the world.