Visible World

Bathed in perpetual darkness, the crushing depths of the oceans have long since captured the hearts and minds of scientists and authors alike. But with the oceans covering roughly 70% of the Earth’s surface, and much of it still “unexplored”, how do we really know what’s lurking on the seafloor? Join PhD student and oceanographer Oli Flanagan on a challenging journey to the bottom of the oceans to search for one of the most iconic ecosystems on Earth – The Black Oasis. Who knows, you may even find this journey to be quite literally “out of this world”!

How can we save one of the world's rarest birds? This talk explores the project addressing threats to the Great Indian Bustard, and how captive breeding or conservation has been successful, working with desert communities and securing a future for this iconic species of India's grasslands.

In the public imagination, there is a tendency to portray deep sea fishes as monsters. They are “terrifying aliens”, “black demons”, or omens of “doomsday”. They are the villains of animated films, ferocious, looming threats that lurk in the shadows. In this talk, I will make the case that, perhaps, we judge these little terrors a bit harshly. I will explain how many of the attributes that make deep sea fish appear sinister to us surface dwellers are actually ingenious adaptations to their challenging environment, try to convince you that many deep sea fish are rather beautiful and, finally, show how my research proves that we have to protect even the animals we find difficult to love.