LOGIE, the female osprey who featured on The Scotsman’s Science & Environment pages last year, is to star in a BBC Radio 4 series called World on the Move – Great Animal Migrations. Logie’s migration south from Forres, in Moray, to West Africa was followed by Roy Dennis, who tracked the bird using a satellite tag. Her journey is plotted on his website at ||WEBSTART||www.roydennis.org
She arrived on Roxa Island, in Guinea-Bissau, on 29 September, and seems content to winter in the area, often sitting in the same tree and flying a few hundred metres to fish. Logie is due to feature on World on the Move starting on 12 February. Othe
r animals on the show include butterflies, elephants and whales. More details at
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemoveLoch Crenan guideTERRY Donovan, a marine biologist, has written a guide to Loch Creran, north of Oban. The loch is best known for its spectacular red, pink and orange serpulid reefs, an example of an extremely rare habitat, with only three other sites known elsewhere in the world. As well as exploring habitats such as shoreline and woodland, the guide describes the geology of Glen Creran, looks at current commercial and leisure activities such as fishing and diving and is peppered with historical facts and footnotes.
Donovan first approached the Marine and Coastal Development Unit at Argyll and Bute Council with the idea of producing a small guide to Loch Creran, working with Barcaldine Primary School and the local community.
Having gained the backing of the Local Biodiversity Partnership, the project was funded by Argyll and Bute Council, Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the WHELK Leader + programme.
The guide is available from Donovan on 01631 720498, the SNH office in Oban and several local outlets. Sales will fund conservation projects.
‘Extraordinary achievement’THE Birds of Scotland, the most detailed guide to our nation’s feathered species, has been named as Birdwatch magazine’s book of the year. The two-volume title, which was launched in January by environment minister Mike Russell, was even the subject of a motion in the Scottish Parliament, during which MSPs were asked to recognise that “the work represent an extraordinary achievement” and that Scotland leads the world in studying its bird life.
Family scienceVISITORS to the Sensation Science Centre in Dundee will next weekend get the chance to find out what their DNA looks like – and take it home as a necklace. They will also be able to watch videos of human cells growing and dying, see worms and parasites through a microscope and find out about the effects of climate change and flooding on Scotland.
Researchers from Dundee and Edinburgh universities and the Scottish Association of Marine Science will visit the centre on Saturday and Sunday to tell families more about the latest scientific studies. The event is being co-ordinated by the Scottish Institute for Biotechnology Education and has been funded by a science engagement grant from the Scottish Government.
“We have got some of the leading science researchers in the country opening up the work they do for a very broad family audience,” says Dr Lara Bennett from Dundee University. “This is a great way for young people to get involved with science and find out more about some of the biggest issues facing us today.”
For more information, visit
www.sensation.org.ukBryce’s bio-techPROFESSOR Charlie Bryce, head of the school of health, life and social sciences at Napier University in Edinburgh, has been re-elected as the vice president of the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB). At a recent meeting of the EFB’s executive board, the European Association for Higher Education in Biotechnology (HEduBT) was incorporated into the EFB. The HEduBT, of which Bryce is the secretary general, oversees the Eurodoctorate in Biotechnology, which helps students forge European links.
The full article contains 651 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
