Biosciences Research Seminar

Upcoming Seminars

2026

Thursdays (in term time) 1–2 pm in the Zoology Museum, Wallace Building, Singleton Campus. For any inquiries, please contact Dr Eva Sonnenschein e.c.sonnenschein@swansea.ac.uk.

Date	Speaker	Seminar Title
2 April	Dr Amir Patel, UCL, UK	Decoding Wild Animal Behaviour and Locomotion Through the Lens of Robotics
26 March	Dr Fredric Windsor, Cardiff University, UK	Cascades and consequences: the impact of indirect effects on ecosystems
25 March, 1pm, Wallace 227	Dr Chiara Bertelli, Swansea University, UK	Habitat Suitability Modelling
10 March, 2pm, Margam 314	Dr Saule Akhmetkaliyeva, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK	Marine or terrestrial? Deciphering carbon sources in Irish saltmarshes
19 February, 2pm, Zoology Museum	Dr William Pearman, University of Auckland, New Zealand	A Cry for Kelp: Microbiome dynamics and methodological challenges in studying southern bull kelp
17 February, 2pm, Margam 311	Dr Gary Tam, Swansea University, UK	Seeing Like Humans: Perception-inspired Computer Vision and 3D Learning and a Workshop on Connecting your Bioscience Research Challenges with New AI Approaches
3 February, 2pm	Giulia Cenzi (Università degli Studi di Torino / Swansea University)	Andean condors as atmospheric sentinels
27 January, 2pm	Dr Crinan Jarrett (Swiss Ornithological Institute, Switzerland) and Dr Tom Fayle (Queen Mary University of London, UK)	Ecological Interactions and Global Change

2025 Seminars

Thursdays (in term time) 1–2 pm in the Zoology Museum, Wallace Building, Singleton Campus. For any inquiries, please contact Dr Eva Sonnenschein e.c.sonnenschein@swansea.ac.uk.

Date	Speaker	Seminar Title
4 December 10am	Dr. Katherine Helliwell, University of Exeter and Marine Biological Association, UK	Molecular insights into abiotic and biotic factors shaping diatom ecophysiology and signalling
3 December 2025, 11am, Wallace 218	Dr. Gonzalo Araujo, Qatar University (Qatar) and Marine Research and Conservation Foundation (UK)	Status and Conservation of the world's largest fish: the whale shark
28 November 11am	James Cheesman, CertisBelchim, UK	An overview of Certis Belchim - A global crop protection company that provides solutions for farmers and growers.
17 July	Dr Erin Dillon, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, USA	Reconstructing shark communities on coral reefs over millennia
10 July	Dr Pan Prasongpholchai, University of Warwick, UK	Development of a synthetic biology toolkit for heterologous gene expression in the oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus
08 July	Lorna Mugambi & Yuri Njathi, Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, Kenya	Exploration of machine learning in camera trapping and bioacoustics
10 June, 10am	Dr Claudio Fuentes-Grünewald	Saudi Arabia as the new worldwide hot spot for large-scale microalgae cultivation
15 May	Dr Hemal Naik, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Germany	Measuring Behavioral Variations in Wild Animals Using 3D Computer Vision and AI
03 Apr	Dr Martin How, University of Bristol, UK	From waving crabs to stalking cuttlefish: task-dependent channels of vision
11 Mar	Dr Lily Pauls, Natural Resources Wales, UK	What do we need to know? Marine Evidence Needs in Natural Resources Wales
20 Feb	Dr Jon Bielby, Liverpool John Moore's University, UK	Pets, propagule pressure, and potential invasive species: The role of the UK exotics pet trade and invasive species
7 Feb 10:30am	Dr Elisa Thébault, Sorbonne University of Paris and CNRS, France	Species Diversity, Food Web Structure and the Temporal Stability of Ecosystems
30 Jan	Dr Jon Lefcheck, University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science, USA	Green Plant on a Red Planet: Seagrasses in the Face of Climate Change Along the US East Coast

2024 Seminars

Thursdays (in term time) 1 – 2 pm in the Zoology Museum, Wallace Building, Singleton Campus. For any inquiries, please contact Dr Eva Sonnenschein e.c.sonnenschein@swansea.ac.uk.

Date	Speaker	Seminar Title
19 Dec	Dr Jamie Bojko, National Horizons Centre, Teesside University, UK	Nudiviruses in free-living and parasitic arthropods: evolutionary taxonomy.
6 Dec	Dr Martin Sperling, ETH Zurich, Switzerland	Harnessing a coral model to unravel microbial interactions across kingdoms
5 Dec	Dr Constanze Kuhlisch, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel	Eavesdropping on the metabolic crosstalk in marine algal blooms
26 Nov	Tomos Watson	Environmental Plastics Seminar
14 Nov	Dr Kevin Watts, Forest Commission UK	Woodland creation & biodiversity: learning from the past, present & future
29 Oct	Dr Mark Spalding, University of Cambridge	Mapping Ocean Wealth: quantifying marine ecosystem services at large scales
17 Oct	Prof. Erin McClymont, Durham University	Variability in snow petrel foraging and its implications for reconstructing past Antarctic sea ice and ice sheet thinning histories
10 Oct	Dr Luiz Gustavo R. Oliveira-Santos, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil	Spatial compartmentalization: A nonlethal predator mechanism to reduce parasite transmission between prey species
3 Oct	Dr Pablo Orozco Ter Wengel, Cardiff University	Conservation genetics in the fragmented landscape of the Kinabatangan River (Borneo)
4 July	Prof. Jim Bull/Dr Will Allen	Workshop on “Doctoral training networks”
27 June	Dr Ed Pope	Exploring crustacean biology at Swansea University
20 June	Dr Matt Tarnowski	Growing microbial communities for the identification of plastic-degrading enzymes
6 June	Dr John Griffin	Workshop on “Scanning the Biosciences funding horizon”
2 May	Prof Carlos Garcia de Leaniz, Swansea University	From broken rivers to free-flowing rivers
11 April	Dr Alla Silkina, Swansea University	Application of algal cultivation technology to convert waste nutrients in the context of circular bioeconomy
21 March	Prof Sonia Consuegra, Swansea University	Less can be more: Understanding the adaptive role of epigenetics using naturally inbred fish
7 March	Dr Kim Stokes, Swansea University	Depth-use ecology of sea turtles
29 Feb	Dr Dan Forman, Swansea University	‘Otterly’ Ecological
22 Feb	Prof Boris Schröder-Esselbach, TU Berlin	Coastal ecosystem services, restoration of seagrass meadows, and spatiotemporal dynamics of brackish marshes – ecological modelling provides key contributions to coastal ecology
8 Feb	Brandon Shaw, Loughborough University	Accessory to Murder: Carnivorous Plants Host Diverse Fungal Endophyte Communities Driven by Host Functional Traits
18 Jan	Prof Tariq Butt, Swansea University	Metarhizium, a multifunctional fungus
11 Jan	Billy Moore, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology	Effects of marine warming on the metabolism and transcriptome of clownfish

2023 Seminars

Date	Speaker	Seminar Title
7 Dec	Dr Siraprapa Mahanil, Mae Fah Luang University	Fungi as a resource for bioactive secondary metabolites: Application and Limitation
30 Nov	Dr Josh Arbon, University of Bristol	How jackdaws learn socially about each other and their world
16 Nov	Dr Cai Ladd, Swansea University
8 Nov	Dr Ricardo Martinez-Garcia, Centre for Advanced Systems Understanding	To leave or not to leave: a mechanistic model for the decision-making process behind ungulate partial migration
26 Oct	Dr Cedric van der Berg, University of Bristol	Implications of Quantitative Visual Modelling
12 Oct	Dr Steve Slocombe, Swansea University	The Future is Red