In October 2021 we continue digitally with fresh coffee and very exciting research! The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin once again invites you to the Digital Science Communication Cafe. This month in English. Get ready to get exciting insights from scientists into their work while drinking coffee in front of the screens in a relaxed atmosphere. Everyone is invited to ask questions and contribute to the conversation.
For this exciting edition, we invited Miguel Veiga, a doctoral candidate at the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin. The Department of Ecological Dynamics, which he is part of, investigates how individuals, populations or species communities "behave" in space and time and under various anthropogenically modified environmental conditions, such as overpopulation, pollution and deforestation. The working group seeks understanding on what affects the viability of animal populations along a gradient of altered landscapes and habitats. In particular, Miguel’s research focusses on the laboratory validation of immune-assays (a biochemical test that measures the presence or concentration of an antibody or an antigen). For this, samples of the spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) were collected.The spotted hyena is one of the most important carnivores in the Serengeti ecosystem and is both a hunter and a scavenger. This makes the spotted hyena an ideal model species to study questions on topics such as social behavior, host-pathogen dynamics, pathogen-host adaptations, and in Miguel’s case: immunology!
This approach ultimately allows for a clearer insight into the so far little explored field of Darwinian fitness consequences of infection in unmanaged animal populations. The ability of a population to survive in any environment, compared to other populations. Miguel Veiga is looking forward to sharing his knowledge and expertise on the aspects of spotted hyenas’ life-history with you. Bring a hot cup of coffee and all of your questions on spotted hyenas, parasites and Serengeti ecosystems!
Event information
- Topic: Immunology – Why do some populations survive in any environment?
- with Miguel Veiga, PhD student at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) in Berlin
- Moderation: Franziska Sattler
- Participation via Zoom and YouTube
Related links
- Information about the Experimental Field
- An overview of other digital offers can be found here: For Nature digital