For my final reflection of this module, I am going to talk about the main sections of the module and explain my thoughts on each section and the benefit of these sections regarding future employment.

Scientific seminars:

The purpose of this section of the module was to attend at least six seminars based on a wide range of scientific seminars that were hosted almost every Friday afternoon. Having these seminars hosted on almost every Friday was fantastic, as it gave us lots of time to schedule around, and also meant the variety of topics given throughout the year was vast. We were advised to attend seminars on topics that we were not familiar with, so as to broaden our scientific knowledge, and enable us to understand areas of employment that we may not have considered previously. This was an approach I took, and I actually found it incredibly useful and interesting to attend seminars presented by lecturers from different universities that were working on projects that I would never have considered prior to attending the seminars – some of which are certainly interesting.

In general, I found the talks to be very well presented, with the speakers for each seminar being engaging and very interested in the topic which they were presenting, which reflected on the audience and made it interesting to listen to.

Christian Dunn’s lectures:

I found Christian’s section of the module to be the most ‘eye-opening’ as the section was based around using social media to enhance your employability via the writing of blogs – such as this one, as well as using social media profiles to raise your own profile. Christian gave tips particularly on blog writing – which have hopefully been realised through this bog – and tips around raising your own search engine rating and setting up social media profiles in a professional way.

The creation of a professional twitter allows you to network with other individuals and companies which allows you to engage with others that are also interested in the same topics as you, and potentially opens up opportunities in the future.

The tips given by Christian were certainly very useful regarding employability, and I am sure that the creation of a professional social media profile in the future will prove to be very useful. Christian’s experience in this area was apparent, and his enthusiasm in this area was clear, which helped to make this section of the module engaging and interesting.

CV writing:

This section was presented by Clare Brass and was designed to refine our CV writing skills by highlighting common mistakes and teaching us what information is important for the CV, and what is unnecessary. Clare gave a wide variety of tips that I will implement in any future CV writing that I do, particularly formatting techniques. Clare also gave us useful information regarding websites that are advertising jobs based in the biology and zoology area, as well as instructing us about some employers choosing against advertising through agencies, and rather advertising through their own website / social media for more specialist roles. This was very useful information to me, and was something that I hadn’t thought of previously, as I would have only looked for jobs through these agencies.

Additionally, the workshop based around the assessment centre was useful because it again gave me a number of tips that I wouldn’t have otherwise considered and being able to interview others during the workshop was a very useful experience, allowing me to understand what an interviewer expects from the interviewee.

My only complaints with this section of the module from a personal point of view would be the length of this section, as I feel that the lectures could have been condensed.

Chris Walker’s business and entrepreneurship:

This was the section of the module that I personally enjoyed the most, as starting a business is something I have been interested in since a young age and being given a model plan and advised in the ways presented by Chris was very interesting and forced me to think of factors that I wouldn’t have otherwise considered. Should I decide to start a business in the future, be it biology based or not, I am certain that I will come back to the plan presented by Chris, and take into consideration all of the tips that he gave.

The lectures presented by Chris – whilst informative and interesting – were probably a bit too long considering the amount of content that was present in each session, just like Clare’s session, I believe it would also be possible to condense this portion of the module.

Overall

Overall, I certainly believe that this module was very useful. The writing of a blog in this style is something that I have never considered before, but writing in this style has been a change of pace and something that I have enjoyed, and may continue in the future.

I have learned a lot of tips throughout this module, with highlights being using social media to increase your own employability, and how to bring a business idea to life using a well thought out plan. Additionally, the tips presented by Clare were very useful, and I hope that they will help to make my CV stand out from the other candidates.

My only criticism for this module would be the length of the CV writing lectures and the business plan lectures, with my personal opinion being that they could have been condensed, but this may be because of previous lectures being given to me on these topics, making it feel as though many tips were being unnecessarily repeated.

This seminar was presented by Chris Clark from The University of Sheffield. It was based on how the techniques for recreating ancient glaciers have advanced throughout time, and how studying the retreat of ancient glaciers can help us to better model how glaciers today might retreat. This is so we can better understand what the effects of future glacier retreats may be, such as the glaciers of the Arctic, etc.

How has the study of glaciology advanced throughout time? 

Prior to the digital era, glaciologists would travel from place to place studying land-forms in order to gain an idea of  how far the ancient glaciers may have reached. This was clearly a time consuming method, and limited the coverage that the glaciologists were able to cover. As the digital era has advanced, satellite images have made this area much more accessible and is a much less time consuming technique that also allows for more accurate review of the land-forms.

Furthermore, techniques such as radiocarbon dating, etc. have enabled glaciologists to accurately distinguish when the glaciers started to retreat, and from this data, they can compare data points to distinguish factors such as the speed of glacier retreat. One area whereby carbon dating is utilised is through the analysis of sea cores, a method that involves venturing into the sea and taking samples from the seabed. The resulting cores taken from the seabed sometimes contains sediment that dates back to the last glaciation, and carbon dating allows glaciologists to determine when the transition from glaciation sediment to non glaciation sediment occurred.

What is the importance of glaciology?

Glaciologists today are still not decided upon whether ice sheets decrease in a steady downwards line, or whether the decrease is much more up-and-down. One reason for this uncertainty is due to the method which glaciologists use to study glaciers not being universally decided upon, as there are currently three main techniques – these are; glacial geology, glaceology, and glacial isotasy. It has been proposed that these techniques should be merged together to form one universal technique, but this has not yet happened.

The importance of studying glaciology is obvious, and has never been more obvious. The current reduction of glaciers and subsequent rise in sea levels is happening at alarming rates, and the study of glaciology helps us to better understand how the decrease of the glaciers today might have an impact on the sea levels.

My thoughts

I really enjoyed the talk presented by Chris because glaciology is an area that I had very little knowledge about prior to the seminar, and I came away from the seminar feeling almost like an expert. The area of glaciology is one of clear importance, and I believe that through research such as the study of the past ice sheet of Britain and Ireland, we will eventually be able to gain a solid understanding of the way in which glaciers retreat so that in the future, we can predict the trends of the glaciers on Earth today.

 

Chris Walker is highly experienced in business and organisation development and gave a three lecture series into the creation of a biology based business.

Business is an area that has always interested me but is something that throughout my education I have never put any attention towards. Chris’s lectures, therefore, were very promising to me, because this was to be my first real experience of being taught about business. Furthermore, this lecture series was given prior to my biotechnology module, which included a biotechnology start-up exercise, so I was hopeful that these lectures would give me a head-start for this future exercise.

Chris talked a lot about innovating, and creating a business that will be able to solve a real first world problem, satisfying customer needs, etc. Chris also got us to think of a biological business that might be useful in the real world. This got me thinking about problems today that could be solved with a biological company. One such idea included tackling problems such as tackling waste caused by plastic bags via the production of renewable plastic bags using materials such as bacterial cellulose.

One particular point Chris made that was particularly interesting to me was the difference between male and female energy within a business. Chris mentioned male energy being compartmentalised and female energy being intertwined. Chris explained that this means that genders have different skill sets that they are better suited to, meaning that they often excel in different roles. This was a point that I have never considered before, but certainly makes sense.

Chris also talked about allocating resources towards four main categories. These categories were; Physical, Intellectual, Human and Financial. Chris talked about the importance of all four areas, and how it is important to divvy up resources between all categories to increase the likelihood of a successful business. This was interesting to me because prior to this, I would have only focused on areas such as physical and financial resources, and barely considered factors such as human and intellectual resources.

To conclude, I would say that Chris Walker’s lectures did live up to the expectations I had set, and Chris gave me several pointers and tips that I would have never previously considered had I not attended the lectures. Chris gave a lot of information about creating a business, but I believe he could have possibly tailored this towards a more biological point of view, especially when considering the resource allocation, etc. Finally, I also think this could have been condensed into a two part lecture series rather than three part.

 

This workshop was aimed at formulating a plan for a business by  following 9 different categories. These categories were designed to increase the likelihood of a successful business by accounting for different factors that typically make or break a business.

These 9 different categories were grouped together and named the business model canvas, and below I have set out what these 9 categories were and the purpose behind them:

• Key partners – What are the key businesses you will be working with? What tasks will these businesses fulfil? – can’t do all tasks yourself initially.
• Key activities – What are the main activities that will take place within the business?
• Key resources – What are the resources you require to complete the key activities? – physical, intellectual, human, financial?
• Value propositions – What does your business offer to its customers? What specific problems might your company solve in the real world? What is the purpose of the company, to lower costs, etc.?
• Customer relationships – What type of relationship will you establish with your customers, and how do you intend to maintain these relations? How costly are maintaining these relationships?
• Customer segments – What is your target market? – mass market, niche market?
• Channels – How do you intend to gain attention for your business and sell your products? Which channels work best and are most cost-efficient?
• Cost structure – What will be your expenses in order to advance and maintain the business? Will you weight your costs one way?
• Revenue streams – How will you fund the costs?

These categories are designed to interact with one another in order to ensure a successful business model.

This workshop was also particularly useful for me due to one of my modules including a task of proposing a start up biotechnology company, and taking this workshop allowed me to incorporate ideas from the workshop into the proposed start-up biotechnology company. For example, considering factors such as channels and customer relationships were not factors I would have considered paying attention to when typically designing a biotechnology company, but proved to be areas which when given further attention made a lot of sense.

 

 

Another significant point given in the workshop was not to fall in love with your first business plan, and rather aim to create multiple different plans as it is likely that in your first plan you will not consider all of the necessary areas.

This workshop was really beneficial and interesting to me as entrepreneurship and business is something I take great interest in, and having previously tried very small businesses as a child as a hobby, actually having an example business plan was very interesting. Should I find myself building an actual company in the future, I’m sure the areas proposed in this grid will be brought to my attention.

The business plan used in this workshop was designed by strategyzer, who can be found here.

 

 

 

This workshop was designed to put us students into scenarios that we should expect to encounter in the real world in the future, such as interviews and teamwork.

The initial stage of the workshop included an introduction into assessment centre workshops and the importance of them to large companies.

The first task of the workshop focused on teamwork under pressure, something which is very common and the ability to do so effectively is admired by all employers. The task included assessors which would patrol around the hall writing down notes – presumably to add to the pressure of the task. The task itself required us to read through a brief and complete what was on the brief in the tight time-frame which we were given.

My team managed to complete the task in the time which we were allocated, and having worked in high pressure situations with my previous work experience in retail, gave me the same amount of relief and satisfaction as previous scenarios which I have encountered in work. Simply put, the task was very well designed.

After this task, we were given a slight break, during which the assessors would again patrol around the hall making notes on the social interaction and punctuation within groups .

 

The next stage was the interview scenario, which was the one I was hoping to be the most useful. This task involved being both the interviewer, which was a task I found particularly difficult, and the interviewee.

Each group member was designated a role and we were thrown straight into the task. We were required to ask three questions as the interviewer, and therefore, answer three questions from the interviewer. Being the interviewer was a unique experience for me as it is something I would never have expected to be doing at the workshop, but I found it useful as it got me thinking as to what sorts of questions interviewers would find important, and the sorts of answers they would expect to get.

After being the interviewer, we were required to give feedback to the people who we were interviewing. This was useful because it gave me the chance to see the sorts of answers that others would give to the questions which I designed, and by comparing how I would have answered those questions myself, this gave me useful ideas for the future.

In conclusion, I found the workshop to be very useful and thought provoking. Being placed under pressure during the teamwork exercise was a rewarding experience which as previously mentioned reminded me of being back at work in retail. Additionally, the interview task was thought provoking due to having to both think and answer three questions with very little time given to prepare the questions and answers. This was useful as thinking of questions on the spot is something that is a skill required to do well when interviewed in the real world.

This seminar was presented by Darren Evans from Newcastle University and was based around building ecological networks and how molecular ecology methods such as metabarcoding can be used to further advance and aid in the process of building said ecological networks.

 

What are ecological networks?

Ecological networks, as the name suggests, are networks that link the interactions between organisms within an ecosystem. This is a method that allows ecologists to clearly see which organisms are interacting with other organisms, and the importance that different organisms have on an ecosystem.

The data from ecological networks therefore allows conservationists and ecologists to identify the impact that the removal of a species can have on the ecosystem. This is known as robustness, which is characterised as the secondary extinction of a species predicted by the primary extinction of another species. This therefore gives you an idea of the effect of a species’ extinction.

Gaining an idea of the robustness of an ecological network is therefore useful because it allows you to distinguish between the robustness of different networks to see which systems are more robust, and which are less so, allowing focus to be placed on those which are more vulnerable and thus less robust.

Along with varying robustness between ecological networks, robustness can also vary between animal groups. This therefore allows a better understanding of the importance of different species.

Habitat loss scenario algorithms can be used to identify disproportionately important habitats based on the robustness of the ecological network, and this therefore allows ecologists and conservationists to properly allocate their time and resources into those systems which are most vulnerable.

 

What is the advantage of metabarcoding?

For years ecologists have simply observed in the field the interactions between different species to create a network. This is clearly time consuming, and can also lead to some cryptic species going unnoticed and thus not mapped. The rise of molecular ecology has therefore made the process easier and more thorough. Nested metabarcode techniques can be used to create a species network to identify who is interacting with who.

Metabarcoding therefore makes it easier and less time consuming to identify the species that are present within an ecosystem, and the interactions that are taking place between those said species in the ecosystem. An example of metabarcoding could include the analysis of faecal matter of top predators, allowing for previously unnoticed relationships to be mapped

My thoughts

As part of my third year, I decided to take part in the molecular ecology module, and thus the talk presented by Darren was very interesting as I was able to see how molecular methods such as metbarcoding can be used with real-world examples being used.

The mapping of ecological networks is clearly essential to conservation and ecology as it allows us to clearly identify the importance of individual species within different ecosystems, and the ability to compare robustness between different networks and species allows ecologists to divide up their resources into those networks which are most at risk.

 

This seminar was presented by Tom Price from Liverpool University and was based around ‘driver’ chromosomes which are known to destroy other chromosomes to ensure that they are inherited during sexual reproduction.

What are driver chromosomes?

Driver chromosomes are known to destroy other chromosomes to ensure that their genetic information is passed on to the next generation.

X chromosome meiotic drive is where the sex chromosome eliminates the alternative sex chromosome, such as the Y chromosome.

Driver chromosomes are known to rapidly spread through a population due to their ability to essentially ‘out-compete’ any other chromosome by deleting it during sexual reproduction.

 

 

 

What is the issue with driver chromosomes?

As previously eluded to, sex chromosome meiotic drive eliminates the alternative sex chromosome. When using humans as an example, an X chromosome meiotic drive, which eliminates the Y chromosome, would lead to a heavy female biased ratio.

This leads to one male per 10 females, or often even more extreme, which is an issue because the genetic variability of the population decreases, and populations with low genetic variability are more susceptible to extinction from diseases.

Fortunately, often a new population arises with resistance to the drive, which then rapidly spreads through the population and causes the sex ratio to return back to normal.

A study was also carried out in Western America on Drosophilia pseudoobscura which found that ‘driver males’ suffer in sperm competition. Therefore, if a female is to mate with many males, she can reduce the effect of the driver males. Monandry can often lead to the extinction of a population because no males are left. This, therefore, often leads to increased polyandry in populations that are exposed to driver males. One issue, however, is that females are unable to distinguish between driver males and normal males.

Driver chromosomes can also lead to conflictual speciation. If populations become isolated from one another, and one population evolves a driver chromosome system, these two populations may adapt differently which can eventually lead to reproductive isolation.

 

 

How are driver chromosomes utilised?

Due to gene drive spreading rapidly throughout a population, the system can be modified with replacement technology which can insert genes into the driver chromosome. This would allow for a gene to be rapidly integrated into a population which can have many useful applications.

One such example could be inserting resistance to a particular disease into a driver chromosome that is added to a population to quickly prevent the population being susceptible to the disease.

My thoughts

I found the seminar presented by Tom Price to be extremely informative and enjoyable. The concept of using driver chromosomes to integrate genes into a population seems very promising and is an idea that is very interesting.

Tom also pointed out that scientists aren’t actually certain what causes these driver chromosomes to arise and additionally eluded to scientists not knowing how important driver systems are due to the sheer quantity of different number of systems present in different populations. This, therefore, makes it a very interesting topic to look into in the future.

 

 

This section of the module was presented by Clare Brass, who is an expert in recruitment, and the content was based on writing a Curriculum Vitae (CV). The content specifically highlighted three common mistakes to avoid, which I have highlighted in this post.

Over-writing

When writing a CV, many people struggle to cram the information they believe to be essential on to just one side of A4. The CV is what the employer will use to generate a first impression of you, so it is essential that you make use of the space.

An example of maximising the space would be to mention your previous job experience, and what YOUR achievements were within this role and how this job has benefited YOU and how these achievements and benefits will make you a valuable employee. A common mistake Clare highlighted was explaining what your previous job entailed, which is something employers already know, and thus is wasted space.

Non-backed up claims

This point highlighted by Clare is the one that resonated the most with me. Many people will list their qualities and their strengths, but will not provide any evidence for these claims.

For example, stating you’re good at working in a team is not enough, you should mention what has enabled you to work well in a team, giving an example where possible. If you have previous experience in retail, this would be a perfect time to use why working in retail has enabled you to flourish and given you the experience required to be good at working in a team, etc.

Avoid bullet pointing qualifications

This particular point was useful to me as it was one that I had not considered before. Clare mentioned that it was important to put the most relevant qualifications in a linear point, rather than in a list.

Clare also explained how it was useful to point out the most relevant qualifications when writing a CV. For example, if I were to apply for a job based in biological sciences, it would be useful to state my qualifications as so:

GCSE: 12 Qualifications including Biology (B), Chemistry (A) and Maths (B)

By doing this, the employer can immediately see your strengths in the area to which you are applying.

My thoughts

As I am coming to the end of my academic tuition, I found this content very useful. As pointed out by Clare, the CV is the employers first view of you, and thus is of utmost importance. The content presented pointed out tips that I had not considered before, such as listing qualifications in linear format, and providing reasoning for your listed qualities, etc.

 

This Seminar was presented by Sarah Elton of Durham University with focus being placed on the red colobus monkey, an endangered species in Africa, and the evolutionary, ecological and biogeographic influences on the radiation of the monkeys.

What are red colobus monkeys?

Red colobus monkeys belong to the Piliocolobus genus and are native to central and western Africa.

This genius is becoming increasingly popular in research due to most species of the genius being endangered, predominantly due to threat from humans and the heavy hunting pressure from chimpanzees.

50% of the red colobus species are currently threatened with extinction, so research is being done to identify what in particular is driving these species to extinction.

 

What have been the effects of radiation?

It is estimated that the red colobus monkey population probably became fragmented from the late Pliocene era, which is around 2.8 million years ago.

The result of this fragmentation of Red colobus species include monkeys in the west having a greater cranial size, and this decreases in size as you go further east. One proposed reason for this is the difference in rainfall, with more food being available in areas with greater rainfall.

The difference in morphology was calculated via geometric morphometrics which compares morphology using points on the bone which can then be compared and used to identify differences. A good example of this method can be found below:

Further morphological differences can be found in the Zanzibar red colobus which is smaller than other red colobus species. One proposed reason for this is due to animals on islands typically getting smaller over time.

Why are red colobus monkeys under threat?

There are a range of factors that are threatening red colobus monkeys, but the major threats are anthropogenic.

An increase in deforestation has led a significant reduction in habitat and resource availability. This, coupled with the monkey being hunted for meat and pet markets has contributed to its significant decline in numbers.

As previously eluded to above, the pressure from chimps is also significant. At Gombe National Park in Tanzania, Stanford estimated that chimps were killing close to a fifth of the colobus population within their territory – a significant proportion.

 

My thoughts

This seminar presented by Sarah was of particular use to me due to one of my current modules being based around primatology.

I found the seminar to be useful as it furthered my knowledge on the evolution of red colobus monkeys, as well as the effects different ecological factors can have on the evolution of different fragmented populations. The evolution of fragmented populations is an area that greatly interests me, and so seeing an example in the wild was very interesting to me.

I think that to ensure the survival of the red colobus monkey, natives should be educated on the importance of the red colobus monkey to areas such as tourism, and the effect that hunting is having on the population size of the red colobus monkey.

 

This Seminar was presented by Richard Buggs from Royal Botanic Garden Kew and was based around the genomics of trees and how to best ensure trees that are currently under threat from diseases such as ash dieback can be best saved.

What are the main threats?

Richard Buggs focused on a disease called ash dieback which is a fungal disease that blocks the water transport system in ash trees which leads to leaf loss and the eventual death of the tree.

The disease was first found in Poland in 1992 and has since spread across Europe, first being identified in Britain in 2012.

Summer is the best time to identify symptoms of ash dieback as during autumn and winter the trees will naturally be shredding their leaves. Symptoms include:

• Tips of shoots become black and shrivelled
• Blackened, dead leaves
• The veins and stalks of leaves turn brown
• From July to October white fruiting bodies can be found on blackened leaf stalks

The other threat Richard eluded to is that caused by the Emerald ash borer, which is a beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and the larvae feed underneath the bark of the ash, causing the ash tree to die within two to three years.

 

 

What can we do?

There are a number of proposed solutions to prevent the rapid spread of ash dieback.

One such proposal involves cutting down trees that are identified as having ash dieback to prevent this tree from spreading the disease.

Another solution includes breeding native tolerant ash trees based on their phenotype. This would therefore result in ash trees being grown that are resistant to the disease and thus would not be affected by the spread of ash dieback.

Broad leaved trees, such as ash, have relatively small genome sizes, with ash sitting at 0.9 Gbp (billion base pairs). This therefore makes the genome easy to work with, making the identification of ash dieback resistant trees viable.

Due to the relatively small genome size of ash trees and other broad leaved trees, methods such as trans-genetics become viable, which is the transfer of genetic information across families, allowing for disease resistant genes to be passed from tree species to tree species.

Ash trees were studied to detect different abilities to resist the emerald ash borer. Trees that had resistance and were evolutionary different were compared and the similarities were proposed as candidate genes for resistance. Two such candidate genes were found. This is a good example of how the genomic comparison of trees could allow for such threats to trees to be eliminated in the future, or at least allow the threat to be managed.

 

My thoughts

I really enjoyed the seminar presented by Richard. Genomics is an area of Biology that I take great interest in, and seeing how its application can be used in the real world to solve real issues was very useful to me. This seminar re-enforced my interest in genomics and helped me to see how important genomics is to the future.