Scientific posters produced by Hartpury University students as part of an assignment, recently went on display at the Slimbridge Wetland Wildlife Trust (Slimbridge WWT) for the second year running. The posters aimed to inform and educate visitors on the behaviour of wading birds.
The poster assignment is part of the Behavioural Ecology module, a requirement of Hartpury’s BSc (Hons) Zoology and BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Projects like this provide an exciting opportunity for students to use their skills to educate and inform the public.
This year, Kate Hall, Phoebe Ingram, Carlos Green, Molly Hines, Elizabeth Hollies, Ellie Little, and Rebecca Bonham from Hartpury’s BSc (Hons) Zoology and Kia Dunn from Hartpury’s BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare all featured.
The brief was to create posters that would communicate their findings to a wide audience while being scientifically accurate and using literature to back up their findings and evaluation. Data collection involved around three hours of behavioural observations of the wading birds at Slimbridge, resulting in a shared set of data that students then used to create their visuals.
The study asked questions specifically about the vigilant behaviours of Lapwings and Black-Tailed Godwits, making comparisons between the two and asking whether scanning behaviours (where a bird scans their surroundings for predators) vary according to their position within the flock (the ‘edge effect’). Interestingly, students found very little variation in the behaviour of both species, despite previous studies concluding differences between those birds in the centre of the flock and those on the outside, known as the ‘edge effect’.
This year, some students went further, using the data collected last autumn to investigate different questions. These include the differences in foraging depending on the bird’s location within a group, showing how those on the inside of the group are able to spend more time foraging than those on the outside. Additionally, one student compared vigilance of birds at different locations around Slimbridge.
Dr Anthony Lowney, Lecturer in Zoology at Hartpury University, said: “We’d like to thank Slimbridge WWT for allowing us to carry out this exciting assignment once again and for providing our students with an exciting opportunity to bring the Behavioural Ecology module to life.
“Most importantly, this kind of project provides an opportunity for students to communicate directly with the public, using their scientific knowledge and observations to create educational real-world information. This is vital for so many areas of zoology and conservation.”
The International Wader Study Group noticed the students’ work on Twitter, commenting with “Great to see students getting involved with #wader research! Maybe some wader scientists of the future amongst them?”
The BSc (Hons) Zoology programme proves a popular choice with those seeking employment within conservation and looking to protect animal species across the globe. Hartpury University’s BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare degree provides students with an opportunity to study the biology behind behaviour while also considering ethical issues affecting domestic, exotic and wild species.
Partnerships with organisations like Slimbridge WWT, a varied curriculum led by industry-leading academics, and an animal collection comprising of invertebrates, reptiles, aquatics, exotics and large and small animals have no doubt helped 97% of Hartpury graduates to progress to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2022). Hartpury University ranks 1st in the South West and 6th in the UK for Teaching Quality, according to The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide for 2023.
