Microbes versus Orange; part two

Earlier this year ago I set up a timelapse looking at an orange in a jar, and just let it mould up. Then I made a vloggy video of it and put it on YouTube!

Now, way later than originally intended, I've finished to followup video so you can actually see what happens. Hooray!

Here Comes Doris!

I live right on the Aberystwyth seafront, which is amazing and I'm very lucky, but when storms hit it can get a bit hairy! After being kept awake by raging winds and the odd roof-tile clattering down past my window, nearly hit in the face by my front door as I left to go to the lab, and then soaked head to toe by driving rain and the high speed winds on my way back home again, I decided to go out into the stormy weather and do a video! Here it is:

Like a Blog, But With Sound and My Face and Stuff

I take loads of pictures and videos, I love it. It also helps me remember the good times! Especially now when my memory isn't back to how it used to be. I also do some pretty awesome stuff; I'm very lucky to live in a beautiful place with lots of special things nearby. In the last six months I've played with Marmosets, traveled to Brazil to learn Science and see Coatis, and generally gone out and about having fun. The problem is that I've always taken more pictures and videos than I have time to edit into usable, viewable formats (hence over thirty gigabytes of pics and vids from Brazil being shown to the world as... like five instagram photos). So as I don't plan on stopping my fun adventures, and in fact have many more planned for the future, I'm going to force myself to spend more time organising them all. This is going to take the form of short vlogs every week! I've already started, because I don't tend to do things in a logical order, so here's what you've missed so far:

I'll try and be interesting and informative, and maybe even entertaining too! So if you like that sort of thing, and wish to see more of my lovely face, head on over to YouTube and have a look! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYZCc63Lqh01tC2hXITMx7A 

#OneMinuteMicrobiology

I’m apparently not satisfied with having a Blog, Twitter and YouTube, so got Instagram too, after this twitter conversation:

I was just throwing the idea of 1 minute videos out there, not even knowing that 1 minute is the Instagram video length limit, but it’s actually been really fun doing them! I’ve done a few so far (I’ll embed them at the bottom of this in case you have like four minutes to spare) and I’m having fun with it. It’s a big challenge, and I think once I run out of all the short basic things to cover it’ll get even harder (as things normally take days, not minutes!) but I love a challenge, and this one is pretty fun! And hopefully worthwhile if it gets more people thinking about microbiology stuff.

So far I haven’t really settled on a specific style, or level at which I’m pitching things, but I’m hoping to make it accessible to everyone no matter their background. Microbiology affects everyone, so everyone should know about it! It’s also really interesting and exciting but isn’t really thought of like that.

Also of course there’s my long-term selfish goal of gaining confidence by doing these videos and things. I’m already feeling some benefits but I’ve got a hugely long way to go!

Anyway, here are the videos I've made so far (with bonus new one I made today!):

And the new one...

I hope you like it! Subscribe to the YouTube for more, or follow my Instagram.

What are Friendly Bacteria? (First science video!)

For months I've been wanting to make science videos (rather than just sunset timelapses or videos of fun adventures I have) , and for weeks I've been working on it on and off. So here it is: 'What are Friendly Bacteria?'

Video: Trip to the zoo! Mini documentary, sort of

I love animals. All of them. Every single one. And because of this, I've always absolutely adored going to the zoo! I know some zoos get a bad rep but I find the best ones are those that are more animal focused than visitor focused; looking after the animals is the only goal, both at a 'personal' level within the zoo and in the wider global population via breeding programs and stuff like that. There's a small zoo near Aberystwyth that takes in rescued animals, and it's one of my favourite places to go!

They have a huge range of animals from marmosets to lions, all sorts of fun talks and feeds, and it's just a lovely little zoo. (Link to their website!) A few weeks ago I took a trip there with some friends, and took my camera. Here's the resulting video:

I tried to say interesting animal facts so it's not just pictures of cute animals, but there are plenty of those if that's what you're after! A baby marmoset, emu chicks, coati pups and a joey still in the pouch all feature! Lots of awesome fully grown animals too though.

The music on the bits where either the audio was weird or I wasn't really saying anything seems to be slightly out of sync with what I wanted it to be doing, but it's not bad!

I hope you enjoy it! I've got a few more fun day-trip videos that need editing, and I'm nearly ready to start doing science videos, so if you like what I'm doing feel free to subscribe!

Time for a training montage...

I'm really enjoying this whole science communication stuff. It's great fun! Writing this blog is pretty entertaining and keeps me getting involved in developments in the field of microbiology, and now I've got a taste for sci-comm I want to get more involved. There is one problem with that though... me.

Vlogging; Scientists Are People Too

Weekly Vlog #2! I thought I'd combine this week's vlog with today's blog post to just say why I'm doing it and things like that.

So why am I doing a vlog? I'm ridiculously, painfully shy when talking to anyone. The thought of being the centre of anyone's attention fills me with dread! So why talk about my everyday life and put it out there for the world to see?

Firstly, precisely because it's really scary to me. I both want and need to be better at communicating, not only for things like conferences or my Viva but for general life too. I can barely bring myself to answer the phone, and things like social events or whatever cause me to retreat behind my walls and clam up like... well, a clam. This isn't good, and really holds me back socially which has knock-on affects throughout my life.

Secondly, I want to show that scientists (I know I'm just a PhD student but I'm calling myself one anyway) are people too! Everyone thinks of them as these scary figures in labcoats and rubber gloves but really it's just another job; scientists have fun, go to the pub, go on days out, just like any other person. I want to try and get that message across, and make science seem more accessible and enjoyable; really, anyone can participate in science in one way or another, and everyone can enjoy it!

So that's why I'm doing it. Feel free to tell me how I'm doing, good or bad!

Field Trip: Red Kite feeding site

I went out to the local Red Kite feeding station today. As you can see, there were hundreds of them! Red Kites are some of my favourite birds, it's always great to see them flying overhead. From a distance it's hard to tell them apart from other birds of prey like Buzzards, but if you look at their tails then you'll see a lovely forked tail on a Kite. They were once almost hunted to extinction in the UK but programs like the one I went to today have helped them recover, to the point that now they are a pretty common site in Wales (and elsewhere in the UK too). They're normally pretty solitary animals, characteristically of a raptor, but the daily feeds at Bwlch Nant Yr Arian bring unusually large flocks together. I've been a few times before but today's was by far the largest group I've seen yet; it was really impressive!

They're being fed raw meat, supplied by local butchers. Red Kites are happy eating carrion so are often seen flying over roads looking for roadkill. Crows, too, feed on dead meat and it is quite common to see a few crows trying to chase a Kite out of their territory. Today though, the crows were outnumbered by far! They can still be heard pretty clearly in the video (the loud cawing) but the piercing cry of the Kites can be heard too.

I always find it fascinating how they rarely seem to flap their wings while circling; they use thermal currents, and rises of air created by the mountains to stay flying without using any real effort. They circle above the feeding area, waiting for someone to be brave enough to swoop down to get some meat. They're big, powerful and (here) in large numbers but they're still very timid. Once one of them moves to get food they all follow suit, taking advantage of the classic 'safety in numbers' strategy often seen throughout the natural world.