The second of two reports on the IBIOLI members visit to Birr Castle Demesne, Co. Offaly, on July 16th 2016. At Birr, there is an extensive science centre with exhibitions covering the Parson’s family’s achievements in astronomy, engineering, philosophy, photography, and botany.
The first of two reports on the IBIOLI’s excursion to Birr Castle Gardens and the Birr Telescope, on July 16th 2016. Invigorated by the wonderful offerings at the Birr Castle Cafe we set off on our tour of the beautiful gardens and en-route came upon the magnificent six foot diameter telescope nestling there.
As part of the IBIOLI Activity Series, 2016, the IBIOLI invites its members, families, friends, and general public to come and enjoy a family-friendly, and morning-guided tour** of Birr Castle award winning gardens and grounds, including the Great Telescope, and an afternoon visit to Lough Boora Discovery Park.
The IBIOLI, as as part of the 2016 Activity Series, invites its members, families, friends and the general public to attend this free lecture, given by Dr. Robert O’Connor, Head of Research, Irish Cancer Society, titled “The Cancer Epidemic: Food, Pharma, and Our Future”. Ireland, like all countries globally, is seeing an increase in the numbers of cancers. There is much fear about the cause of these increases with many looking to our diet and environment as explanations.
Report on Lecture: “The Value of Pollinators”, that presented some startling facts on the decline in pollinator numbers and the potential impact on production and yields of many crops totally familiar to us. She conveyed to the assembled audience, drawn from a wide range of interest groups such as beekeepers, apple farmers, professional and academic interests, that pollinator concerns have become popular in the press, the general public and in political spheres.
IBILOI Report on Lecture: “Molecular Evolution and Adaptation: Birds, Bears, Bowhead Whales and Beyond!”, which occurred on the occasion of the Institute of Biology of Ireland AGM 2015, at the National Botanic Gardens, Dublin.
Dogs are domestic animals that descended from the grey wolf about 15 thousand years ago. Over the last few hundred years, humans have generated a number of dog ‘breeds’ by selecting for desirable traits, either physical traits (eg size, shape, hair length or colour) or behavioural characters (herding, pointing, retrieving etc). As a downside of this selection, many breeds also display pre-dispositions to certain diseases. With the advent of high throughput DNA sequencing, the genetic basis of the differences between dog breeds and of their genetic diseases is being elucidated.
Pollinators have become popular in the press, the general public and in political spheres. Much of the argument for supporting pollinators is based on the fact that they contribute to food production by pollinating entomophilous crops. This is valuable for several reasons: for food security for an ever expanding human population, to contribute to healthy diets as many insect-pollinated crops contain essential and desirable vitamins, to provide consumer choice and access to luxury foods, and because crop production has an economic value.
A rocky shore is an intertidal area of the coastline consisting mainly of solid rock. Rocky shores are very much a boundary zone between terrestrial and marine habitats and therefore represent sharp environmental gradients. This produces an extremely diverse and rich environment which ideal as a field laboratory.
The Institute of Biology of Ireland (Institúid Bitheolaíochta na hÉireann) is the professional body for biologists in Ireland.
For further information, please contact:
The Secretary, The Institute of Biology of Ireland, School of Biology and Environmental Science, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4.
Email: info@ibioli.net
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