M.A. (Cantab), Ph.D. (Sheffield), FRES
Come along to Adam's Inaugural Lecture at Park Campus on July 10th. More details to follow.
At the University of Gloucestershire, Adam is Professor of Science Communication and also lectures in Ecology, Evolutionary Ecology, Statistics, Research Methods and Animal Behaviour as well as leading field courses. He has a number of active research interests, including ant communication, the links between colony organisation and disease and studying mammal populations.
As a Professor of Science Communication, Adam is actively involved in a number of media-related projects including broadcasting as a presenter for BBC4 in the succesful documetary Planet Ant: Life Inside the Colony and Radio 4, as well as BBC Learning on BBC2. He provides science input for BBC Radio Gloucestershire and a monthly column (Research Focus) in the Gloucestershire Echo and Citizen newspapers. He also writes the Cotswold Science column for Cotswold Life. He presents documentaries for BBC World Service (The Golden Treasure – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dcg0t; Discovery: On the Trail of the American Honeybee Part 1 and Part 2) and BBC Radio 4 (e.g. The Tree Scientists about ash dieback; and On The Trail of the American Honeybee, about migratory beekeeping), has been a guest on The Material World and has appeared in BBC1's Wallace and Gromit's World of Inventions, The One Show and The Politics Show. He is a regular speaker at the Cheltenham Science Festival and is a speaker at beekeeping and scientific meetings throughout the UK. In recogntion of his public engagement work he was the winner of the Society of Biology Science Communicator of the Year 2010-2011, and he delivered the Society's 2011 Charter Lecture.
In recognition of his research, Adam was elected a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and was Editor-in-Chief of the journal Ecological Entomology until 2013. In 2010 he was awarded a National Teaching Fellowship by the Higher Education Academy and is a Fellow of the HEA. As well as more than 60 scientific publications, he has written numerous popular science articles and is currently contributing to a book on forensic investigation. His research has been featured widely in magazine the national press, radio, TV and film productions.
Upcoming Outreach Events
Adam lectures on a wide variety of scientific topics for a range of audiences. If you would like him to talk to your group please email him (ahart@glos.ac.uk).
|
March 12th, 9pm
March 26th onwards |
Planet Ant - a 90 minute documentary on ant biology airing on BBC4 and opening the Alien Nation Season. Adam co-presents with George McGavin.
Currently Available on YouTube - search for Planet Ant
BBC Radio 4 On the Trail of the American Honeybee - currently available on BBC iPlayer |
|
| 15th-17th April |
Speaker at EXPO Science Festival Malta |
| May 26th onwards |
Presenter of BBC World Service Discovery documentaries - On the Trail of the American Honeybee Part 1 and Part 2. Available through BBC iPlayer |
| June 9th |
Speaker at Cheltenham Science Festival (Planet Ant, BBC Tent) |
| June 14th |
Stage presenter for BBC Scotland event at Glasgow Big Bang Fair |
| June 15th |
Presenter and demonstrator for BBC Summer of Wildlife event, Cardiff |
|
Background and Research Interests
Adam joined the Department in August 2005. He was an undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, studying, among other things, ecology, mathematics, evolutionary biology, geology and empirical psychology. After graduating with a double first as a zoologist he moved to Sheffield in 1998 to begin a PhD on the organisation of social insect colonies (ants, bees and wasps). Working under Professor Francis Ratnieks, Adam’s doctoral work took him to Mexico, Panama (as a Smithsonian Research Fellow), Brazil and various locations in Europe where he studied organisation and cooperation in leafcutting ants, stingless bees and honeybees.
Cooperation is only one aspect of sociality; societies are also full of conflicts between individuals as they try to ensure their interests are represented. Adam studied aspects of conflict in insect and vertebrate societies as part of his NERC-funded post-doctoral research in Sheffield.
Post-doctoral work led to a short-term lecturer position at the University of Sheffield where he lectured on Social Insect Biology, Animal Behaviour, and Conflict and Cooperation, as well as leading field courses and practical classes.
Adam's current research programme has several strands that include leafcutting ant biology, mammal ecology, climate change and citizen science, as well as the writings of Charles Darwin.
Undergraduate Teaching
NS4201 Life on Earth: Diversity and Adaptation
NS5201 Contemporary Issues in Biology
NS5207 Animal Behaviour
NS6207 Advanced Skills in Biology
NS6201 Evolutionary and Behavioural Ecology
Selected Recent Publications (selected from 2010 onwards. For full list see CV)
1. Goodenough, A.E., Hart, A.G. (2013) Correlates of vulnerability to climate-induced distribution changes in European avifauna: habitat, migration and endemism. Climatic Change. 10.1007/s10584-012-0688
2. Hart AG, Stafford R and Goodenough AE (2011) Bridging the lecturer/student divide: the role of residential field courses. Bioscience Education 17-3
3. Hart AG (2011) Please sirs, can we have some more? Trends in Ecology and Evolution 26:267
6. Stafford R, Hart AG, Collins L, Kirkhope CL, Williams RL, Rees SG, Lloyd JR, Goodenough AE (2010) Eu-Social Science: The Role of Internet Social Networks in the Collection of Bee Biodiversity Data PLoS One 5(12): e14381. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0014381
7. Hart AG (2010) Popular ants with style and substance Trends in Ecology and Evolution 25: 623-624
8. Goodenough A.E., Hart A.G., and Stafford R (2010) Is adjustment of breeding phenology keeping pace with the need for change? Linking observed response in woodland birds to changes in temperature and selection pressure. Climatic Change 102: 687-697.
9. Goodenough A.E., Stafford R., Catlin-Groves C.L., Smith A.L., Hart A.G. (2010). Within- and among- variation in measurements of animal biometrics and their influence on accurate quantification of common biometric-based condition indices. Annales Zoologici Fennici 47: 323-334
10. Hart AG et al. (2010) Evidence for contemporary evolution in Darwin’s lifetime Current Biology 20: R95
11. Elliot SL and Hart AG (2010) Density dependent prophylactic immunity reconsidered in the light of host group-living and social behaviour Ecology 91: 65-72
12. Stafford R, Goodenough AE and Hart AG (2010) Real versus perceived economics savings of garden vegetable cultivation International Journal of Ecological Economics & Statistics 16: 79-85