Academics from the University of Bath will be discussing the birds and the bees at the Bath Literature Festival on 25 February.
The talk will focus on how cutting-edge scientific techniques at the University are being used to help protect the natural world.
Professor Tamas Székely will outline his project to re-establish Britain’s largest bird, the Great Bustard, on Salisbury Plain and the role of technology in tracking and monitoring the programme.
The project has been in operation for six years and there are signs that the population is beginning to become established, with two native chicks being successfully fledged last year.
Professor Szekely will describe the scientific research and development work that has lead to this achievement and the overall importance of re-introductions and conservation work within our natural environment.
The second part of the lecture, by Dr Edward Feil, will discuss the impact of disease on bee populations.
The decline of bee populations has received a great deal of media attention in recent years, the reasons for which are widely debated.
Dr Feil is leading a new research project at the University of Bath that looks at the spread of a common bacterial disease in bees called European Foul Brood (EFB), and will outline why understanding this threat to the bee population is essential to their future survival.
The talk will take place at 1pm on 25 February 2011, at the University of Bath Innovation Centre in Carpenter House. For more information please contact Paula McGrane on p.m.mcgrane@bath.ac.uk