Infected by the science bug: from fungal frogs to badger culls

­

Scientists tend to be nosy, curious, and can’t help themselves asking “why?” … At least those are the character traits Dr Jon Bielby thinks drew him inexorably towards the world of science. A Research Fellow at the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), Jon occupies the exciting area between conservationist, ecologist and epidemiologist. Starting his career looking at infectious diseases in amphibians, Jon’s thirst to find the answers to complicated questions led him to his current position, working on a highly contentious and politicised research project—the randomised badger cull.

The Institute was lucky enough to have him visit earlier this year, and we at Naturally Speaking jumped at the opportunity to have an in-depth conversation with him about his work. Join us as we discuss everything from big data to field biology, epidemiology to politics, and of course the pure joy and enticement of studying the natural world.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to automatically receive all our latest content, or just our podcasts.

Intro and outro music sampled from: “The Curtain Rises” and “Early Riser” Kevin MacLeod [CC BY 3.0]