New research has found that a protein associated with learning and memory plays an integral role in changing the behaviour of locusts from that of harmless grasshoppers into swarming pests.

22 young European scientists have been selected for excellence in research to join the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Young Investigator Programme and one of those Young Investigators is Dr Irene Miguel-Aliaga from the Department.

At the start of October the Student Conference on Conservation Science (SCCS) - begun here in Zoology back in 2000 - was held for the second time in New York. The US event, hosted by the American Museum of Natural History in partnership with a consortium of east coast universities and conservation NGOs, included 400 delegates from over 30 countries.

The mystery of how a butterfly has changed its wing patterns to mimic neighbouring species and avoid being eaten by birds has been solved by a team of European scientists. The study is published in the journal Nature.