| Where | Currently holding online cafes – links for individual cafes below Under normal circumstances: Waterstones Bookshop Sauchiehall Street Glasgow |
| When | First Monday of the month, 7pm |
| Contact | Mandy Maclean, Kevin O’Dell, Martin Hendry |
| If you would like to receive details of future Glasgow Café Sci events, please email one of the organisers (above) and we will happily add you to our email list. | |
| Website | Glasgow Cafe Scientifique |
Upcoming events
Monday 3rd May 2021
Pandas: it’s not all black and white
Iain Valentine
Venue: via Zoom. Meeting ID: 990 8489 3926 Password: 634714
The charismatic giant panda is a global conservation icon and the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund. And for good reason. After decades of successful conservation work in China, wild panda numbers are starting to recover but they remain at risk, with human activities continuing to be the biggest threat to their survival.
An extensive giant panda nature reserve network exists, but one-third of wild pandas live of protected areas in small, isolated populations. However, as a result of the holistic way in which both the captive and wild population of pandas are managed in China, there is hope that this ancient fossil species has an opportunity to continue to thrive and grow in numbers.
Pandas typically lead a solitary life. They’re excellent tree climbers but they spend most of their time feeding, eating for 14 hours a day. Bamboo forms 99% of their diet, although they sometimes eat eggs or small animals.
Their biology is unique in the mammal world. The science helping to safeguard this species is still discovering new and remarkable facts that help to refine our management of their wild habitat and open up new possibilities for future conservation work.
Giant pandas are living proof that conservation works. And even better, by protecting pandas, we’re also helping protect the wider environment where they live, for all the wildlife and the people that depend on it.
Iain will touch on all the known and less well known facts surrounding this endearing, complex much loved species.
Iain Valentine DSc CBiol BSc FRSB FLS is Director of Zoocraft Limited, a professional Zoo and Aquaria Consultancy Company, working principally with established and new zoo and aquaria projects. For 15 years, he held various positions with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, latterly as the Director of Giant Panda Programme and Senior Policy Advisor.
Tuesday 4th May, 6:30pm
What might the NHS look like in ten years’ time?
A cafe-style event. Register here.
Monday 7th June 2021
The science of communication
Sophie Scott
Do women and men have different speech patterns/styles? Do men really interrupt more? And do women really defer more if there is an overlap? In other words, do gender (or cultural) differences really exist – and, if so, what are they and what is their significance for the way we communicate?