Ask A Biologist heading

Biology Net

Content Info | Transcript

Well known animal behavior biologist and author John Alcock takes time out from his busy schedule to talk with Dr. Biology about his work and his writing.

MP3 download | 13MB

You are missing some Flash content that should appear here! Perhaps your browser cannot display it, or maybe it did not initialize correctly.
Topic Time
Didjeridu musical instrument 00:09
Animal Behavior 01:15
What are the common and important things we can learn from Animals? 01:38
What part of animal behavior interests you the most? 02:25
Dawson Burrowing Bees - how are these bees different than honey bees? 02:55
What's up with the big black bees that you see flying around? (carpenter bees) 03:33
Tarantula Hawks (wasps) 05:03
A tarantula spider specialist - description of hunting spiders - and raising young 05:36
Actually tarantula hawks are quite beautiful. 06:46
Animal behavior - tarantula hawks and flexibility 07:06
Interesting story about animal and animal behavior in Australia (one example of plant mimicking and animal ) 08:35
Conservation biology, animal behavior, sociobiology 10:18
The basic principles of sociobiology 11:59
One area of study is the issue of sterility of social insects - genes 12:29
Genes and DNA, the blueprint of life, are flexible 13:16
Nature versus Nurture and Sociobiology 14:20
Book on the topic is titled The Triumph of Sociobiology, by John Alcock 15:40
Tools and technology in science and biology and how to do simple experiments. 15:53
How do you weigh an insect? 18:09
A simple experiment you can try in your own backyard. 18:41
Writing, and what got you into writing books? 20:39
When did you first know that you wanted to be a scientist? (bird watching) 22:19
What you be if you could not be a biologist? 23:31
What advice would you have for a person that wants to be a scientist? 24:08
Animals are everywhere and there are many opportunities to observe them. 25:36
You can read and learn more about animal behavior by reading one of John Alcock's many books.
The Kookaburras' Song: Exploring Animal Behavior in Australia
Sonoran Desert Summer
The Triumph of Sociobiology
An Enthusiasm for Orchids: Sex and the Deception in Plant Evolution
Animal Behavior: An Evolutionary Approach (textbook)		 26:35
If you want to listen to more of the didjeridu, you can find it on http://magnatune.com. The album is called Wanderer and is by Christopher of the Wolves. 27:05

back to top

Biology Net

Audio editor: Charles Kazilek

Be part of Ask A Biologist

by volunteering, or simply sending us feedback on the site. Scientists, teachers, writers, illustrators, and translators are all important to the program. If you are interested in helping with the website we have a Volunteers page to get the process started.

ShareThis