On Wednesday 5 October, Q Scientists weredelighted to welcome Dr Jessie Barker (Aarhus University, Denmark) and Dr
Caitlin Stern (Santa Fe Institute, USA) to the department to give a fascinating
talk about their work in the field of behavioural ecology, and careers in academia.

Students from Years 11 to 13 attended, and Jessie and
Caitlin presented many interesting examples of behavioural co-operation.  The girls were particularly enthusiastic to
find out about the life cycles of bees and the display behaviours of birds of
paradise.

We were also delighted that the talk covered the issues of
dealing with uncertainty and failure, as it is so important that all students
realise that these are essential parts of our lives and careers.

We would like to thank Jessie and Caitlin for giving up
their valuable time to enthuse and inspire the girls, and thanks should also go
to Laura Morton of Queenswood’s English department for introducing the Science
department to their work, and for facilitating the visit.