{"id":4230,"date":"2019-12-09T12:45:04","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T12:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/?p=4230"},"modified":"2019-12-10T13:26:48","modified_gmt":"2019-12-10T13:26:48","slug":"dice-phd-student-katie-spencer-on-the-dice-30th-anniversary-talk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/2019\/12\/09\/dice-phd-student-katie-spencer-on-the-dice-30th-anniversary-talk\/","title":{"rendered":"DICE PhD student Katie Spencer on the DICE 30th Anniversary Talk"},"content":{"rendered":"

This year marked the 30th<\/sup> Anniversary of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE)<\/a> spanning three decades of applied conservation research across the world. In 1991, DICE set up the first MSc degree in biodiversity in the UK and today DICE is embedded within the School of Anthropology and Conservation at the University of Kent. To celebrate the achievements, hard work and innovative research of staff and students, Professor Richard Griffiths<\/a> presented an impressive and fun-filled seminar on Thursday 21st<\/sup> November. Richard is a Professor in Biological Conservation has been a member of DICE since its foundation: he is a herpetologist and his research predominantly concerns population ecology.<\/p>\n

Richard\u2019s talk was titled The Global Trade in Reptiles and Amphibians over Three Decades and showcased the field work, research and growth at DICE over the years. Back in 1989, in DICE\u2019s infancy, the centre hosted the world\u2019s very first congress of herpetology in Canterbury, which brought together the world\u2019s leading scientists to discuss reptile and amphibian conservation.<\/p>\n

The seminar illustrated the cutting-edge research conducted by DICE, both within the UK and internationally, over the last few years. Richard spoke of conserving critically-endangered frogs and chameleons in Madagascar (with a fantastic drunk chameleon impression!), Kent being one of the first research institutions to detect chytrid fungus in the UK, and supervising former PhD candidate Dr Emma Wombwell, who was able to show that this fungus was entering the UK through the exotic pet trade. Other interesting research projects included a 20-year study on great crested newts, which is still running today, and, more recently, that of PhD candidate Steven Allain<\/a>, who is investigating the spread of snake fungal disease throughout Europe.<\/p>\n

Over the years, DICE has trained more than DICE has trained more than 1200 conservation scientists and biodiversity managers from 103 countries. Richard highlighted some of the inspiring students, showcasing what a great institute it is for an aspiring conservationist to be a member of. Just this year, former DICE PhD student Dr Janine Robinson<\/a> won the RSPB\u2019s Conservation Science Award for Outstanding PhD (2019)<\/a> for her thesis Supplying the exotic pet trade: conservation and livelihood implications. S<\/em>tudents from the University of Kent and DICE have won RSPB Conservation Science Awards on\u00a0three previous occasions, including Lecturer in Conservation Biology Dr Jake Bicknell<\/a>: an impressive feat indeed, demonstrating the high standard of interdisciplinary research being generated from the institute.<\/p>\n

On closing the seminar, Richard addressed the absence of the Director of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, Professor Bob Smith<\/a>, who was scheduled to host the event. Richard broke the news that Bob was at St. James\u2019 Palace to formally accept a Queen\u2019s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education on behalf of the University of Kent, awarded for the exceptional work of DICE<\/a>. This prize is a phenomenal achievement for everyone who has been a part of DICE over the years.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s to the next 30!<\/p>\n

\"KatieText by Katie Spencer<\/a>, currently studying for a PhD in Biodiversity Management at DICE<\/a>. Her research looks at interactions between environmental change and exploitation on Borneo’s mammalian megafauna.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This year marked the 30th Anniversary of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) spanning three decades of applied conservation research across the world. … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40284,"featured_media":4231,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[159353,6599,6598,124,6600,159360],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40284"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4230"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4235,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4230\/revisions\/4235"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4231"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4230"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4230"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kent.ac.uk\/sac-news-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4230"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}