Dr John Baird
Teaching Fellow
Personal Details
| Telephone: | +44 (0)1224 272882 |
| E-mail: | john.baird@abdn.ac.uk |
| Address: | Room 206, Zoology Building, University of Aberdeen. |
Biography
I was late coming to science having spent some years in the RAF Regiment and having been a steel erector and a store manager. I did my undergraduate degree and PhD, both in Zoology, at the Queen's University in Belfast, following which I moved to Aberdeen to work on transmission-blocking vaccines. I've been working as a Teaching Fellow since 2005 and as well as spending much of my time teaching undergraduate students, I still maintain my interest in mosquitoes and insects in general. I've been a member of the Royal Entomological Society for several years and I maintain a stock of Aedes aegypti mosquitoes on which I experiment. Along with a colleague I have recently developed a new elite degree programme for undergraduates in the School of Biological Sciences, the MSci in Biological Sciences.
Outside of work, the time for which there seems to be less and less, I go to concerts (the orchestra and the likes of St Vincent and Goldfrapp), play football, paddle my kayak and generally keep fit. I'm partial to a beer in The Machar Bar on a Friday evening too.
Research Interests
Currently assessing various plant compounds/antioxidants and how they alter the lifespan of Yellow Fever mosquitoes. Also, convenient ways of introducing DNA/RNA into mosquitoes for the purposes of gene knock down.
Also interested in the life histories of mayflies and the possible negative effects of Global Warming.
Teaching Responsibilities
Access Level
Course Co-ordinator for AX15B1 Access and Foundation Studies in Biological Science
Level 1:
Course Co-ordinator for BI1004 Organismal Biology. Lectures on reproduction, nutrition and gas exchange in animals. We have introduced a Personal Response System (PRS) onto the course, which enables us to get immediate feedback from the students during lectures. We also run integrative sessions in place of formal lectures using the PRS and in this way we bring together the various aspects of the course and gauge the understanding of the students.
BI1507 The Cell: lectures on cell membranes, DNA and its use in research.
Level 2:
BI2005 Foundation Skills for Life Science. Workshops on colorimetry, experimental design and data interpretation.
BI25Z1 Invertebrate Life. Lectures on control systems and symbiosis.
BI2506 Research Skills. Tutorials centred on exercise and disease.
Level 3:
ZO3009 Animal Evolution and Biodiversity. Lectures on evolution of sex, mammals, birds and humans.
ZO3810 Biology and Control of Infectious Diseases. Lectures on principles of disease and malaria. Practical on vectors of disease.
TB3503 Tropical Forest and Savannah Ecology. Lecture on mosquitoes.
Level 4:
ZO4526 Advances in Vector Biology. Lectures and tutorial on gnetic modification.
ZO4802 Parasitology. Lectures on malaria, dengue, helminths, drug treatments and vaccines.
Supervision of honours students
Level 5:
Workshops for MSci students.
Supervision of MSci projects
Field courses:
Team building course in Perthshire.
Biodiversity course in Cromarty firth.
Administrative duties:
Induction Co-ordinator for the College of Life Sciences and Medicine and an Advisor of Studies.
Sit on the College of Life Sciences and Medicine Teaching and Learning Committee, the College of Life Sciences and Medicine Induction Strategy Group and a member of the Promoting Science Working Group.
External Responsibilities
Reviewer for Pest Management Science.
Selected Publications
Billingsley PF, Baird J, Mitchell JA, Drakeley, C. Immune interactions between mosquitoes and their hosts
PARASITE IMMUNOLOGY 28 (4): 143-153 APR 2006
Baird J, Fairweather I, Murchie AK
Long-term effects of prey-availability, partnering and temperature on overall egg capsule output of 'New Zealand flatworms', Arthurdendyus triangulatus
ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY 146 (3): 289-301 2005
Baird J, McDowell SDR, Fairweather I, Murchie, A.K.
Reproductive structures of Arthurdendyus triangulatus (Dendy): Seasonality and the effect of starvation
PEDOBIOLOGIA 49 (5): 435-442 2005
page content last modified: 16th February 2010 10:59:38