FRES, FHEA
Senior Lecturer
- About
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- Email Address
- john.baird@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 272881
- Office Address
Room 205 Zoology Building
University of Aberdeen
AB24 2TZ- School/Department
- School of Biological Sciences
Biography
First Class hons degree and PhD in Zoology from Queen's University, Belfast.
Nominated by students for University of Aberdeen Science Lecturer of the Year 2011, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023. Have yet to win!
Fellow and former Trustee of the Royal Entomological Society.
Former Member of the Council of the Royal Entomological Society.
Fellow of the Higher Education Authority.
PG Cert in HE
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
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Former Member of Univerity of Aberdeen Senate.
- External Memberships
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Member of the HEA Biosciences Special Interest Group in Pedagogical Research.
- Research
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Research Overview
Various insect-based research from haemphagous disease vectors to diversity of beetles and riverflies. Also interested in human perceptions of 'pests'.
Current Research
PhD Students
Jenni Stockan - Impacts of Riparian Buffer Strips on Biodiversity (graduated 2015)
Gabor Poszgai - Phenological Changes in Ground Beetle Communities at two Environmental Change Network Sites in Scotland. (Graduated 2017)
Catriona McIntosh - Drug Target Identification in the Cat Flea by Transcriptomic analysis and Gene Knock Down (Graduated 2018)
Stewart Rosell - eDNA to improve biosecurity (2022-)
Stephen Gillanders - European earwigs in the Falkland Islands - the threat to local fauna and methods of control (2023-)
- Teaching
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Teaching Responsibilities
Undergraduate Teaching
Degree programme Coordinator for BSc Biology, BSc Biological Sciences, MSci Biological Sciences
Level 1 Frontiers in Biological Sciences - Course Coordinator - lectures on infectious disease and practical on protists
Level 1 Diversity of Life - Lectures on evolution of arthropods
Level 2 Field Biology Field Course - Course Coordinator - mainly visits to partner organisations in Aberdeenshire to follow their protocols JNCC, James Hutton (Glensaugh), RSPB, Glentanar Estate.
Level 3 Biology and Control of Infectious Diseases - Course Coordinator - various lectures on infectious diseases and vectors of disease. Practical - ELISA to detect jellyfish parasites in salmonids.
Level 3 Biodiversity of Terrestrial Ecosystems in South Africa - focus on understanding the environment through tracks and signs.
Level 4 Advances in Vector Biology - lectures on vector control, including transgenics, transmission-blocking vaccines as well as more pragmatic approaches
Level 4 Parasitology - Lectures on malaria, flaviviruses, helminthes, vaccines and chemotherapy
Level 4 Hons Project - Course Coordinator alongside Jerry Sternberg
Level 5 Public Communication of Science - Course Coordinator alongside Sam Martin
Level 5 MSci Research project - Course Coordinator alongside Sam Martin
Non-course Teaching Responsibilities
Personal Tutor to undergraduates
- Publications
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RNA interference in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis: Approaches for sustained gene knockdown and evidence of involvement of Dicer-2 and Argonaute2
International Journal for Parasitology, vol. 48, no. 13, pp. 993-1002Contributions to Journals: ArticlesPhenological changes of the most commonly sampled ground beetle (Coleoptera: Carabidae) species in the UK environmental change network
International journal of biometeorology, vol. 62, no. 6, pp. 1063-1074Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-018-1509-3
Our ‘selfish’ genes contain the seeds of our destruction – but there might be a fix
The ConversationContributions to Specialist Publications: ArticlesReference gene selection and RNA preservation protocol in the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, for gene expression studies
Parasitology, vol. 143, no. 12, pp. 1532-1542Contributions to Journals: ArticlesEffects of riparian buffer strips on ground beetles (Coleoptera, Carabidae) within an agricultural landscape
Insect Conservation and Diversity, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 172-184Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/icad.12043
Immune interactions between mosquitoes and their hosts
Parasite Immunology, vol. 28, no. 4, pp. 143-153Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3024.2006.00805.x
Reproductive Structures of Arthurdendyus triangulatus (Dendy): Seasonality and the Effect of Starvation
Pedobiologia, vol. 49, no. 5, pp. 435-442Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedobi.2005.05.003
Long-term effects of prey-availability, partnering and temperature on overall egg capsule output of ‘New Zealand flatworms’, Arthurdendyus triangulates
Annals of Applied Biology, vol. 146, no. 3, pp. 289-301Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.2005.040095.x