Event Description
When most people think of museums they think of bones and stones – long-dead specimens from times gone by. Museums, however, are not static institutions but dynamic research centres focusing on the many current research topics which impact all of us on this planet.
In this captivating talk, Dr Erica McAlister will take you behind the doors of the fly department at London’s Natural History Museum, discussing some of the Diptera (fly) research that’s helping us unlock the answers to all sorts of questions. From studying mosquitoes in Africa and those found under London, to giving flies a bath and blowdry to extract historic DNA - and trying to figure out where our summer migrants come from – she’ll cover all this and more.
Join us for this fascinating introduction to an insect which might just surprise you and find out how flies are assisting us with everything from climate change to the study of disease transmission.