25 September 2024
I was back on More FM, talking about smart spiders and some of the tricks they get up to (interview length 3 minutes)
28 June 2024
I’ve spoken on a podcast with Ryan Pemberton, talking about Portia: The Eight-Legged Genius (interview length is about 20 minutes).
7 May 2024
I’ve been back on Radio New Zealand, chatting with Emile Donovan about some of the spiders found in our homes, and what can happen when we relocate them outside (interview length is about 17 minutes)
9 April 2024
My latest paper (Comparative Cognition: Insights from Miniature Brains) has now been published in Comparative Cognition and Behavior Reviews. This paper is Open Access
21 March 2024
I assisted National Geographic with a story on some of the sneaky predatory strategies that spiders use. You can read the story here.
11 June 2023
I was interviewed on More FM (in the Manawatu) on 7 June, talking about spiders and their spidery habits during the winter months. You can listen to the full radio interview here.
28 September 2022
I’ve written a blog post about my upcoming spider events at Christchurch City Libraries (3-15 October). We’re Weaving Magic this #Arachtober!
12 September 2022
#Arachtober is going to be very special this year. I’ve planned a talk for the Canterbury branch of the Royal Society (27 September), a tour around 11 Christchurch City Libraries (New Zealand) (3-13 October), and a spider party at Tūranga (15 October) to mark the 70th anniversary of Charlotte’s Web! Check out this page to find out more.
10 May 2022
Our latest paper (Blood-red colour as a prey choice cue for mosquito specialist predators) has now been published in Animal Behaviour. This paper is Open Access
16 January 2022
I was back on Radio New Zealand again today, this time talking with Emile Donovan about our eight legged friends (interview length is 17 and a half minutes)
16 November 2021
I caught up with Jesse Mulligan on Radio New Zealand today, where chatted about spiders, numbers, and the Marsden Fund (interview length is about 8 minutes)
10 November 2021
I’ve been interviewed on Magic Talk (New Zealand radio station) about numerical cognition research on jumping spiders (interview length is about 11 minutes)
8 November 2021
The wonderful Siouxsie Wiles has now written about the spiders and me, and the whole Marsden Fund process.
3 November 2021
Big news! I have been awarded a grant from the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund for research on numerical cognition by jumping spiders. Here are media releases from the Royal Society of New Zealand and the University of Canterbury, and there’s an article about me in Stuff.
31 October 2021
I’ve been mentioned in a couple of articles about jumping spiders this month - one for Science News and one for Knowable Magazine. Some perfect reading for Arachtober!
1 October 2021
Happy Arachtober everyone! This is such a wonderful month for sharing joy about spiders and other arachnids - you can follow along using the hashtag #Arachtober. I plan to share a number of photos this month on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Also, here is a piece I wrote in 2019 about Arachtober.
8 September 2021
I very much enjoyed being interviewed on Dr. Dave Brodbeck’s animal cognition podcast, Spit and Twitches - you can check it out here.
22 June 2021
Excited to have assisted as a consultant for a children’s graphic novel (Spiders: Worldwide Webs) by Tait Howard, published by First Second Books (New York) - this book was published today! You can find more details about this book here.
17 June 2021
Our latest paper (Odour priming of a mosquito-specialist predator’s vision-based detouring decisions) has now been published in Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Contact me if you would like to see a PDF copy! This paper was part of a special issue (“Rethinking Cognition: From Animal to Minimal”) - you can see the full list of titles in this issue here.
15 March 2021
I’ve provided commentary about new aggressive mimicry research on cone snails, which produce molecules resembling the pheromones of their prey. You can read my commentary about this spine-tingling (but intriguing!) research in The Atlantic and in the Smithsonian Magazine. To learn more about aggressive mimicry, check out this review paper (Open Access), which we published in Journal of Zoology in 2013.
31 October 2020
Happy Halloween and Happy Arachtober! I have written this piece on white-tailed spiders for the Otago Daily Times.
16 October 2020
Just in time for Arachtober - our latest paper (Arthropod Intelligence? The Case for Portia) has now been published in Frontiers in Psychology! It’s Open Access and you can read it here.
25 January 2020
Our latest paper (Influence of seeing a red face during the male-male encounters of mosquito-specialist spiders) has now been published in Learning & Behavior. Contact me for a PDF copy, or read a view-only copy here.
13 December 2019
I had the great honour of appearing on Seven Sharp, a current affairs TV show in New Zealand, where I talked about why spiders are our friends.
28 October 2019
Just in time for Halloween - I have spoken with Steve Olivas in his podcast, The Commute, about how I became fascinated with spiders. My interview begins about 12 minutes into the podcast.
4 October 2019
In keeping with #Arachtober festivities, I have now written an article for the University of Canterbury’s science blog - A Celebration of Spiders. Happy Arachtober!
30 September 2019
I have written a new article for The female Scientist about organizing a speaking tour! You can read it here.
7 August 2019
Our latest paper (Portia’s capacity to decide whether a detour is necessary) has now been published in Journal of Experimental Biology, and one of my photos of a Portia africana male was chosen for the journal cover! You might be able to obtain a free copy of our article by using this link. If not, contact me for a copy.
4 June 2019
I’ve made an appearance on Fanimals, a children’s TV show in New Zealand about animals. A wonderful opportunity to share why I like spiders so much!
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Invited talks in 2019
10-15 February - International Congress of Arachnology (Christchurch, New Zealand)
3 March (via video conference) - Spiders Alive exhibit (Royal Botanical Gardens, Canada)
10-13 April - Comparative Cognition Conference (Melbourne, Florida, USA)
4 June - Appearance on Fanimals (children’s TV show in New Zealand; 4 PM on TV2)
8-11 August - American Psychological Association Annual Convention (Chicago, USA)
3 October - Departments of Psychology & Biology, University of Tennessee (Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA)
8 October - Department of Psychology, Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
9 October - Center for Mind, Brain, and Culture, Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
11 October - Language Research Center, Georgia State University (Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
25 October (via Skype) - Sunflower Elementary School (Andover, Kansas, USA)
28 October - Interview with Steve Olivas in his podcast, The Commute
7 November - University of Massachusetts (Amherst, Massachusetts, USA)
13 December - Appearance on Seven Sharp (current affairs TV show in New Zealand; 7 PM on TV1)
