31^st August 2018 saw the second iteration of Student Presentations on Ecology, Environment & Conservation—or SPEEC-UP as it is aptly named—one-day conference with three-minute talks by budding young scientists.

Have you ever wondered how tirelessly the tiny fruit fly buzzes around your fruit bowl? This behavior not only demands tremendous energy but also requires highly coordinated neuronal signaling that enables continuous flight. A recent study from Prof. Gaiti Hasan’s lab has uncovered molecules required in the fruit flies brain that enables flight for long periods of time and helps them locate the fruit bowl in your pantry.

Sumantra Chattarji, professor of neurobiology at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, says, “Even a month of social interactions, playtime, exercise, and sensory stimulation can make a two-month-old rat a better learner.” Other studies by Chattarji and his team of researchers have found that if these young rats are stressed for ten days, they lose those connections in the hippocampus. 

A team of researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, Fergusson College, Pune and Veer Narmad South Gujarat University, Gujarat, have unravelled the taxonomy of Hemidactylus triedrus, a gekkonid lizard belonging to the g

Raghu Padinjat’s group from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore

"A team of researchers, including Kiran Marathe and Krushnamegh Kunte from National Centre for Biological Sciences, and Allen F Sanborn from Department of Biology, Barry University, Florida, have collaborated to describe two new species of cicadas as well as sorted out the taxonomic problem related to the cicada genus Rustia."

A new cicada insect species, named ‘Rustia minuta’ recently discovered in the Western Ghats by Kiran Marath of NCBS, and colle

• A recent study documents a relatively r

\Zeeshan Mirza & Mayuresh Ambekar of

A new study has found that mixed agriculture-forest landscapes near protected areas can also be used to promote conservation of bird biodiversity. The study was conducted by Biang La Nam Syiem, a student of the postgraduate programme in wildlife biology and conservation, jointly conducted by the National Centre for Biological Sciences and Wildlife Conservation Society India Programme. Syiem, along with Dr. Divya Vasudev and Dr. Varun R. Goswami of WCS, has published a report on the study in journal PLOS ONE.