Join us at the Blue Ball Inn at Sidford for a lighthearted evening of serious science. Have a drink or come for a meal beforehand. Don’t forget to book: https://www.blueballsidford.co.uk/dine/
Speakers so far:-
1) Wherefore the magic? The ecological and evolutionary role of psilocybin in nature with Dr Kirsty Matthews Nicholass
Magic mushrooms, characterised by the presence of psilocybin (PY, 4-phosphoryloxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine), a serotonin analogue, is the most widespread psychedelic prodrug in nature. Psilocybin is readily dephosphorylated to active form, psilocin, upon digestion and it is this compound that is responsible for the psychotropic journey induced by the consumption of ‘magic mushrooms.’ Despite increasing medicinal interest for the treatment of mood-disorders, remarkably little is known about its evolutionary origin in nature.
The vast diversity of ‘magic mushrooms’, boasting 300 species worldwide and the structural similarity between psilocybin, and the animal neurotransmitter serotonin, raises interesting questions about its likely evolutionary origin. The widespread distribution of psilocybin-producing abilities among mushrooms, spanning vastly different evolutionary lineages yet sharing similar ecological niches and pressures led scientists to speculate that psilocybin evolved as defence compound to protect against fungivory in dung and wood-decay niches, where competition from insects is high.
Over the past three years Kirsty has been working at the University of Plymouth, trying to unravel this evolutionary puzzle. In the Leverhulme funded project, the project adopted a combination of eco-evolutionary concepts to test the hypothesis that psilocybin is maintained in nature because it acts as a defence mechanism. Blending field studies, DNA analysis and behavioural trials on invertebrate models, the research aims to provide some of the earliest empirical evidence directly probing the natural role of psilocybin.
Prior to working at Plymouth, Kirsty did a PhD in Environmental Sciences at the University of Essex. Her Thesis: “Learning from nature; Plant-microbe interactions and their application to more sustainable agri-ecosystems.” tested for host specificity of fungi and confirmed maintenance of this relationship geographically and across a gradient of aboveground diversity.
2) Has climate change already affected life in the UK? with Regan Mudhar from the University of Exeter
This has been another year of “unprecedented” weather in the UK, with spring 2024 being the warmest on record and summer temperatures reaching as high as 35C. But we said the same in 2022, when we exceeded 40C, and in 2023, when almost every month was hotter than average, making it the second warmest year on record for the UK.
That same year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change stated that: “Human-caused climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe.” The research that informed this conclusion is the remit of scientists who specialise in “detection and attribution”.
By looking at some UK case studies, we will how such scientists study what is changing around us, as they try to pinpoint whether humans are at the root…
- Regan graduated from the University of Bristol with a master’s degree in physics with astrophysics, before entering the world of finance. In 2021, they returned to academia and began a PhD at the University of Exeter (UoE), studying the “stratospheric pathway” and far-flung influences on midlatitude weather and climate extremes, alongside which they currently serve as co-Editor-in-Chief of the Royal Meteorological Society (RMetS) journal Weather.
- Regan is also passionate about inclusive and accessible science. When not sat behind their laptop, you can find them sharing science with the public around the South West and beyond as a volunteer with Exeter Science Centre and Pint of Science, and co-lead of UoE’s EMPS2 Network and RMetS’ Diverse Voices seminar series and Early Careers of Colour Network.
3) The Conservation of cetaceans in the western Channel and the role of citizen science with Simon Ingram from the University of Plymouth