Menu

Search

Ben Garrod

Ben Garrod

Fellow, Animal and Environmental Biology, Anglia Ruskin University
Ben’s main areas of interest are in primatology, evolutionary studies and skeletal morphology. He studied BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour at Anglia Ruskin (2002-05) and his PhD, titled “Primates of the Caribbean” focused on monkey evolution on tropical islands. In addition to his role as Teaching Fellow at Anglia Ruskin Ben has presented a number of television programmes, including a documentary with Sir David Attenborough and his own six-part BBC Four series Secrets of Bones.

Background
Throughout the last decade Ben has lived and worked all over the world, mainly within great ape conservation; spending several years in central Africa, managing a renowned chimpanzee conservation field site and habituating wild chimps. He has also worked extensively across South East Asia, China, the Caribbean and the Arctic for a range of organisations, in differing habitats and with numerous species.

Ben is an accomplished public speaker and has spoken at a range of conferences, science festivals, including the Cheltenham Science Festival and taken part in public debates. Ben was offered the opportunity to present his own six-part BBC Four series Secrets of Bones, which won the Wildscreen Panda Award for Best Presenter Led programme in 2014. Since then he has presented a number of short films for the BBC’s One Show, and is presenting alongside Sir David Attenborough on the BBC One documentary Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur.

Ben’s main academic focus in on primatology, evolutionary studies and skeletal morphology. Island systems have provided fundamental insights into evolutionary patterns and processes from Charles Darwin onwards, notably through comparison of morphological character differences between insular lineages and mainland sister groups. Evolution of unique characters in island species may be driven either by founder effects associated with population bottlenecks during colonisation, or by active adaptation in response to rapid environmental change associated with colonisation and/or the unusual ecological environment on islands.

Research interests:
Primatology
Evolutionary studies
Skeletal morphology

These 'useless' quirks of evolution are actually evidence for the theory

Dec 16, 2018 13:11 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Evolution is a fascinating field but can be rife with misunderstanding. One misconception is that evolution has some innate sense of direction or purpose. In reality, evolution is a mindless, plan-free phenomenon, driven...

Darwin's theory of evolution owes more to his garden than the Galápagos

Aug 16, 2018 20:17 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Its one of the greatest stories in science, right up there with Neil Armstrongs small step on the moon and Jane Goodalls overhaul of ideas on non-human relationships. When naturalist Charles Darwin first set foot in the...

1 

Economy

Why China’s economy has hit a wall

Chinas annual parliamentary meetings in Beijing came to a close on March 11. They were conducted under great pressure: a weak economy and high expectations from both the domestic public and international observers as to...

Vladimir Putin’s gold strategy explains why sanctions against Russia have failed

There are more than 16,000 sanctions imposed against Russia. Yet the Russian economy and war machine grew by 3.6 per cent in 2023 and is projected to grow another 2.6 in 2024. Nearly six per cent of Russias gross...

Mentorship is key to improving social and economic outcomes for Black youth

Black youth in Canada experience poorer educational achievement than other children and youth, which leads to subsequent poor economic outcomes. A series of problems and barriers contribute to poor educational outcomes....

There’s an extra $1 billion on the table for NT schools. This could change lives if spent well

The federal and Northern Territory governments have just made a historic funding announcement of about A$1 billion for schools in the territory. This includes an extra $737.7 million from the federal government and an...

Undersea cables for Africa’s internet retrace history and leave digital gaps as they connect continents

Large parts of west and central Africa, as well as some countries in the south of the continent, were left without internet services on 14 March because of failures on four of the fibre optic cables that run below the...

Politics

China's Commerce Minister to Advocate EV Sector in Europe Amid Subsidy, Tariff Probe

Chinas Commerce Minister Wang Wentao is set to visit Europe in April to address concerns and advocate for the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) industry amid a European Commission investigation into alleged unfair...

Chinese Hackers Target US Officials and Dissidents in Cyber Espionage Scheme

Seven nationals of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) face charges for a long-term cyber espionage campaign targeting political dissidents and officials in the US, marking a significant escalation in international cyber...

SpaceX Builds Spy Satellites for US; Russia Warns of Military Response

Russia has issued a stark warning to the United States, stating that the use of SpaceXs satellites for espionage could render them targets for military action. This follows revelations that SpaceX is constructing a spy...

Deepfakes are still new, but 2024 could be the year they have an impact on elections

Disinformation caught many people off guard during the 2016 Brexit referendum and US presidential election. Since then, a mini-industry has developed to analyse and counter it. Yet despite that, we have entered 2024 a...

Science

How do airplanes fly? An aerospace engineer explains the physics of flight

Airplane flight is one of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century. The invention of the airplane allows people to travel from one side of the planet to the other in less than a day, compared...

The mystery of consciousness shows there may be a limit to what science alone can achieve

The progress of science in the last 400 years is mind-blowing. Who would have thought wed be able to trace the history of our universe to its origins 14 billion years ago? Science has increased the length and the quality...

What is minoxidil, the anti-balding hair growth treatment? Here’s what the science says

Hair loss (also known as alopecia) often affects the scalp but can occur anywhere on the body. Its very common and usually nothing to worry about; about half of Australian men show signs of visible baldness at age 50 and...

Our survey of the sky is uncovering the secrets of how planets are born

When we look out to the stars, it is typically not a yearning for the distant depths of outer space that drives us. When we are looking out there, we are truly looking back at ourselves. We try to understand our place in...

Archeoastronomy uses the rare times and places of previous total solar eclipses to help us measure history

Total solar eclipses have fascinated and terrified people for centuries. Today, we know that total solar eclipses like the upcoming eclipse on April 8 are caused by a cosmic coincidence when the moon comes between the...

Technology

Shiba Inu Community and Binance Stir Crypto World: Token Burns Fuel Market Surge

In a striking turn of events, the Shiba Inu community has reacted to Binances provocative statement declaring everyone an NFT amidst a significant uptick in SHIB token burns that spurred its market value. The meme coins...

Amazon One App Launches Palm-Scanning Sign up; Palm Pay at Whole Foods, Panera

Amazon now allows users to set up palm recognition for seamless payments at Whole Foods, Panera, and other locations directly from their smartphones. Amazon One Expands with Mobile App for Easy Palm Recognition...

Crypto ATM Installations Set to Skyrocket, Driven by Bitcoin FOMO, CEO Predicts

As the crypto industry anticipates a surge in Bitcoin interest post-halving, Bitcoin Depot CEO Brandon Mintz predicts a significant resurgence in crypto ATM installations worldwide. This optimism follows a decline in 2023...

Ford Motor Slashes F-150 Lightning Workers as EV Sales Slow

Ford Motor Company is trimming down its workforce at its Michigan production plant for F-150 Lightning pick-up trucks. The automaker cited slow EV sales as the reason for the move. Ford Motor will slash two-thirds or...
  • Market Data
Close

Welcome to EconoTimes

Sign up for daily updates for the most important
stories unfolding in the global economy.