Steve's Herpetological Blog

An insight into the life of Steve, his research and the many books he reads

Steven Allain

#SciFri: April project update

Unfortunately at the moment it doesn’t look like I’ll be able complete my fieldwork anytime soon, given the current coronavirus pandemic. This isn’t exactly the fun-filled and action packed update I was planning but things changed very quickly (as I’m…

#SteveReviews: Spy in the Wild

For those of you who aren’t aware of the BBC series Spy in the Wild, the premise is simple. Each episode uses a number of animatronic spy cameras that thanks, to increasing levels of technology and miniaturisation, are disguised as…

#SciFri: Folding@home

I recently found out about a free and exciting way we can all help fight disease, thanks to one of my favourite YouTubers, Linus Sebastian. For those of you that don’t know, Linus is usually most happy when building gaming…

#SteveReviews: Tiger King

On 20th March, Netflix released a series that I noticed had caught the attention of my friends on both Facebook and Twitter. I decided to check it out and below is my take on the pure insanity that follows. It…

#SciFri: Herpetofauna Workers Meeting 2020

Back in early February, I attended the a conference on the 15th and 16th February in Southport up on the Sefton coast. Despite the fact that Storm Dennis was blowing and coronavirus was yet to cause the disruption is has…

#SciFri: How good is pattern matching software?

We are currently living through some pretty tough times, not since the Second World War has there been the same level of restrictions on movement of people as there are at the moment. As someone that studies disease (in animals),…

#StevesLibrary: Cuckoo – Cheating by Nature

One of the last books I read was Cuckoo: Cheating by Nature written by the talented Nick Davies from the University of Cambridge. I’m not one to often read books about birds (I like to keep things nice and broad…

#SciFri: We described a new species!

Back in October 2015, I was sitting in the Cambridge Blue (on Gwydir Street, Cambridge) when I got a phone call from John W. Wilkinson of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC). He had rang to tell me about…

#SciFri: 9th World Congress of Herpetology Part II

In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few weeks, which is completely understandable given the state of world politics, I wrote a post not too long ago about my experiences at the World Congress of Herpetology…

#SteveReviews: Night on Earth

On January 29th 2020, Netflix dropped a new nature documentary series comprising of six episodes. Whilst it isn’t narrated by the god that is Sir David Attenborough, it is very well produced and is novel as far as I’m aware…