Episode 20: Young Scientist Spotlight 20: Dr. Roshmi Sarma

Australia’s battle against the invasion of cane toads goes all the way back to 1935 when they were initially introduced to fight cane beetle infestation. In a few decades’ time, cane toads have become a big bully and taken over the top spot in the local ecosystem. In this episode, Dr. Roshmi Sarma, an ecologist from UNSW, shares her research on these invasive cane toads. She talks about how these cane toads are able to use a neat little trick to speed up their course of evolution and how the native reptilian and snake populations also developed their own strategies to fight against cane toads. Tune in to learn more about Roshmi’s “ribbeting” research on cane toads!