Dani Rabaiotti

Dani Rabaiotti is an English environmental scientist and popular science writer based at the Institute of Zoology at the Zoological Society of London. She is the author (with Nick Caruso) of the New York Times bestseller, Does It Fart,^[1] as well as two other books. Her fields of research include global change biology, science policy and science communication.

Education and research

Rabaiotti completed a BSc in Zoology at the University of Bristol in 2012.^[2] She then moved to the University of Leeds, achieving an MRes Biodiversity and Conservation.^[2] She is working toward a PhD with NERC London Doctoral Training Partnership.^[3][4]

Rabaiotti is currently working on the impact of climate change on African Wild Dogs.^[5] The data collection involves on-the-ground fieldwork as well as conservation technology.^[6] Her research with the Zoological Society of London, the Kenya Rangelands Wild Dog and Cheetah Project, has identified that fewer than 7,000 wild dogs and 10,000 cheetahs remain in Africa.^[7][8] Rabaiotti uses long term data on the species to the impact of temperature on behaviour, mortality and population level, working towards a spatially explicit species wide model.^[2]

Policy and public engagement

Rabaiotti was the 2016 BES POST Fellow.^[9][10] In this post, she wrote a POSTNote - a research briefing on Environmental Crime - any illegal activity that harms the environment.^[11] Following this, she secured a Research Councils UK science policy placement at the Royal Society.^[12] In 2017 she was selected by the British Ecological Society to ask leading figures within government and Parliament questions relating to science policy in the UK at the RSB's Voice of the Future.^[13]

When Bill Nye joined Twitter in 2017, Rabaiotti was the first scientist to greet him using the hashtag #BillMeetScienceTwitter.^[14][15] Less than a day after the hashtag was born, Nye replied with "I see you, Science Twitter. You are the aerodynamic laminar flow beneath my wings". Nye featured Rabaiotti in the trailer for Season 2 of Bill Nye Saves the World.^[16]

Rabaiotti is a contributor to BBC Wildlife Magazine, Gizmodo and Nature News & Comment.^[17][18][5] She has featured on radio, television and podcasts.^[19]

Does it Fart?

After a Twitter discussion about farting snakes (#DoesItFart), Rabaiotti partnered with Nick Caruso of the University of Alabama to crowd source a database of animal flatulence.^[20] Rabaiotti told the Washington Post that "Does it fart? is one of most frequent questions zoologists receive from kids".^[21] The pair published a book, illustrated by Ethan Kocak, with Quercus in 2017.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]}

In 2018 the pair published the follow-up called True or Poo?, a book about "poop and gross animal habits".^[28]

Bibliography

• Does it Fart: The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence (with Nick Caruso), Hachette Books, 2018. ISBN 9780316484138
• True or Poo: The Definitive Field Guide to Filthy Animal Facts and Falsehoods (with Nick Caruso), Hachette Books, 2018. ISBN 9780316528092
• Believe it or Snot: The Definitive Field Guide to Earth's Slimy Creatures (with Nick Caruso), Hachette Books. 2019. ISBN 9780306846137

References

1. Does It Fart? By Dani Rabaiotti and Nick Caruso. Hatchette Books. 5 September 2017. ISBN 9780316484138.
2. "Daniella Rabaiotti". Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
3. "Biodiversity & Ecology - The London NERC DTP". The London NERC DTP. 2 April 2014. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
4. "People". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
5. Cressey, Daniel (2016). "The science you showed us". Nature. doi:10.1038/nature.2016.19178. S2CID 186406151.
6. "A dog's life: Using conservation technology to monitor African wild dogs". Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
7. "Kenya Rangelands Wild Dog and Cheetah Project". Zoological Society of London (ZSL). Retrieved 2 January 2018.
8. "Range Wide Conservation Program". www.cheetahandwilddog.org. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
9. "BES Blog: Westminster, waste and wildlife crime". British Ecological Society. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
10. "POST Fellowships". UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
11. Wentworth, Jonathan; Rabaiotti, Daniella (31 January 2017). "Environmental Crime". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. "Dani Rabaiotti | In Verba | Royal Society". blogs.royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
13. "Voice of the Future 2017: a scientist's perspective". British Ecological Society. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
14. Brueck, Hilary. "Why A Bunch Of Scientists Are Heckling Bill Nye With #BillMeetScienceTwitter". Forbes. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
15. "#billmeetsciencet hashtag on Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
16. "Bill Nye Saves the World | Netflix Official Site". www.netflix.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
17. https://www.pressreader.com/uk/bbc-wildlife-magazine/20171122. Retrieved 2 January 2018 – via PressReader. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
18. Mandelbaum, Ryan F. "Brilliant Scientists Are Compiling a Database of Farting Animals". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
19. acast (29 August 2017). "Animal farts: A mighty wind | Brains On! Science podcast for kids on acast". acast. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
20. "Scientists Are Creating A Database Of Farting Animals". HuffPost UK. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
21. Bittel, Jason (11 January 2017). "Scientists are building an animal fart database". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
22. "Student co-authors popular science book, "Does it Fart?" - The London NERC DTP". The London NERC DTP. 31 October 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
23. Dani, Rabaiotti (19 October 2017). Does it fart? : the definitive field guide to animal flatulence. Caruso, Nick. London. ISBN 978-1786488275. OCLC 1012165062.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
24. "Do animals fart?". Science Focus. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
25. "Everything you need to know about animal flatulence | Discover Wildlife". www.discoverwildlife.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
26. "Some Animals Don't Fart, Say Scientists Whose Salaries Are Paid For By Your Taxes". Men's Health. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
27. "Does It Fart? by Dani Rabaiotti, Nick Caruso | Waterstones". www.waterstones.com. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
28. Becker, Rachel (21 October 2018). "Flatworms fence with their penises and other fun science facts". The Verge. Retrieved 2 January 2019.