A University of California Museum of Paleontology short course
The implications of evolution: evidence and applications
Learn about current research in evolutionary biology, including behavior and defense, primate evolution, and coevolution and its impact on biodiversity AND celebrate Darwin Day (Darwin's birthday is February 12) a little early!
Saturday, February 10, 2007
in Room 2050, Valley Life Sciences Building, UC Berkeley
Agenda
8:15 am 9:00 9:15-10:15 |
Registration opens Welcome and logistics The Coevolving Web of Life |
10:25-11:25 |
Mantis Shrimp: Still the Fastest Claw in the West |
11:35-12:35 |
Fossils, Genes, and Teeth: Reconstructing Primate Evolution |
12:35-1:30 1:30-2:30 |
Break for lunch (on your own) How to Fall From Trees: New Evolutionary Insights into the Origins of Animal Flight |
2:40-3:50 |
So Where's the Controversy? |
3:50-4:00 |
Closing comments |
About the speakers Roy Caldwell is a Professor in the Department of Integrative Biology and Director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology. For more than 40 years, he has prowled coral reefs from Bermuda and Panama to Australia and Indonesia. While most of his research has been on the behavior and ecology of stomatopods (mantis shrimp) and octopus, he and his students also have worked on coral reef conservation and restoration and even participated in the discovery of a new species of living coelacanth from Indonesia. Robert Dudley is a Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. His work on the biomechanics and evolution of animal flight involves both laboratory and fieldwork, the latter most recently including sites in southwest China and Amazonian Peru. Most of this work involves the study of hummingbirds and flying insects, although gliding lizards from Southeast Asia and flying squirrels have also been the subjects of recent study. Leslea Hlusko is an Assistant Professor of Integrative Biology at UC Berkeley. Her research combines paleontology and genetics to study the evolution of the mammalian skeleton, with a focus on primates. The genetics research is primarily done in collaboration with the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research in Texas. She has conducted paleontological field research in Kenya and Ethiopia and is currently the co-director of a project in Tanzania. Eugenie Scott holds a Ph.D. in physical anthropology from the University of Missouri. A human biologist, her research has been in medical anthropology and skeletal biology. For several years, she has served as Executive Director of NCSE, a pro-evolution nonprofit science education organization with members in every state. John Thompson is Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and Director of the STEPS Institute for Innovation in Environmental Research at UC Santa Cruz. His research uses approaches from ecology, biogeography, and molecular biology to study how coevolution organizes the Earth's biodiversity. His studies have included organisms as different as insects, birds, plants, fungi, bacteria, and phages. He has studied coevolved interactions on multiple continents and in environments ranging from true wildernesses to laboratory microcosms. UCMP is a member of the Berkeley Natural History Museums. This course is co-sponsored by the California Science Teachers Association, California Academy of Sciences, the Oakland Museum of California, and the National Center for Science Education. Questions? Contact |