Charles Darwin Biology Seminar Series 2009-10
Department of Biological Sciences
Florida International University
 

Unless otherwise noted, seminars are on Monday afternoons at 4:00 p.m. in the Wertheim Conservatory (WC 130) at the University Park campus.  Light refreshments are served beginning at 3:45 p.m.  Please follow the hyperlinks (underlined), when available, for additional information.

The Department of Biological Sciences is grateful for financial support for enhancement of several seminars from the FIU University Graduate School and the Office of the Dean, FIU College of Arts & Sciences.  These special seminars are indicated by the following symbol:  ►

The Dept. of Biological Sciences is also grateful for financial support from the Stanley J. Glaser Professorship in Biology Endowment for the visit of Dr. Gary King during the week of March 8-12, 2010.

Date

Speaker

Title

August 31 Maureen Donnelly, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU

Amphibian Conservation in the New World Tropics:   A Tragedy in Three Acts

September 7 No seminar (Labor Day)  
September 14 Ophelia Weeks, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU Transforming Biological Science Education: QBIC - A Test Case for Change
September 21 Alejandro Barbieri, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU Regulation of Rab5 During Endocytic Membrane Trafficking and Its Potential Implications
September 28 Marten Edwards, Biology Department, Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA
(Host:  Fernando Noriega)
Investigations of the Molecular Interface Between Mosquitoes and Human Pathogens
October 5 Richard Primack, Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA
(Host: Laurie Richardson)
The Role of Plant Phenology in Climate Change and Conservation Research:  Examples from Massachusetts and East Asia
October 12 Biology Honors Presentations
Gabriel Correa (Advisor: Dr. Charles Bigger)
Christina Crum (Advisor: Dr. Rene Herrera)
(Host:  DeEtta Mills)
Allogeneic Memory in the Gorgonian Coral Swiftia exserta
The Allelic Abundance of Afghanistan, a Pool for West and South Eurasian Genes and a Blockade Against Eastern Admixture
October 19 Jacques Robert, Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY
(Hosts:  Charles Bigger and the FIU Comparative Immunology Club)
Comparative Study of Host Immune Defenses to Emerging Viral Infectious Diseases in the Frog Xenopus
October 26 John Makemson, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU A New Idea in Flavin-related Bioluminescence
November 2 Mikki McComb, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL
(Host: Mo Donnelly)
Visual Adaptations in Sharks, Skates and Rays
November 9 Joel Trexler, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU

Controls of Population Dynamics in a Spatially Structured Environment: Fishes in the Everglades

November 16 Scot Hagerthey, Everglades Division, South Florida Water Management District, West Palm Beach, FL
(Host:  Joel Trexler)
Accelerating the Recovery of the P-impacted Everglades by Altering Ecosystem State Stability
November 23 Fulvia Verde, Dept. of Molecular & Cellular Pharmacology, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, FL
(Host:  Alejandro Barbieri)
Control of cell morphogenesis in fission yeast
November 30 Amy Faivre, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA
(Host: Jennifer Richards)
Fire, Rain, and Flowering Along Florida's Lake Wales Ridge
January 4, 2010 Jennifer Richards, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU Determining Hydrologic Tolerances and Optima for Everglades Slough Species
January 11 Lawrence Salkoff, Dept. of Anatomy & Neurobiology and Dept. of Genetics, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
(Host:  Alejandro Barbieri)
How we revealed an essential set of potassium channels conserved throughout the Metazoa
Tuesday, January 12, 4:00 PM, in WC 130 Celia Santi, Dept. of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Washington University in St. Louis, School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO
(Host: Alejandro Barbieri)
Slo3: a sperm-specific potassium channel with a vital role in fertilization
January 18 No seminar (Martin Luther King Day)  
January 25 Dara Frank, Medical College of Wisconsin, Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Milwaukee, WI
(Host: Sushmita Mustafi / Barbieri lab)
Pseudomonas aeruginosa ExoU: Killing from the inside-out
February 1 Philip DeVries, Dept. of Biological Sciences, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA
(Host: Vivian Maccachero/ Donnelly lab)
What do butterflies tell us about tropical diversity?
February 8 Peter Underhill, Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Stanford University, CA
(Host: Tenzin Gayden / Herrera lab)
The Phylogeography and Regionalization of Human Y-Chromosomes
February 15 Jeffrey Wells, Dept. of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WVA
(Host: DeEtta Mills)
DNA Applications for forensic entomology:  General lessons for forensic non-human DNA analysis
February 22 Douglas Wartzok, Dept. of Biological Sciences, FIU Effects of Anthropogenic Sound on Marine Mammals
March 1, in MSB 105 @ BBC, broadcast to WC 130 Monty Graham, Dauphin Island Sea Lab, University of South Alabama, Dauphin Island, AL
(Host:  Elizabeth Stoner/ Layman lab)
Evidence for the replacement of fish by jellyfish due to climate-fishery interactions in the northern Gulf of Mexico coastal ecosystem
March 8
(Glaser Distinguished Biology Lecture)
Gary King, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA
(Host: Laurie Richardson)
Madam Pele's Contributions to the Microbial Biology and Ecology of Carbon Monoxide-Oxidizing Bacteria
(For other presentations this week by Dr. King, please click here.)
March 15 No seminar (Spring Break)  
March 22,  in MSB 105 @ BBC, broadcast to WC 130 Randall Hughes, Coastal and Marine Laboratory, Florida State University, St. Teresa, FL
(Host: Bryan Dewsbury / Fourqurean lab)
Population- and Community-level Effects of Seagrass Genetic Diversity
March 29 James Goodson, Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
(Host: Anya Goldina / Stoddard lab)
Birds of a Feather: Evolution of Sociality and the Social Brain
Thursday, April 1, 4:00 PM, in WC 130 Michael Surette, Dept. of Microbiology & Infectious Diseases and Dept. of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, Alberta
(Host: Melissa Doud/ Mathee lab, College of Medicine)
Overlooked Pathogens in Cystic Fibrosis Airway Infections
April 5 Biology Honors Presentations
Kimberley Lee (Advisor: Dr. Kenneth Murray)
Juan Molina (Advisor: Dr. Philip Stoddard)
Myron Evans (Advisor: Dr. Lidia Kos)
(Host: DeEtta Mills)

Novel Purification of the Archaeal Protein, Pfu RPP38, for NMR Studies
Social and Seasonal Plasticity of Brachyhypopomus gauderio
Characterization of a Novel Phenotype with Marked Hydrocephalus
April 12 Biology Honors Presentations
Manuela Noriega (Advisor: Dr. Alejandro Barbieri)
Tahrim Rahman (Advisor: Dr. Leung Kim)
(Host: DeEtta Mills)

The Expression of RAP6 During Early Mouse Embryonic Development
The Role of PP2A Regulatory Subunit B56 in Dictyostelium discoideum Motility
Thursday, April 22, 4:00 PM, in WC 130 Jeffrey Wells, Dept. of Biology, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WVA
(Host: Laurie Richardson)
Everything we knew was wrong:  Molecular systematic analysis overturns most hypotheses about evolution in the blow fly genus Chrysomya