Charles Darwin Biology Seminar Series 2010-11
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.

Date

Speaker

Title

August 23

 David Lee, FIU

The Difficulty of Being Blue: An Unusual Mode of Color Production in Plants

August 30

 Roger Hammer, Miami-Dade County

Human and Natural History of south Florida

September 6

No seminar (Labor Day)

 

September 13

 Julia Dallman, University of Miami

Synchronized swimming in zebrafish: a tale of genetic determinants of
synaptic function

September 20

 Barbara Whitlock, University of Miami

Re-illuminating the Swingle Plant Anatomy Reference Collection

September 27

 Barry Rosen, FIU Medical School

The Arsenic Biogeocycle

October 4

 Ligia

 Collado Vides

   What macroalgae patterns, associations and nutrient content can tell us about Biscayne Bay estuarine conditions

   October 11

 Dan Schmitt (Duke University)

 Biomechanics in the trees: A primate perspective on limb mechanics and its implications for basic and clinical sciences

   October 18

 Phil Busey (University of Florida IFAS)

Grasses and the lawn of life, as seen in South Florida

   October 25

 Peter Hogarth (University of York, UK)

    Mangroves as Ecosystem Engineers

   November 1

    James Watling (University of Florida IFAS)

    Understanding threats to biodiversity through the lens of landscape ecology

   November 8

    Martha Nungesser (South Florida Water Management District, Everglades Division)

    Response of Landscape Patterns to Hydrologic Changes in the Everglades

   November 15

 Paul Pratt (University of Florida IFAS, Invasive Plants Research Lab)

    Top down regulation of the invasive tree Melaleuca quinquenervia

   November 22

    Orou Gaoue (University of Miami, Institute of Theoretical and Mathematical Ecology)

    The ecological and evolutionary implications of wild plants harvest by indigenous people

 November 29

  Dr. John Hoehnig (Virginia Institute of Marine Science)

 Estimating relative survival rates: application to discard mortality, evaluating MPAs, chronic disease impacts, larval fish dynamics, stock enhancement, sex ratios, & evolutionary fitness

December 6

Patrick von Aderkas (University of Victoria)

Biochemistry and physiology of gymnosperm pollination drops

   January 10, 2011

 Madhavan Nair,

FIU Medical School

    Magnetic Nanodelivery of HIV drugs  Across Blood Brain Barrier

   January 17

   No seminar (Martin Luther King Day)

    

   January 24

    Jeff Wells – new FIU Biology professor!

Forensic Entomology

   January 31

Valerie Weaver (University of California, S.F)

    The force Journal of a Tumor Cell

   February 7

    Rod Murphey (FAU)

    Molecular mechanisms of synaptic competition

   February 14

    Joseph Mendelson (Zoo Atlanta)

  Biodiversity, Evolution, and Conservation of Neotropical Frogs   

   February 21

no seminar today

   February 28

Vincent Moy (University of Miami)

  Biological processes probed by direct force measurements

   March 7

Brian Barnes (University of Alaska) 

  Glaser Professor Seminar

   March 14

   No seminar (Spring Break)

    

   March 21

Jennifer Rehage (Earth and Environment)

    Effects of hydrological heterogeneity on fish dynamics at the Everglades marsh-mangrove ecotone: implications for ecosystem function & services

   March 28

    Sabrina Burmeister (UNC)

 Neurobiology of Social Signaling: the túngara frog, mate choice, and egr-1 expression   

   April 4

    Brian Silliman

 Interactions between climate stress, food webs and facilitation reveal new paradigms in ecology   

   April 11

  Alejandro Barbieri

Adipogenesis,  Signaling and Natural Products

   April 18

   Biology Honors Presentations - special all- afternoon cavalcade of stars from 2 pm - 5:30 pm (great refreshments as well as great talks planned!)

Laura   Cabrera

Arylchlorogermanes as substrates for palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions.  (Stanislaw F. Wnuk (Chem) and John Makemson, mentors)

Katherine Teal Leonard

Characterization of short-chain alcohol dehydrogenase cluster in the juvenile hormone pathway of the yellow fever mosquito Aedes aegypti. (Fernando Noriega, mentor)

Christopher  Livia

Diversity of nematode species in different South Florida soil types.  (DeEtta Mills, mentor)

Enrique D.  Machado

Repeated Treatment with alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone mimics enhancement of electric waveform structure in Brachyhypopomus gauderio.  (Philip Stoddard, mentor)

Eric L.  Maranda

The effect of Poly(A) Binding protein on mRNA Translation and Stability of non-polyadenylated mRNA of Mammalian Orthoreovirus. (Kenneth E. Murray, mentor)

Abner A.  Murray

Translation of mammalian orthoreovirus does not require an intact eIF4F complex: implications for cap-independent translation initiation. (Kenneth E. Murray, mentor)

Alejandro  Padron

Molecular dynamics of wildtype and mutant dehaloperoxidase:  Insight into halophenol ligand stablilization. (David Chatfield  (Chem) and Fernando Noriega, mentors)

Genesis  Perez

The role of the Transcriptional Regulator Encoder PA4157 in Iron Transport in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.  (Kalai Mathee (Med) and Opehlia Weeks, mentors)

Jose  A   Redondo

Determination of the post-mortem interval based on microbial succession in the mouse (Mus musculus) gut.  (DeEtta Mills, mentor)

Jose Roble

Using Vibrio harveyi bright mutants to understand the control mechanism for luciferase bioluminescence.  (John Makemson, mentor)

Jorge L.  Rodriguez

Racial/ethnic differences in DNA double-strand-break repair signaling in breast cancer (Jennifer Hu (UM Cancer Center), Ophelia Weeks and Lidia Kos, mentors)

Jacqueline  Zayas

Diversity of bacterial biogeochemical carbon cycling genes in pristine Miami-Dade soils.  (DeEtta Mills, mentor)