Biodiversity Research Seminar Series

The Biodiversity Research Seminar Series (BRS) is held on Wednesdays at noon in the Beaty Biodiversity Museum auditorium

The BRS series organizers are Diane Srivastava, John Richardson, and Judith Mank. Cookies and coffee are provided in the Biodiversity Research Centre atrium at 11:30am. To update the title/speaker changes, please contact Katie Beall.

Upcoming Events

BRS: Felipe Zapata "Peering into the nature of species: considering genomic and phenotypic evidence on an equal footing"

host: Matthew Pennell, cookies provided by Wouter vB and Barbara N-B abstract: An understanding of the nature of species is crucial for the understanding of the origins, evolution, and dynamics of biodiversity. Yet, what we mean by species and whether species have any biological reality has been...

BRS: Elizabeth Madin "How humans shape marine ecosystems by altering predator populations"

host: Mary O'Connor, cookies provided by Chelsea L and Megan S. Abstract : Humans have been harvesting predators and other creatures from the global oceans for millennia. More recently, conservation measures, such as marine reserves, have been established to restore populations depleted from this...

BRS: Gideon Mordecai "Endangered wild salmon infected by newly discovered viruses"

host: Curtis Suttle, cookies provided by Rassim K. and Mackenzie UC. abstract: The collapse of iconic, keystone populations of sockeye ( Oncorhynchus nerka ) and Chinook ( Oncorhynchus tshawytscha ) salmon in the Northeast Pacific is of great concern. It is thought that infectious disease may...

BRS: Michael Malay (video from UBCO) "The Grammar of Extinction"

host: UBCO video link, cookies provided by Lydia Fong and Sean M. In one of his poems, Coleridge writes that the world is ‘one mighty alphabet’. We are surrounded, he thought, by emblems and signs, marks and inscriptions, by a universe loaded with meanings. If we could decipher these marks with our...

BRS: Stephanie Pau “Feeling the Heat: Climate Change Impacts on the Phenology and Productivity of a Panamanian Tropical Forest”

host: Sean Michaletz, cookies provided by Jenn W. and Naomi S. Abstract: Tropical forests are generally warm and wet year round, thus some hypothesize that their phenology and productivity are most limited by light. Alternatively, tropical species may be highly sensitive to temperature because they...

BRS: Shawn Narum "Local adaptation in steelhead across aquatic landscapes of the Columbia River"

host: Rick Taylor, cookies provided by Natalie W. and Armando G. abstract: Anadromous species such as steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss) undergo long-distance migrations across geographical regions that consist of highly heterogeneous habitats. This may lead to local adaptation and signatures...

BRS: CHITTY LECTURE Simon Hart "How diversity within species affects the maintenance of species diversity"

host: Graduate Students, cookies provided by Megan S. and Mia W. Abstract: Although ~25 % of the trait diversity in ecological communities occurs within species, explanations for the maintenance of species diversity tend to ignore the effects of this variation on the dynamics and outcome of species...

BRS: Carl Boettiger "From Oceans to Fields: Socio-ecological Decision Making for the 21st Century"

host: Claire Kremen, cookies provided by Chelsea G and Lizzie W. abstract: Dealing with extreme uncertainty is a hallmark of decision making of many conservation and ecological management problems. Ecosystems and societies are complex and their behavior often defies prediction by mathematical...

BRS: Jonah Piovia-Scott "Understanding variation in the effects of predators and pathogens on ecological communities"

host: John Richardson, cookies provided by Laura P. and Amelia H. abstract: Predators and pathogens can have dramatic effects on the diversity and abundance of lower trophic levels. Here, I present results from ongoing research on such top-down effects in two different study systems. First, I...

BRS: Alex Smith

host: Diane Srivastava

You are here

BRS: Felipe Zapata "Peering into the nature of species: considering genomic and phenotypic evidence on an equal footing"

BRS: Elizabeth Madin "How humans shape marine ecosystems by altering predator populations"

BRS: Gideon Mordecai "Endangered wild salmon infected by newly discovered viruses"

BRS: Michael Malay (video from UBCO) "The Grammar of Extinction"

BRS: Stephanie Pau “Feeling the Heat: Climate Change Impacts on the Phenology and Productivity of a Panamanian Tropical Forest”

BRS: Shawn Narum "Local adaptation in steelhead across aquatic landscapes of the Columbia River"

BRS: CHITTY LECTURE Simon Hart "How diversity within species affects the maintenance of species diversity"

BRS: Carl Boettiger "From Oceans to Fields: Socio-ecological Decision Making for the 21st Century"

BRS: Jonah Piovia-Scott "Understanding variation in the effects of predators and pathogens on ecological communities"

BRS: Alex Smith