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EEB Department Seminar via Zoom
Featuring
Noah Whiteman
Principal Investigator
Associate Professor
University of California, Berkeley
Department of Integrative Biology
Friday, May 22
Discussion: 9:00 – 10:00 AM
Seminar: 3:00 – 4:00 PM
Dear EEB Department Members,
This week Noah Whiteman from UC Berkeley (http://www.noahwhiteman.org/) will be our seminar speaker. Noah studies the functional genomics of species interactions. He will give a seminar from 3-4 pm on Friday, May 22nd, and also lead a discussion from 9-10 am. Details on each are below, please contact Kailen (mooneyk@uci.edu) with questions. Note that the Zoom meetings include passwords.
Seminar
Time: 3-4 Friday.
Title: The evolution of novelty by small steps and giant leaps: A tale of two toxins
Abstract: Evolutionary biology finds itself in a golden age. The genomics revolution and new genome editing technology are providing answers to central questions in evolution that were out of reach even a few years ago. This profusion of information is difficult, at first blush, to integrate with existing evolutionary theory. On the one hand, the Modern Synthesis posits that adaptation proceeds through small, gradual steps up adaptive peaks, a view largely supported by these new data. On the other hand, horizontal gene transfer, hybridization, and symbioses result in large, sudden leaps to previously inaccessible fitness peaks, processes largely missing from the Modern Synthesis. I will share two empirical studies from my laboratory that suggest these seemingly disparate adaptive processes are two sides of the same coin. Diverse insects have co-opted two different toxins—heart poisons from plants and DNAses from bacteria—as putative defenses against their own natural enemies. These remarkable adaptations require both small steps and giant leaps to explain their origin and elaboration.
Zoom info:
Topic: Noah Whiteman Seminar
Time: May 22, 2020 03:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uci.zoom.us/j/92098465813?pwd=MHM0UjZqNjBJR2V0U1RXbkdUVlNQUT09
Meeting ID: 920 9846 5813
Password: 287029
Discussion
Time: 9-10 Friday
Title: Small steps within fields and giant leaps between fields in my own journey as a biologist
Abstract: Noah will discuss his personal experience shifting fields of research between his MS, PhD and Postdoc, including the risks and rewards and how to do it.
Zoom info:
Topic: Noah Whiteman Discussion
Time: May 22, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://uci.zoom.us/j/95956263308?pwd=WjJ3eTJVNzAxdTRrZ0ZieVJ2OG4rUT09
Meeting ID: 959 5626 3308
Password: 807505