Seminar Series 2018/2019

The Department invites scholars in Biology to present their research on most Thursdays throughout the academic year. The seminars are followed by a Q&A session.

Join us Thursdays, 12:30-1:45 PM, In-person & Virtually.

Fall 2018

Aug. 30, 2018

Dr. Yan Wong
Evolutionary Biologist
Oxford University 
Inferring the Ancestry of Everyone 
Hosted by: Steven Singer 

Sep. 13, 2018

Dr. Cassandra Quave
Assistant Professor, (Department of Biology)
Emory University
Discovery of anti-infective botanical natural products
Hosted by: Dr. Shaun Brinsmade

Sep. 20, 2018

Dr. Vanessa Sperandio
Professor (Department of Biology)
UT Southwestern Medical Center
You’re hot and you’re cold: neurotransmitters modulation of bacterial virulence expression
Hosted by: Dr. Shaun Brinsmade and Dr. Steven Singer 

Sep. 27, 2018

Dr. Amy Zanne
Associate Professor (Department of Biology)
The George Washington University 
Something’s rotten: Examining drivers of wood decay trajectories
Hosted by: Dr. Gina Wimp

Oct. 4, 2018

Dr. Blythe Shepard
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing and Health Studies
The Sniffing Kidney: Uncovering Novel Physiological Roles for Olfactory Receptors
Hosted by: Ronda Rolfes 

Oct. 18, 2018

Dr. David Stern
Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator
HHMI Janelia Farms
How does the brain evolve? Evidence from the love song of the fruit fly”
Hosted by: Dr. Mark Rose

Nov. 1, 2018

Dr. Doug Tallamy
Professor (Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology
University of Delaware
Are Alien Plants Bad? 
Hosted by: Dr. Martha Weiss

Nov. 8, 2018

Dr. Jeffrey Boyd
Associate Professor (Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology)
Rutgers
Dissecting Staphylococcus aureus Physiology to Decrease Disease Burden
Hosted by: Dr. Shaun Brinsmade

Spring 2019

Jan. 10, 2019

Peri Kurshan
Post-doctoral Researcher
Department of Biology
Stanford University
“Towards a molecular understanding of synapse formation”

Isaac Cervantes-Sandoval

Senior Staff Scientist
Department of Neuroscience
The Scripps Research Institute
“Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms for Active Forgetting”

Jan. 24, 2019

Erin Barnhart
Post-doctoral Fellow
Department of Biology
New York University
“Cellular mechanisms for efficient coding in the Drosophila visual system”

Jan. 31, 2019

Dr. Qiuxiang Zhang
Post-doctoral Fellow
Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
National Institute f Health
“From Sensory Transduction to Transmission: imaging Sensory Encoding in Zebrafish Hair Cells”

Feb. 7, 2019

Dr. Haiyan He
Staff Scientist
Neuroscience Department
The Scripps Research Institute
“Push and Pull- a Tale of Two Neurons”
 

Feb. 28, 2019

Dr. Ting Ting Wang
GU – Pharmacology
Stabilizing Synapse Function via Glial Epigenetic Signaling
hosted by: Drs. Jeff Huang and Tom Coate

Mar. 21, 2019

Maya Gomes
Assistant Professor
Johns Hopkins University
Tardigrades: an emerging model for studying the evolution of animal body plans and survival of biological materials in extreme conditions
hosted by: Dr. Sarah Johnson