TLDG readings

The theme for this spring's Thursday Lunch Discussion Group (TLDG) is Interesting papers by upcoming seminar speakers. Discussing the seminar speaker's papers together beforehand will strengthen our seminar experience, offering a chance for deeper conversations with the speaker when they arrive and giving us background to more fully understand the implications of the speaker's work and seminar. On weeks without a seminar speaker, other topical papers will be chosen for discussion.

PDFs of the TLDG readings for each week are posted as attachments at the BOTTOM of this page and are listed by the LAST NAME of the seminar speaker.

February 2
Modeling species’ ecological niches and geographic distributions
Richard Pearson, Biodiversity Informatics Research , American Museum of Natural History
Host: Israel Del Toro
TLDG Reading: Pearson.&.Dawson 2003.pdf

February 9
Spatial modeling of genetic, morphological, and environmental variation: Implications for evolution and conservation
Ian Wang, Darwin Fellow Candidate, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Host: Duncan Irschick

Developmental plasticity of ornamentation, immune function, and behavior
Mike Butler, Darwin Fellow Candidate, Biology, Arizona State University
Hosts: Ethan Clotfelter & Steve McCormick

TLDG Readings: Wang.2011.Evolution.pdf & Butler.etal.2011.ProcB.pdf

February 16
Evolutionary ecology of sexual traits: From social networks to speciation
Kevin Oh, Darwin Fellow Candidate, Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University
Host: Jeff Podos

Conservation genetics of pollination systems
Sevan Suni, Darwin Fellow Candidate, Center for Insect Science, University of Arizona
Host: Andrew Whiteley

TLDG Readings: Oh&Badyeav2010 & Suni&Brosi.ConGen.2011

February 23
On the origin of species on islands: Signal divergence and speciation in flycatchers of the Solomon Archipelago
Albert Uy, Department of Biology, University of Miami
Host: Craig Albertson
TLDG Reading: Uy etal.09.AmNat.pdf

March 1
Sinauer Associates Lecture
The hormone in the middle: Integrative organismal responses to changing environments as learned from an adaptable songbird
Ellen Ketterson, Department of Biology, Indiana University
Host: Jeff Podos
TLDG Reading: Ketterson.2009.pdf

March 8
White-nose Syndrome 2012: The current status of the research and management of a deadly fungal pathogen
Jeremy Coleman, Northeast Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Host: Betsy Dumont
TLDG Reading: Turner et al.2011.pdf

March 15
This is your brain on steroids: What songbirds teach us about the neural mechanisms of behavior
Luke Remage-Healey, OEB and Department of Psychology, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Host: Jeff Podos
TLDG Reading:Remage-Healy.et.al.2010.pdf

March 29
NO SEMINAR
TLDG Reading:

April 5
NO SEMINAR
TLDG Reading:

April 12
Inferring the past for traits that alter speciation and extinction
Sally Otto, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia
Hosts: Ben Normark & Laura Katz
TLDG Reading: OTTO.Johnsonetal2011

April 19
The evolution of human skin pigmentation as an exemplar of natural selection
Nina Jablonski, Department of Anthropology, Penn State
Host: Lynnette Sievert
TLDG Reading: Jablonski&Chaplin.2010.pdf

April 26
The joint evolution of mating system, life history, and physiology in the annual wildflower Clarkia: Does selection to avoid drought drive the evolution of self-fertilization?
Susan Mazer, Department of Ecology, Evolution & Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
Host: Tobias Baskin
Co-sponsored with Graduate Program in Plant Biology NOTE: This seminar is on a THURSDAY
TLDG Reading: MAZER.Dudley.et.al.2012.pdf