Spring 2012

Spring 2012 seminars are held on Mondays at 5:00 PM in AA-G008.

The Evolutionary Studies seminar series presents a guest speaker on an evolution-related topic about every week. It’s a great way to learn about evolution directly from a wide variety of scientists, and an excellent opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussion with researchers as well as your peers. Seminars are open to everyone. Students are encouraged to enroll in BIOL 480S, a 2-credit course based on the seminar series (to register, submit a petition to the biology department office).

February 6, 2012:

Growing and Evolving Soft Robots

John Rieffel
Assistant professor of Computer Science
Union College

February 13, 2012

What Changes with the Evolution of Sociality? A Comparative Study in Social & Solitary Huntsman Spiders.

Dr. Linda S. Rayor
Dept. Entomology
Cornell University

February 27, 2012

Grandfather’s Age at Reproduction Influences Grandchildren’s Telomere Length: Thrifty Telomeres and Intergenerational Adaptive Plasticity

Dan Eisenberg
Department of Anthropology
Northwestern University

March 5, 2012

Functional Contextualism, Relational Frame Theory, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, The Matrix–and Evolution

Kevin Polk
Chief of Psychology
VA Medical Center
Augusta, ME

March 12, 2012

Visual Attention and the Acquisition of Information in Human Crowds

Andrew C. Gallup
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Princeton University

March 19, 2012

Organizational Benefits of Commensality

Kevin M. Kniffin
Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
Cornell University

March 26, 2012

What Makes Us Tick? Orchids, Dandelions, and the Genetic Roots of Temperament

David Dobbs
Independent Author
Contributor to The Atlantic, New York Times Magazine, Nature, National Geographic;
Author of the Book Reef Madness: Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral.

April 16, 2012

Mother’s Touch: A Source of Individual Variation in Daughter’s Reproduction

Nicole Cameron
Binghamton University

April 23, 2012

Hive Psychology and the Moral Life of Homo Duplex

Jonathan Haidt
University of Virginia and NYU-Stern

April 30, 2012

Evolutionary versus Racial Medicine: Why it Matters.

Dr. Joseph L. Graves, Jr.
Associate Dean for Research & Professor of Biological Sciences,
Joint School of Nano-sciences and Nano-engineering,
North Carolina A&T State University and UNC Greensboro.