Biodiversity studies: into the omics era

Internal Seminar : Clive Darwell, Postdoctoral Researcher, Biodiversity and Biocomplexity Unit (Evan Economo)

Title : Biodiversity studies: into the omics era

Abstract :  

Understanding how many species inhabit the Earth, and the processes that determine where they live and how they coexist has long been a formidable challenge to evolutionary ecologists. At a basic level, the vast number of extant species make it all but impossible to comprehensively catalogue the planet’s biodiversity and without such rudimentary information it is impossible to identify the mechanisms that determine the patterns we observe. However, by focusing on particularly important and amenable groups of organisms we can hopefully develop generalised models that explain the underlying processes. Moreover, modern molecular technologies offer an emerging opportunity to elucidate previously intractable ecological and evolutionary processes that have long remained a puzzle. I show how new approaches can be used to unravel biodiversity patterns in different systems including both plants and insects.

Refreshments will be served afterwards. We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Internal Seminar Organizing Committee:

Bianca Sieveritz

​ Rob Campbell

Maggi Mars-Brisbin

Yunhui Zheng

Jonathan Ward

Lauren Dembeck​

Jigyasa Arora

Maéva Techer