Menu
Seminar Series
EEB hosts a weekly seminar series at 3:30 p.m. Thursdays in room 1420 BPS (Biomedical and Physical Sciences) during the academic year. Throughout the year, the seminar committee solicits nominations of leading scholars whose research appeals to our diverse EEB community (link to nomination form). In the spring, the seminar committee then invites speakers from this nomination pool for the next academic year.
The seminar series contains four special lecture types (nominated by EEB members): the Spartan Eminent Lecture by a prominent EEB leader outside of MSU; the Distinguished Alumni Lecture by an EEB alum with a celebrated research career; up to two Notable Dissertation Lectures by graduating EEB students to share their outstanding dissertation research; and two Career Exploration Panels with speakers discussing their career paths outside of academia.
Seminars are planned to be in-person unless listed otherwise. We will closely monitor the COVID-19 situation.
Questions can be directed to the committee co-chairs: Carolyn Malmstrom and Elizabeth Heath-Heckman.
Spring 2023
February 2
Recent advances and open challenges in estimating evolutionary histories for species and populations
Erin Molloy, PhD
Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
University of Maryland
Host: Kevin Liu
February 9
February 16
From microbes to mountains: Exploring ecosystems in a changing world
Aimée Classen, PhD
University of Michigan Biological Station
Host: Moriah Young
February 23
Looking at plants with care: Patterns, causes and significance of sub-individual variation
Carlos Herrera, PhD
Emeritus Professor of Research
Council for Scientific Research, Seville, Spain
Host: Will Wetzel
March 2
Opportunistic human fungal pathogens through the lens of ecology and evolution
Aleeza Gerstein, PhD
Department of Microbiology and Statistics
University of Manitoba, Canada
Host: Mike Wiser
March 16
Using thermal physiology to explain patterns of biodiversity and response to climate change
Alisha Shah, PhD
KBS/Department of Integrative Biology
Michigan State University
Host: Lars Brudvig
March 23
From landscapes to global climate intervention: An exploration
Jessica Gurevitch, PhD
SPARTAN EMINENT LECTURE
Department of Ecology and Evolution
Purdue University
Host: Carolyn Malmstrom
March 30
Evolution, development, and aging in bats
Karen Sears, PhD
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Ecology
University of California - Los Angeles
April 6
Computational methods to investigate connectivity in evolvable systems
Acacia Ackles, PhD
NOTABLE STUDENT DISSERTATION
Department of Computer Science
Lawrence University
Host: Emily Dolson
April 13
More than just reservoirs: How interaction between wild plants and insect vectors shape the ecology and evolution of pathogenic microbes
Kerry Mauck, PhD
Department of Entomology
University of California - Riverside
Host: Michael Ryskamp
April 20
Knockout of a single SOX gene resurrects an ancestral cell type in the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis
Leslie Babonis, PhD
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Cornell University
Host: Julia Ganz
April 27
EEB Core Faculty Meeting
Faculty will recap the semester, discuss plans for spring, and learn about new initiatives.
Fall 2022
September 15
EEB Town Hall
Join your fellow EEB members to socialize and learn about the exciting activities to come during the new academic year!
September 22
Topological puzzles in biology: How shape and structure shape a system's evolution
Oana Carja
Assistant professor, computational biology
Carnegie Mellon University
Host: Emily Dolson
September 29
Ecological and cultural priorities coincide in wet forests for conserving neotropical birds
Postdoctoral fellow, biology
Stanford University
Host: Olivia Smith
October 6
Communities of change: Advancing large mammal ecology and empowering STEM learners
Assistant professor, South Dakota State University
Natural resource management
West River Research and Extension Center
Host: Toby SantaMaria
October 13
Career Exploration Panel
Patricia Ward
Head scientist
Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
Host: Jamily Ramos De Lima
Career Exploration Panel
Alex Wright
Landscape science coordinator
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Host: Julie Jarvey
October 20
The dual role of parental conflict in speciation: Lessons from Mimulus
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Yale University
Host: Andrew Bleich and David Lowry
October 27
Habitat heterogeneity, environmental feedbacks, and species coexistence across timescales
Ecology and Evolution
University of Chicago
Host: Nasser Mohammed and Christopher Klausmeier
November 3
The Hawaiian bobtail squid as a model host for studying defensive symbioses
Molecular and Cell Biology
University of Connecticut
Host: Elizabeth Heath-Heckman
November 10
Leveraging evolutionary trade-offs and phage selection pressure to reduce bacterial
pathogenicity
Paul Turner
Distinguished Alumni Lecture
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Yale University
Host: Richard Lenski
November 17
Renewable energy ecology: Interactions among energy development, ecosystems, and people
Natural Resources and Environment
Cornell University
Hosts: Miranda Wade and Mariah Meek
December 8
EEB Core Faculty Meeting
Faculty will recap the semester, discuss plans for spring, and learn about new initiatives.