Colloquium Speaker Series
The Ecology and Evolution Colloquium Speaker Series
The department of E&E brings together leading experts in their fields to share groundbreaking research and insights. Our series offers a dynamic platform for faculty, students, and the broader community to engage with cutting-edge ideas in ecology and evolution. Through these presentations, we aim to foster intellectual growth, inspire future research, and contribute to a deeper understanding of our natural world.
Dissertation Defenses
Our doctoral students culminate their academic journeys with a rigorous defense of their original research. This formal presentation offers an opportunity for students to showcase their expertise, engage in scholarly dialogue, and receive valuable feedback from faculty and peers. These events are open to the public and provide a glimpse into the cutting-edge research being conducted within our department.
Fall 2025 | Wednesdays at 2:15pm
8/27/2025, Dr. Aki Ohdera, Welcome & Introductions
Title: "Developmental symbiosis: Are microbes more than a puzzle piece?"
Host: E&E (Reception outside under the bridge following the Colloquium)
9/3/2025, Dr. Krishna Veeramah, Stony Brook University, (In-Person)
Title: "From Wolves to Woofs: Unraveling Dog Domestication with Paleogenomics"
Host: Dr. Rest & Dr. Thacker
9/10/2025, Curriculum Committee meeting
9/17/2025, Dr. Rafael D'Andrea, Stony Brook University, (In-Person)
Title: "Pattern, Process, and Prediction in Community Ecology: Insights from Theory and Models"
Host: Dr. Joshua Rest
9/24/2025, Dr. Natasha Vitek, Stony Brook University, (In-Person)
Title: "Form as a Flashlight: Improving Inference of Evolutionary Process From Quantified Morphology"
Host: E&E
10/1/2025, Dr. Bin He, University of Iowa, (In-Person)
Title: "Tough and Sticky - Evolution of Stress Response and Adhesin Gene Family in Pathogenic Yeasts"
Host: Dr. Joshua Rest
10/8/2025, Dr. Isaac Cassanovas Vilar, Institut Català de Paleontologia Miquel Crusafont,
(In-Person)
Title: "Hot! hot! hot! A multiproxy study of Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems during the Miocene Climatic Optimum"
Host: Tara Smiley
10/15/2025, Dr. Yuri Kimura, National Museum of Nature and Science, (In-Person)
Title: "Tracking of breastfeeding and weaning for paleoecological interpretations of carbon isotopes in small mammals"
Host: Tara Smiley
10/22/2025, Dr. Brett Branco, Brooklyn College, (In-Person)
Title: "Adapting to Rising Tides in Jamaica Bay, New York"
Host: Dr. Heather Lynch
10/29/2025, Dr. Michael Rosenburg, Virgnia Commonwealth University, (In-Person)
Title: "Six Honest-Serving Fiddler Crabs"
Host: Dr. Joshua Rest
11/5/2025, Dr. Laura Alencar, Yale University, (In-Person)
Title: "The Building Blocks of Vertebrate Diversity"
Host: Dr. Pascal Title
11/17/2025, Dr. Benjamin Rice, Princeton University, (In-Person)
Title: "Evolutionary Ecology of Malaria Parasites in a Changing World"
Host: Liliana Davalos
11/19/2025, Dave Daversa, University of California, Los Angeles, (In-Person)
Title: "Wildlife Health and Stress in the Global Change Era: Ecology Meets Epigenomics"
Host: Liliana Davalos
12/3/2025, Yun Tao, University of Georgia, (In-Person)
Title: Disease Ecology in the Anthropocene: Modeling Host Movement and Disease Spread Across Fragmented Space and Time"
Host: Liliana Davalos
12/4/2025, Sarah Zohdy, Center for Disease Control, (In-Person)
Title: The Bites that Bind Us: Global Lessons from Vector Ecology in Innovation, Collaboration, and Scalable Local Leadership for Healthier Human and Ecological Communities"
Host: E&E
12/9/2025, Michel Ohmer, The University of Mississippi, (In-Person)
Title: "Disease Dynamics under global change: Amphibian Declines and Resilience in a Multi-Stressor World"
Host: Liliana Davalos
12/11/2025, Sushma Reddy, the University of Minnesota, (In-Person)
Title: "Diversification of the Unique Birds of Madagascar"
Host: E&E
Spring 2026 | Wednesdays at 2:15pm
2/4/2026, Dr. Carla Narvaez Diaz, Rhode Island College, (In-Person)
Title: "Structure, Plasticity, and Performance: An Integrative Approach to Sea Urchin Adhesive Systems"
Host: Dr. Dianna Padilla
2/11/2026, Dr. Kevin Kocot, University of Alabama, (In-Person)
Title: "Sweat the Small Stuff: Biodiversity, Systematics, and Genomics of Microscopic Animals"
Host: Dr. Robert Thacker
2/18/2026, Dr. Helge Martens, University of Kassel, (In-Person)
Title: "The role of metacognition in learning evolution"
Host: Ross Nehm
Website >
3/4/2026, Britt Bertolet, Rutgers University Newark, (In-Person)
Title: "Lake methane: microbes, models, and mechanism"
Host: Jackie Weissman
3/11/2026, Andrew Swafford, Middlebury College, (In-Person)
Title: "Host Cues Guide Infectious Behavior in the Pathogenic Chytrid Fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis"
Host: Liliana Davalos
3/25/2026, Elena Soterakis & Karen Levitov, BioBAT Art Space, Staller Center Stony Brook University, (In-Person)
Title: "BioFuturism: A New Operating System for Being Human"
Host: TBA
4/1/2026, Malcolm Hill, Bates College, (In-Person)
Title: "More than a Filter: How Nutrient Exchange Mutualisms Drive the Ecology and Evolution of Sponges and Their Symbionts"
Host: Bob Thacker
4/8/2026, Michael D'Emic, Adelphi University, (In-Person)
Title: "Developmental strategies underlying the evolution of body size through deep time"
Host: Natasha Vitek
4/15/2026, Andrew Moeller, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, (In-Person)
Title: "Evolution of gut microbiota in humans and mice"
Host: Bob Thacker
4/22/2026, Jim Dalling, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, (In-Person)
Title: "Diversity and Functional Effects of Root-Associated Fungal Communities in the Tropical Forests of Panama"
Host: Rafael D'Andrea
4/29/2026, Daniel Holstein, University, (In-Person)
Title: "From Flow to Fate: Connectivity and Consequences in Changing Oceans"
Host: Josh Rest
5/6/2026, Holly Goyert, University, (In-Person)
Title: "Evaluating the Net Effect of Offshore Energy Development on Marine Wildlife Populations"
Host: Clare Flynn and Heather Lynch
Dissertation Defenses
Spring 2025
February 17, 2025, 10:00AM, Urmi Poddar (In-Person), Life Science 038
Title: Understanding Plant Invasions Through A Community Assembly Framework
Dissertation Advisor: Drs: Jessica Gurvich & Rafael D'Andrea
February 20, 2025, 9:00AM, Ashley Morris (In-Person), Life Science 038
Title: Tri-Kingdom Interactions in a Shifting Environment: Understanding Insect-Plant Host Shifts and How Fungal Species Can Explain Host Susceptibility
Dissertation Advisor: Drs. Jessica Gurvich & Robert Thacker
May 8, 2025, 11:00AM, Alex Gil Gomez (In-Person), Laufer Center Lecture Hall 101
Title: Molecular Evolution and Network-Level Consequences of Natural Antibiotic Biosynthesis in Bacteria
Dissertation Advisor: Joshua Rest
Fall 2024
November 22, 2024, 9:00AM, Nicolette Sipperly (In-Person)
Title: Population and Species Level Transitions in Life History Traits of North American Draba for the Purposes of Integrating Art and Science
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Liliana Davalos
December 2, 2024, 9:30AM, Lexi Brown (In-Person)
Title: A tale of senescence and resistance: Bats as a model for combating deafness and avoiding cancer
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Liliana M. Davalos
December 6, 2024, 9:00AM, Michael J. Wethington (In-Person)
Title: Multi-Scale Controls of Sea Ice on Antarctic Megafuna
Dissertation Advisor: Dr. Heather J. Lynch