Boston Flora

Tag: Evolution Matters

  • Tuesday, March 24, 6:00 pm – Written in Stone: Reading Earth’s Library of Planetary History

    Andrew H. Knoll, Fisher Professor of Natural History, Departments of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, will speak on Tuesday, March 24 beginning at 6 pm at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on Written in Stone: Reading Earth’s Library of Planetary History.

    We live on a mature planet shaped by four billion years of evolution and environmental change. But what was Earth like in its youth and adolescence? To find out, Andrew Knoll travels to remote locations in search of rocks that reveal the deep history of Earth and the life it supports. Focusing on 600–800 million-year-old rocks exposed on the Arctic island of Spitsbergen, Knoll will discuss the importance of documenting and analyzing ancient sedimentary rocks, highlighting what they can tell us about the evolution of the earliest living organisms and the planet’s early environmental transitions.

    The free Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  For more information visit http://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/evolution-matters-lecture-series-written-stone-%E2%80%93-reading-earths-library-planetary-history.

  • Thursday, March 5, 6:00 pm – The Revolution in Plant Evolution

    Pamela Soltis, Distinguished Professor and Curator, Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, will speak on Thursday, March 5 at 6 pm on The Revolution in Plant Evolution.

    Today’s digital technologies enable museums to “unlock” their cabinets and share their treasures online. Pamela Soltis will discuss the way in which access to digital data and images of natural history collections is becoming a game changer in the understanding of plant evolution. From enabling novel research on plant genetics, to highlighting the roles plants play in nature and how they respond to climate change, museum collections are a key resource, particularly when studying plants that are rare, hard to collect, endangered, or extinct.

    The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. This free program will take place at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street.  Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Wednesday, February 12, 6:00 pm – Time Travel in Experimental Evolution

    Richard Lenski, Hannah Distinguished Professor, Michigan State University, will speak at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, as part of the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s Evolution Matters Lecture Series on Wednesday, February 12, beginning at 6 pm. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a common form of intestinal bacteria that reproduces and mutates with incredible speed. This trait, along with scientists’ ability to freeze and revive organisms, makes E. coli an ideal organism for studying the evolutionary process (a form of “time travel”). Microbiologist Richard Lenski has carried out a 25-year study of E. coli, propagating over 50,000 generations, and has discovered new insights into natural selection, adaptation, and genetic evolution.

    The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  Free and open to the public.  Free event parking is available in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Fw6BHk6kmk/Tei5VnW3vpI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/MUFQ2SFSeAs/s1600/e-coli-streptococci.jpg

  • Tuesday, March 12, 6:00 pm – From the Big Bang to Broadway: How Things Evolve

    Robert Hazen, Research Scientist, Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory and Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University, will speak at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge on Tuesday, March 12, beginning at 6 pm. The concept of evolution by natural selection has long been a lightning rod for anti-science rhetoric. Such attacks are usually aimed at the biological realm, but Darwin’s opponents must now face evidence that complex evolving systems also drive phenomena beyond life science, such as the diversification of minerals on earth. Part of the Evolution Matters Lecture Series, supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public. Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking for evening lectures in the 52 Oxford Street garage.

  • Wednesday, February 27, 6:00 pm – Jurassic Mothers from China: Origins and Evolution of Mammals

    Paleontologist Zhe-Xi Luo, Professor of Organismal Biology and Anatomy at the University of Chicago, will discuss both the origins of modern mammalian biological adaptations in the deep times of the Mesozoic—dominated by the dinosaurs—and how Jurassic fossils discovered in China shed light on the earliest evolution of placental mammals. The Wednesday, February 27 program is part of the Evolution Matters Lecture Series, supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public. Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking for evening lectures in the 52 Oxford Street garage.

  • Tuesday, February 12, 6:00 pm – Looking for Signs of Evolution: Bees, Butterflies, and Bacteria

    Naomi Pierce, Hessel Professor of Biology and Curator of Lepidoptera at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, will speak Tuesday, February 12, beginning at 6 pm at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge on the topic Looking for Signs of Evolution: Bees, Butterflies, and Bacteria. Naomi Pierce examines the behavioral ecology of species interactions, such as insect/host plant associations, and the life history, evolution, and systematics of butterflies and other insects. Part of the Evolution Matters Lecture Series, supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public.  Free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street garage.

  • Wednesday, May 2, 6:00 pm – Why Evolution is True and Why Many People Still Don’t Believe It

    Jerry Coyne, a professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago and author of the seminal book, Why Evolution is True, is one of the world’s most eloquent defenders of evolutionary science in the face of legal, religious, and cultural opposition. In this Wednesday, May 2nd talk beginning at 6 pm, Coyne will explore the multifarious evidence for evolution, why Americans are so resistant to accepting the theory, and what can be done to make the country more evolution-friendly. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage. Part of the Evolution Matters lecture series. Supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  For more information visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.