Ecology and Evolution Seminar Series
Seminars from the RSB Division of Ecology and Evolution (E&E).
15
Dec
2023
4pm 15 December 2023
Caitlin Cherryh, Lanfear Group, E&E, RSB
Phylogenetics is the science of reconstructing the evolutionary history of groups of species or individuals. Most phylogenetic methods include the treelikeness assumption, which states that every site in an alignment shares an identical evolutionary history.
Past events
01
Dec
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar - Spags and snags: the evolution of Australian blindsnakes »
I will tell you about Australia's most diverse snake genus, their relationships with one another, how they got to where they are, and what their morphological and ecological variation can tell us about their evolutionary history and their future.
27
Nov
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Integrating LiDAR and satellite imagery into animal ecology research: Insights from a long-term study of superb fairy-wrens Malurus cyaneus in southeastern Australia »
A fundamental challenge in animal ecology research lies in the ability to understand the factors that shape the evolution and plasticity of behaviours, life histories, and population dynamics of organisms.
27
Nov
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Unravelling Genetic Mechanisms of Pesticide Resistance in Cotton Bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera): A Pan-Genomic Perspective »
The Cotton Bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera, is a globally distributed polyphagous pest with a profound economic and environmental impact.
16
Nov
2023
E&E Seminar: Causes and Consequences of Hybridization - from behaviour to evolution »
Common wall lizards are one of the most widespread and frequently encountered reptiles in Europe. They span the entire continent from Spain through to Turkey and have even managed to find themselves introduced into areas outside their native range (e.g., the UK).
02
Nov
2023
E&E Seminar: Modeling planetary change to understand the evolution of biodiversity »
The extraordinary diversity of life has evolved alongside major changes in Earth’s climate and geography and understanding this link is one of the key goals of evolutionary biology.
20
Oct
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Understanding the movement and dispersal of saltwater crocodiles in and around Australia »
Human-crocodile conflict is becoming a conservation challenge worldwide. The saltwater crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) is the largest (>6 m total length, >1000kg) and most aggressive living crocodilian species being responsible for increasing attacks on people and domestic animals in many countries.
19
Oct
2023
E&E Seminar: Importance of careful and systematic observations in basic and applied research »
Toxins are thought as villains as they cause death and debilitation. In reality, they have contributed more to improving our lives than cause death.
05
Oct
2023
E&E Seminar: How to build an epigenetic time-machine: century-old chromatin architecture sequestered in museums »
Co-ordinated regulation of chromatin architecture is a major driver of phenotypic diversity, development and disease but we know shockingly little about the evolutionary dynamics of chromatin reorganisation as it has occurred through time.
21
Sep
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Aquatic IQs: Fish cognition, its predictors, and adaptive value »
Cognitive abilities underpin almost every animal behaviour and allow them to gather, store, process, and use information essential for survival and reproduction. Great variation in cognitive abilities exists not only between different species, but even across individuals from the same population.
24
Aug
2023
E&E Seminar: Animal responses to stressor interactions »
In nature, animals contend with numerous abiotic and biotic environmental challenges simultaneously.
10
Aug
2023
E&E Seminar: The life and times of Port Jackson sharks »
The Fish Lab at Macquarie University has been studying Port Jackson sharks for over a decade. Our initial studies just tried to figure out where they go and what they do: basic behavioural ecology.
23
Jun
2023
E&E PhD Exit Seminar: Evolution and ecology of the critically endangered Dryococelus australis in captivity »
As climate change and land transformation advance into the future, more and more species will be unable to keep up with the rate of change imposed by human activity.
15
Jun
2023
E&E Seminar: Blunting a thousand cuts: integrated approaches to save Australian freshwater turtles »
Australian freshwater turtles, like most turtles, have declined substantially for at least 50 years, and their loss has major consequences for aquatic ecosystem functioning.
25
May
2023
E&E Seminar: Five Fabulous Faculty Flash Talks »
Every speaker will have five minutes to speak followed by a five-minute question period. Timing rules will be rigidly enforced.
11
May
2023
E&E Seminar: How intraspecific variation, phenotypic plasticity, and rapid evolution influence the maintenance of species diversity »
Understanding how diversity is maintained in biological systems is a fundamental problem in biology. When addressing this problem, ecologists tend to focus on mechanisms that maintain species diversity, while typically ignoring the ecological and evolutionary consequences of diversity within species.