by artsciweb
The EEB website now has a page devoted to Undergraduate Research Opportunities (things like REU’s etc):
eeb.bio.utk.edu/undergraduate-research-opportunities/
To submit opportunities for inclusion on the page, use this Google Form.
by artsciweb
Darwin Day in TN was started in 1997 in EEB. This tradition continues this week with movies, information booth, workshops, and other outreach. Notable events include the keynote talk by Harvard’s Andrew Berry on Wallace, the co-discoverer of natural selection, on Tuesday, Feb 11 at 7 pm in UC Auditorium, a lunch talk by Berry about Darwin and human evolution at 12:30 on Tuesday in Buehler 511, and a talk by NIMBioS postdoc Nick Matzke about the intelligent design controversy at 12:30 on Wednesday in Buehler 511. For more information, see darwindaytn.org.
by artsciweb
Congratulations to Zach Marion & Ben Fitzpatrick. They just found out that Zach’s NSF Dissertation Improvement Grant will be funded (details below)!
Dissertation Research: Evolutionary complexity and diversity of chemical defenses in diurnal and nocturnal fireflies
Predation is a powerful force driving prey evolution. Recent studies have highlighted that defenses against predators are rarely simple but are instead multivariate, with individual components that are better suited for some predators than others, or that are differentially expressed at different stages of ontogeny. Closely related populations or species may employ qualitatively and quantitatively different defense strategies because of chance or from past or ongoing selection. Thus, two key questions are (i) what factors favor particular defensive strategies and (ii) how are these strategies integrated into the phenotype? Chemically mediated defenses in fireflies provide an excellent system in which to evaluate these questions. Although primarily known for their bioluminescent mate signaling, most fireflies produce an impressive array of cardiac steroids that vary qualitatively (e.g., chemical structure) and quantitatively (e.g., concentrations) within and among populations and species. Yet, little is known about firefly chemical diversity, and how it—and integrated defensive phenotypes in general—evolve. Here we consider whether shifts between diurnal and nocturnal activity (and associated loses or gains of bioluminescence) are accompanied by changes in the mode and tempo of evolution of chemical defenses. We propose to quantify the complexity and diversity of chemical defense compounds in several species, and use a phylogenetic comparative framework to estimate rates of change and patterns of convergence and divergence of chemical phenotypes.