RW Moriarty Science Seminars

R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: “Stories from the dead: What museum specimens tell us about the living world”

Speaker: Mason Heberling, Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Assistant Curator, Section of Botany

This event will take place Monday, October 24 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Why does Carnegie Museum of Natural History have 22 million specimens and objects? Though impressive, it is not always obvious what purposes these collections serve. Is the practice a thing of the past? In this talk, Heberling will share his journey from a plant ecologist with little experience with collections to his research today that deeply relies upon herbarium specimens. With over 390 million plant specimens collected by thousands of botanists over nearly five centuries in museums worldwide, herbaria (collections of preserved dead plants) comprise an enormous resource for understanding the world around us. Historically, these collections were used to understand, describe, and organize the tree of life (taxonomy and systematics). While these longstanding uses remain relevant in modern research, the use of museum collections has deepened and expanded in unanticipated ways. Heberling will highlight his research using collections to understand plant responses in a time of rapid environmental changes. As novel uses of specimens are increasing, new curatorial needs and perspectives need to be considered, including an open re-evaluation of the very collection event itself. As we enter the Anthropocene, herbaria have likewise entered a new era with enhanced scientific, educational, and societal relevance.

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R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: Finding Dippy: “The Science Behind an Icon”

Speaker: John Whitlock, Mount Aloysius College

This event will take place Monday, October 10 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Pittsburgh’s beloved “Dippy” the Diplodocus isn’t just a cultural touchstone for the people that live and work in the city, it’s also an invaluable window into life of the past, and has been the subject of intense scientific scrutiny for over 140 years. Follow the incredible scientific journey of Diplodocus from the earliest days of American paleontology to the modern era. Using everything from the basics of comparative anatomy all the way to cutting edge science, we’ll discover how Diplodocus lived, ate, and moved, and how we know what we know.

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R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: Natural history, ecology, and evolution in the invasive Japanese stiltgrass

Speaker: Craig Barrett, West Virginia University

This event will take place Monday, September 26 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Invasive species cause billions of US dollars in damage, degrade natural and agricultural lands, spread disease, and threaten biodiversity. One such species, Microstegium vimineum (stiltgrass), is native to eastern Asia, and has become highly invasive in the US over the past 100 years. First discovered in Tennessee in 1919, this species has spread to 30 US states from Texas to New York and is now in Canada. What factors drive invasiveness in this and other species? While the ecological impacts of invasive species are well studied, the rapid evolution of invasive traits has only begun to be explored. Barrett’s research integrates phenotypic (i.e. physical characteristics of the plants), environmental, and genomic data in order to identify the causes of invasiveness in plants. Eradication of this this well-established invader is highly unlikely at this point in time, and the sheer cost of doing so would be unimaginable. Instead, his ultimate goal is to use stiltgrass as a model to help predict and prevent future invasions.

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R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: The Datafied Animal: Big Data, Machine Learning, and Wildlife Conservation

Speaker: Emily Wanderer, University of Pittsburgh

Abstract: Over the past twenty years, scientists have developed an ever expanding “internet of animals.” This internet of animals is composed of GPS-tracking and biologging technologies and machine learning and AI tools; they are being deployed globally to produce what has been called a regime of benign surveillance of non-human life. As miniaturized GPS tags, camera traps, and bioacoustics monitoring now capture exponentially more data about wildlife, scientists and engineers are developing AI and machine learning tools to process that data. These include things like facial recognition systems for bears, an analogue to FaceNet, Google’s human facial recognition system, and machine learning translation of sperm whale sounds, part of a project to develop models for the study of non-human communications. There have been many studies of the social construction of machine learning and the effects of datafication on human lives. However, these studies leave unexamined what happens when these technologies are developed for or transferred to the study of animals. In this talk, Wanderer brings an anthropological perspective to tech for conservation, analyzing the ideas, cultural categories, and histories that shape machine learning and AI about non-human animals.
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R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: Working the Face: Integrative Evolutionary Morphology & Physiology in the Mammalian Face

Speaker: Anne Burrows, Duquesne University

Abstract:Faces are ubiquitous in the mammalian and general vertebrate clades. However, our understanding of the evolutionary morphology and physiology of the face remains unclear. We have many paleontological pieces of evidence for how the bony and dental aspects of mammalian faces changed over time, especially in regard to dietary functions, brain development, and even the hearing and vestibular mechanisms. Similar evidence for the muscles of facial expression, the “mimetic muscles”, and associated connective tissue are lacking. This talk integrates evidence from the fossil record, comparative anatomy, physiology, biomechanics, plastic surgery, genetics, social networks, and artificial intelligence to understand the evolution of the mammalian face.
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R.W. Moriarty Science Seminar Presents: Modern mineralogy at the Smithsonian NMNH

Speaker: Gabriela Farfan, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

Abstract:The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is renowned for its National Gem and Mineral Collection that encompasses the American “crown jewels,” such as the Hope Diamond, world class mineral specimens, and hundreds of thousands of reference specimens for use in research. This presentation will be a tour of some of the most recent highlights that have been added to the National collection, as well as a behind-the-scenes tour of modern mineralogical research being done by Dr. Gabriela Farfan and her colleagues in the Department of Mineral Sciences. The first research example is a gem science project on the origin of trapiche-like inclusion patterns in quartz from Inner Mongolia, China. The second is an example of environmental biomineralogy and how we can use crystallography and mineralogy to learn more about how coral skeletons and mollusk shells grow under changing aquatic environments.
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