RW Moriarty Science Seminars

Speaker: Daijiang Li, Louisiana State University.

This event will take place Monday, March 27 at Noon online via Zoom.

Abstract:With 57% of the human population now living in urban areas, urbanization is one of the most important drivers of global environmental change. Urbanization and its associated environmental consequences such as habitat fragmentation, urban heat island effects, pollution, and altered biogeochemical and hydrologic cycling are affecting all living individuals in urban areas, forming novel ecosystems. However, we know little about how and why urbanization affects species, limiting our ability to have better urban planning and management. Plant phenology – the timing of plant life-cycle events, such as leaf-out and flowering – can serve as a “canary in the coal mine” for impending system shifts because phenology shifts are often the most immediate and visible ecological response to environmental change. In this seminar, Dr. Daijiang Li will talk about the effects of urbanization on plant phenology across the United States and most of the Europe using both in situ observatory and remote sensing data. Dr. Li will also briefly talk about a current project to build a global plant phenology database — phenobase.

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Speaker: Jennifer Sheridan, Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

This event will take place Monday, February 27 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Animal body size dictates a host of life history features, including survival, competitive success, and reproductive output. As such, it can serve as a proxy for how these variables have changed over time, in response to factors such as climate and land use. Despite numerous examples of size declines related to increasing temperatures, patterns of size change are not universal, suggesting that one or more primary mechanisms impacting size change are unknown. In this talk, Dr. Sheridan will discuss the theoretical basis for how body size is expected to change under future climate warming, and share recent evidence for a crossover effect between temperature and precipitation. This recent work suggests a shift from amphibian size being driven by resource availability at cooler temperatures to desiccation resistance at warmer temperatures. Sheridan will also share current related research in the section, including work which incorporates land use change into body size models.

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Speaker: Danielle Whittaker, Oregon State University.

This event will take place online Monday, February 13 at Noon.

Abstract: Smell has been called the most ancient sense, and songbirds are no exception in their use of it. Behavioral, genomic, and neurobiological work has demonstrated that birds can use smell to navigate, find food, avoid predators, and even communicate with each other. The primary source of odors in most birds is preen oil, secreted by the uropygial gland and used by birds in grooming and maintaining their feathers. The compounds that make up these odors provide important information about a bird’s identity, health, breeding status, aggressiveness, and more. Interestingly, these compounds appear to be produced by symbiotic microbes that inhabit the uropygial gland. In this talk, Dr. Whittaker will share over a decade of her research on dark-eyed juncos (Junco hyemalis), a widespread North American sparrow, investigating how these odors are produced, what they communicate, and how they relate to behavior.

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Speaker: Eric Morschhauser, Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

This event will take place Monday, January 9 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Ceratopsians, the horned dinosaurs, were first discovered in the late 19th Century and have been among the most popular and widely known dinosaurs ever since. For much of that time most known species shared a familiar and iconic body plan seen in things like Triceratops, large, rhinoceros-like quadrupedal herbivores with horns and elaborate head frills. But the number of known ceratopsian species has more than tripled in the last 25 years. Those new species are much more varied than previously suspected. Slightly less than half of all known ceratopsians species are smaller than deer, and most of those lack horns entirely. Once known from only the end of the Cretaceous in North America, ceratopsian dinosaurs now have a 100-million-year history on perhaps three continents.

Studies of ceratopsians, both horned and hornless, span important questions in 21st Century paleontology. They can help us understand the timing of interconnections and movements between continents as they radiated and spread across the Earth. They can help us look at the tempo and mode of evolution. They are even being used to examine the question of what it means to be a distinct species of dinosaur.

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Speaker: Jay Hosler, Juniata College

This event will take place Monday, December 19 at Noon both online and at Earth Theater.

Abstract: Science, art, and story are core components of human creativity. When we try to separate them with artificial disciplinary boundaries, we weaken our ability to imagine and understand the world. Comic stories about science bring all three elements together in a medium where they can mix and amplify each other. Dr. Hosler uses comics to tell stories about insects. Insects provide a dizzying array of weird and wonderful life histories that are perfect for a visual medium like comics. Stories that feature engaging and visually interesting insect characters can help readers connect personally with these amazing aliens underfoot and forge a richer understanding of the natural world and why we should protect it.

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