Current Topics in Evolutionary Biology (IB 264)
“MVZ Lunch”
For your convenience, MVZ Lunch seminars can be viewed live on Zoom (please note policy below). Recordings of talks fall within the scope of the Consent Decree with the US Department of Justice. Thus, all videos posted since December 2, 2022 must have edited Closed Captions. We are in the midst of complying but for now must take offline recordings of last semester’s talks. Any recorded MVZ Lunch talks for this semester will be posted only after compliant captions are available. Apologies in advance for any inconvenience. Realtime zoom access will continue to be available for your convenience. Please join us!
Join the MVZ Lunch Seminar, Wednesdays at 12:10PM on Zoom!
Seminar titles below will be hyperlinked when posted.
Control+click (Windows) or Command+click (Mac) the hyperlink to watch the videos.
Please note that some speakers have asked that we not post their talks.
MVZ Lunch Seminar Schedule 2023-2024
Fall 2023 | ||
30-Aug | No Seminar - Meeting with Graduate Students | |
6-Sept | No Seminar - Faculty and Staff Meeting | |
13-Sept | Diana Aguilar-Gómez, PhD Computational Biology Program UC Berkeley Host: Rasmus Nielsen | Evolution and genetic basis of the strawberry poison frog, Oophaga pumilio, coloration and diversification |
20-Sept | Sean Harrington Senior Research Scientist at Wyoming INBRE Data Science Core Host: Carol Spencer | Population genomic responses of North American snakes to past and present climatic variation |
27-Sept | Kwasi Wrensford, PhD Candidate, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley Host: Eileen Lacey | Behavioral Responses to Climate Change in Chipmunks of the Sierra Nevada |
4-Oct | No Seminar | |
11-Oct | Jerry Emory Writer, Communications Consultant and Conservationist Host: Michelle Koo | George Meléndez Wright, Joseph Grinnell, and Science in the National Parks |
18-Oct | Silvia Pavan Professor and Curator of Vertebrate Museum Cal Poly Humboldt Host: Jim Patton | Fieldwork exploration and collections-based research to unveil diversity and evolutionary history of American small mammals |
25-Oct | Ben Karin, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Wang Lab University of California, Berkeley, UC Berkeley Host: Jim McGuire | The Biogeography and Elevational Diversification of Sulawesi’s Sphenomorphine Skinks |
1-Nov | Jack Tseng, Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Biology and Assistant Curator, Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley Host: Jim McGuire | Jaws of a kind: the biomechanical consequences of being mammal |
8-Nov | Sam Reiter Assistant Professor, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University Host: Michael Yartsev | Wake-like skin patterning and neural activity during octopus sleep |
15-Nov | Kennedy Agwamba, PhD Candidate, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley Host: Michael Nachman | The demographic history of the Western European house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus |
22-Nov | No Seminar - Thanksgiving Break | |
29-Nov | Dr. Rafe Brown, Professor Curator-in-Charge, Herpetology Division, Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Institute, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, The University of Kansas Host: Jim McGuire | The Island Archipelago Admixture Accelerator: species-pump, -sink, or no such thing? |
6-Dec | Tyler Douglas, PhD Candidate, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley Host: Rebecca Tarvin | Evolving toxic fruit flies |
Spring 2024 | ||
24-Jan | David Marques Curator of Vertebrates, Natural History Museum Basel Host: Rauri Bowie and Carla Cicero | Old genetic variation: key to rapid adaptation and speciation? |
31-Jan | Alan Wilson, Ph.D Royal Veterinary College Host: Jim McGuire | Predator and prey in the African Savanna: from biomechanics to tactics |
7-Feb | Walter D. Koenig, Ph.D Visiting Fellow, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Graduate School Professor Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Cornell University Research Zoologist Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley Host: Jim McGuire | The very strange world of the cooperatively breeding acorn woodpecker |
14-Feb | No Seminar | |
21-Feb | Dan Minor, Ph.D. Professor, Departments of Biochemistry & Biophysics, and Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology University of California, San Francisco Host: Rebecca Tarvin | How to survive a toxic environment : Lessons from poison birds and frogs |
28-Feb | Dr. Robert Fisher Conservation Biologist, U.S. Geological Survey’s Western Ecological Research Center Host: Jim McGuire | An eagle's eye view of conservation successes in southern California, with next steps towards 30 X 30 |
6-March | Kory Evans Assistant Professor of BioSciences, Rice University Host: Chris Martin | Evolutionary Mosaics & The Interplay Between Innovation and Integration |
13-March | Danielle Perryman PhD Candidate Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley Host: Steve Beissinger | Small Mammal Niche Shifts in Response to Climate and Ecosystem Change in the Mojave Desert Region of California |
20-March | Malin Pinsky Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology University of California Santa Cruz Host: David Tian | Climate change responses across realms and biological scales |
27-March | No Seminar - Spring Break | |
3-April | Nancy Chen, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Department of Biology University of Rochester Host: Majo Navarrete | TBA |
10-April | David P. Mindell, Ph.D. Evolutionary biologist and Affiliated Researcher Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, University of California, Berkeley. Former Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan; Former Dean and Curator, California Academy of Sciences Host: Jim McGuire | TBA |
17-April | Erin Westeen, PhD Candidate ESPM, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, UC Berkeley Host: Ian Wang | TBA |
24-April | Jeff Frederick, PhD Post Doctoral Research Scientist Negaunee Integrative Research Center Field Museum Host: Jim McGuire | TBA |
1-May | No Seminar - MVZ Retreat |
Watch previous seminars on the MVZ Channel
Future Schedule:
Fall 2023- Spring 2024
Fall 2024- Spring 2025
Past Schedules:
Fall 2022-Spring 2023
Fall 2021- Spring 2022
Fall 2020-Spring 2021
Fall 2019-Spring 2020
Fall 2018-Spring 2019
Fall 2017-Spring 2018
Fall 2016-Spring 2017
Fall 2015-Spring 2016
Fall 2014 -Spring 2015
Fall 2013-Spring 2014
See the calendar of MVZ Events.
Check here for listings of seminars in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management.