Research
Contact us
Through the Administrative Office email Directory
or
Departmental Mailing Address:
Department of Biology,
Biological & Geological Sciences Building,
Western University,
London, Ontario, Canada N6A 5B7
Departmental Phone:
519-850-2542
Departmental Fax:
519-661-3935
Weekly Seminars Archive
Weekly Seminar 2023-2024
| DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE | VENUE |
| 22 Sept | Danve Castroverde | Molecular insights into plant immune systems under climate change |
BGS 0165 |
| 29 Sept |
This special seminar is The 2023 Uchida Lecture |
The Bird Genoscape Project: Harnessing the power of genomics to advance migratory bird conservation |
BGS 0165 |
| 6 Oct | Gene sharing across the eukaryotic tree of life: highways, byways, and bike paths |
BGS 0165 | |
| 13 Oct | Lee Henry | Symbiosis as an adaptive process: understanding transitions to more complex life forms | Zoom |
| 20 Oct | What does not kill you makes you more complex: The role of stress in the evolution of multicellularity, altruism and cancer | BGS 0165 | |
| 30 Oct | Richard Feldman | Bird migration in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula | In-person (in CAM seminar series due to BGRF) |
| 30 Oct-5 Nov | STUDY BREAK | ||
| 10 Nov | Greg Mitchell | Conserving biodiversity in Canada’s agroecosystems: a landscape ecology approach | BGS 0165 |
| 17 Nov | Heather McFarlane | Plant cell wall signalling and pathways for cell wall synthesis |
BGS 0165 |
| 24 Nov | Jason Bertram | Environmental change and the determinants of genetic diversity: recent progress and new challenges |
BGS 0165 |
| 8 Dec | Louis-Philippe Hamel | Understanding plant responses to the production of enveloped VLPs |
BGS 0165 |
| 10 Dec - 7 Jan | EXAM PERIOD/HOLIDAY SEASON BREAK | ||
| 12 Jan | Joey Berhardt | Towards a mechanistic science of global change: from cells to ecosystems and human well-being | BGS 0165 |
| 19 Jan | Katharina Braeutigam | Modern Tree Biology - Epigenomics and Physiology in stress and development | BGS 0165 |
| 26 Jan | Jen Fisher | Redesigning STEM Curricula to Create Equity in Undergraduate Research Opportunities | BGS 0165 |
| 2 Feb |
This special seminar is The 2024 Uchida Lecture |
How to give bacteria food poisoning – antibiotics that hijack nutrient transporters | BGS 0165 |
| 9 Feb | Tanvi Deora | Tactile sensing and learning in insect feeding and plant pollination | Zoom |
| 16 Feb | Aaron Shafer | Population and Quantitative Genomics of Deer | BGS 0165 and Zoom |
| 17-25 Feb | READING WEEK | ||
| 1 Mar | Jean-Christophe Billeter | Female mate choices in Drosophila melanogaster: unravelling multilevel female control and adaptive plasticity | BGS 0165 |
| 8 Mar | Codruta Ignea | Engineering production of New-to-Nature Terpenoids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae | BGS 0165 |
| 15 Mar | Andy Davis | Monarch butterflies were just listed as Endangered in Canada, but are they really in trouble? | Zoom |
| 22 Mar | Keiko Yoshioka | CNGC-mediated Ca2+ signaling at the nexus of immunity and development | BGS 0165 |
| 29 Mar | GOOD FRIDAY | ||
| 5 Apr | Pelin Volkan | The effect of social experience on gene expression, circuit function, and behaviors | BGS 0165 |
There are occasions when notable speakers visit the department who are not part of the weekly series. Those seminars will be listed below and will also explore a wide range of topics. All are welcome to attend!
Special Seminar Schedule
| DATE | SPEAKER(S) | TITLE or DETAILS | TIME | VENUE |
| 10 Jun |
(1) Prof. Nicoletta Del Buono and (2)Dr. Flavia Esposito |
(1) Investigating tumor pathologies through computational mathematics of multi-omics integration (2) Integrating Biological Data Analysis using low-rank based computational and statistical methods |
12:30 - 2:30 pm |
3M Centre Room 3250 |
| 16 Nov | Jimmy Breen |
Developing a Precision Healthcare framework for Indigenous Australians |
1:00-2:00 pm |
3M Centre Room 3250 |
Weekly Seminar 2022-2023
| DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE | VENUE |
| 7 Oct | Geographic variation in monarch butterfly migration success |
Zoom | |
| 14 Oct | Glen Uhrig | Plant Chronobiology: A Protein Perspective |
Zoom |
| 21 Oct | Old dog, new tricks: Using data science techniques to solve ecological problems |
BGS 0153 | |
| 28 Oct | From beneficial symbioses to plant-based vaccines: Adventures in the MacLean lab
|
Zoom | |
| 31 Oct-5 Nov | STUDY BREAK | ||
| 11 Nov | Nathan Senner | Determining the Limits of Flexibility to Understand Responses to Environmental Change |
BGS 0153 |
| 18 Nov | Heath MacMillan | The impacts of microplastics on crickets, and crickets on microplastics |
BGS 0153 |
| 25 Nov | Michelle DiLeo |
The importance of intraspecific variation for ecological prediction |
BGS 0153 and ZOOM |
| 2 Dec | Cameron Wagg | The role of above and belowground biodiversity in ecosystem functioning: from concept to application |
BGS 0153 and ZOOM |
| 10 Dec - 2 Jan | EXAM PERIOD/HOLIDAY SEASON BREAK | ||
| 13 Jan | Mirindi Eric Dusenge | Acclimation of photosynthesis and leaf respiration to warming and elevated CO2 – Results from experimental field studies in boreal and tropical regions |
BGS 0165 and ZOOM |
| 20 Jan | Alisha Shah | Using thermal physiology to explain patterns of biodiversity and response to climate change |
BGS 0165 |
| 27 Jan | Christina Davy | Taking a One Health approach to the recovery of endangered bats |
via Zoom |
| 3 Feb | To Be Or Not To Be: The Epididymal Stem Cell Paradox |
Zoom | |
| 10 Feb | Isabel Desgagné-Penix | Metabolism of alkaloids in Amaryllidaceae plants |
Zoom |
| 17 Feb | Terry Bell | For better or worse, we can change microbes quickly |
BGS 0165 and Zoom |
| 24 Feb | READING WEEK | ||
| 3 Mar | Joey Bernhardt | Towards a mechanistic science of global change: from cells to ecosystems and human well-being |
BGS 0165 |
| 10 Mar | Patrick Lajoie | Genomic approaches to antifungal resistance in the fungal pathogen Candida albicans |
BGS 0165 |
| 17 Mar | Amy Deacon | The Freshwater Biodiversity of Trinidad & Tobago: A Model Species in a Model System |
Zoom |
| 24 Mar | Gonçalo Ferraz | Population density and site-occupancy dynamics of understory birds across an Amazon forest disturbance frontier |
Zoom |
| 31 Mar | Stacy McNulty | A Study of Place: The Role of Long-Term Field Station Data in Land Management, Policy and Science-driven Decisions in the Adirondack Park |
Zoom |
| 7 Apr | GOOD FRIDAY | ||
There are occasions when notable speakers visit the department who are not part of the weekly series. Those seminars will be listed below and will also explore a wide range of topics. All are welcome to attend!
Special Seminar Schedule
| DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE or DETAILS | TIME | VENUE |
| Wed. 3rd May | Pier Morin |
Investigating the molecular changes underlying insecticide response in the Colorado potato beetle ID: 276 737 214 438 |
10:30 am | |
| Thurs. 19th Jan | Chris Kozakiewicz | Integrating genomics and disease ecology to understand wildlife-pathogen interactions in heterogeneous environments | 3:30 pm |
BGS 2084 |
Weekly Seminar 2021-2022
| DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE |
| 24 Sept | Save some for later: carbohydrate storage in herbaceous perennial plants |
|
| 1 Oct | David Pfennig | Phenotypic plasticity and the evolutionary origins of novel traits |
| 8 Oct | Neat things we’ve learned about bats and hibernation while studying white-nose syndrome |
|
| 15 Oct | Fantastic microbes and how we use them |
|
| 22 Oct | Lauren Buckley | How do montane insects experience and respond to climate change means and extremes? |
| 29 Oct | Gregory Sutton | High power insects: The biomechanics of jumping and striking |
| 1-5 Nov | STUDY BREAK | |
| 12 Nov | Allison Walker | A Deep Dive into Marine Mycology |
| 19 Nov | Daphne Goring | Two subgroups of Arabidopsis receptor-like kinases regulate intra- and inter-species pollen-pistil interactions |
| 26 Nov | Catherine Ivy |
High altitude adaptation and control of breathing in deer mice and songbirds |
| 3 Dec | Kristi Montooth | The Evolutionary Maintenance and Loss of Phenotypic Plasticity in Membranes and Metabolism |
| 10 Dec - 3 Jan | EXAM PERIOD/HOLIDAY SEASON BREAK | |
|
7 Jan CANCELLED |
Esther Ngumbi | Untangling microbe-driven and chemical mediated plant and insect interactions |
| 14 Jan | Ian Scott | GATA4/5/6 family transcription factors are conserved determinants of cardiac versus pharyngeal mesoderm fate |
| 21 Jan | Peter Burke | Biology meets art: what does it take to prepare a field guide for birds. |
| 28 Jan | Oana Birceanu | For the love of fish: How changes to aquatic habitats impact fish physiology |
| 4 Feb |
This special seminar is The 2022 Uchida Lecture |
Cancer Patient Digital Twins |
| 11 Feb | Lydia Finley | Metabolic regulation of cell fate decisions |
| 18 Feb | Carrie Wu Bio Research | The good, the bad, and the ugly: Exploring invasion genetics of high-risk invasive plants in the US mid-Atlantic with undergrads |
| 19 Feb | READING WEEK | |
| 4 Mar | Rajendhran Rajakumar | Retention and Reactivation of Ancestral Developmental Potentials |
| 11 Mar | Mehran Dastmalchi | A metabolic shift brought on by a lesion-mimic phenotype |
| 18 Mar | Takeshi Suzuki | How do mites adapt to their environments? |
| 25 Mar | Astrid Groot | Evolution of sexual communication through species interactions |
| 15 Apr | GOOD FRIDAY | |
There are occasions when notable speakers visit the department who are not part of the weekly series. Those seminars will be listed below and will also explore a wide range of topics. All are welcome to attend!
Special Seminar Schedule
Weekly Seminar 2020-2021
| DATE | SPEAKER | TITLE |
| 18 Sept | Optimal flight and migration strategies in birds: building a paradigm from aerodynamics, wind tunnel experiments to wild tracking |
|
| 25 Sept | Kate Parr | Do the little things run the world? |
| 2 Oct | Tyler Eddy | Oceans & Fisheries in a Changing World |
| 9 Oct |
Graduate student nominated speaker |
Herbivores in the tundra: from caribou and caterpillars, to Icelandic sheep |
| 16 Oct |
Special Seminar: |
Cancer as a Mitochondrial Metabolic Disease: Implications for Novel Therapeutics |
| 23 Oct | Jason Podrabsky | The ecology and underlying physiology of embryonic dormancy in annual killifishes
|
| 30 Oct | William Ja | Feeding, sleep, and microbial interactions affect Drosophila nutrition |
| 6 Nov | STUDY BREAK | |
| 13 Nov | Hiroshi Maeda | Regulation of aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in plants Please join the ZOOM webinar at https://westernuniversity.zoom.us/j/98296564062 When prompted use the passcode: 136440. |
| 20 Nov | Laura Hug | Surviving and thriving in trash – microbial diversity and function in municipal landfills |
|
25 Nov |
Rima Messana Wednesday, 7:00 pm |
|
| 27 Nov | Patrick Collins | Skating on thin ice |
| 4 Dec | Jon Harrison | Physiological and evolutionary interactions among body size, metabolic rate and oxygen |
| 11 Dec - 1 Jan | HOLIDAY SEASON BREAK | |
| 15 Jan | Neil Shubin | Finding Your Inner Fish: From Expeditions to Enhancers |
| 22 Jan | Nancy Simmons | Bat Diversity in a Changing World |
| 29 Jan | Mary Salcedo | What’s inside an insect wing? Structure, flows, and function |
| 5 Feb | Sarah Otto | Genomic Scope of Adaptive Mutations in the Face of Environmental Challenges |
| 12 Feb | Britt Wray | Too Hot to Handle: the difficult emotions of living in climate crisis and what coping can look like |
| 19 Feb | READING WEEK | |
| 26 Feb | Patricia Brennan | Sexual conflict and genital evolution in vertebrates |
| 5 Mar | Kristy Wan | Intracellular control and coordination of motile cilia |
| 12 Mar | Muriel Grenon | Multiple benefits of the Cell EXPLORERS programme – a STEM public engagement model in Ireland |
| 19 Mar |
(1) Robert Buchkowski (2) Anthony Percival-Smith |
(1) Structure and stoichiometry in soil food webs (2) Phenotypic non-specificity of transcription factor function |
| 26 Mar |
(1) David Smith (2) Brent Sinclair |
(1) A series of short stories on genome evolution in plants, algae and protists (2) Remember travel? |
| 2 Apr | GOOD FRIDAY | |
Weekly Seminar 2019-2020
Sept. 20, 2019 (1) Claryana Araújo-Wang Taiwanese white dolphin: on the brink of extinction
(2) Nasim Amiresmaeli Using thermal biology theory to choose climate-matched biological control agents for an emerging agricultural pest
(3) Erin Brandt Thermal biology and species distributions of jumping spiders across a desert elevational cline
September 27, 2019 Hakeem Lawal What’s Acetylcholine Got to Do With It? Effects of Alterations in the Vesicular Acetylcholine Transporter on Synaptic Activity
October 3, 2019 Priscilla Wehi Biographical Sketch Special Seminar
October 4, 2019 Megan Frederickson The evolution of cooperation between hosts and microbes
October 11, 2019 Brent L. Lockwood Genetic and physiological mechanisms of response to environmental change Graduate Student Invited Speaker
October 18 2019 Roman Krawetz BGRF 2019 Laudenbach Lecture
October 25, 2019 Thomas D. Sharkey Will global climate change affect isoprene emission from plants?
November 1, 2019 Candace Brunette-Debassige Indigenizing the Academy through Teaching and Learning
November 15, 2019 Jonathan Houghton There and back again: ocean wanderers in an ever-changing system
November 22, 2019 Thomas Hurd Divide and conquer: how deleterious mitochondrial DNA is eliminated in the germline
November 29, 2019 Bogumil Karas The End of Life As We Know It: building synthetic genomes for cells and organelles Helen Battle Lecture
December 6, 2019 Joanna Wilson From genome to function: determining the role of cytochrome P450 enzymes in aquatic species
January 17, 2020 Dr. Tugce Balci A Canadian Framework for Unsolved Genetic Diseases: Matchmaking, Care4Rare-SOLVE and RDMM
January 24, 2020 (1) Vojislava Grbic RNAi as reverse genetics tool in two-spotted spider mite, Tetranychus urticaen
(2) Danielle Way North and South: A year in global change biology research
January 31, 2020 Nicolas Corradi The genetics of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
February 7, 2020 Paloma Gonzalez-Bellido Behavioral strategies and neural adaptations driving visually guided predation in aerial insects
February 14, 2020 Bailey C. McMeans Swim fast and slow, cycle lipids high and low; differential responses of freshwater fish to winter conditions
February 28, 2020 Aashiq H. Kachroo Systematic humanization of yeast biological processes to understand human biology, disease and evolution
March 6, 2020 Martin L. Duennwald Coping with stress and disease – co-chaperones, the unsung heroes of protein quality control
March 13, 2020 Robert Buchkowski Empirical and theoretical insights into the feedbacks between green and brown food chains
Weekly Seminar 2018-2019
September 14, 2018 Daniel A. Hahn From sleeping beauties to macho males: how understanding mechanisms of stress hardiness can impact our understanding of adaptation, speciation, and sexual selection
September 21, 2018 Dean Betts P66Shc and Awe: The role of the stress adaptor protein in early embryo development and pluripotency
September 28, 2018 Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis Gastrulation: cellular differentiation & the loss of pluripotency in vivo in embryos and in vitro in gastruloids The Uchida Lecture
October 5, 2018 Rafael Otfinowski Integrating plants, roots, and soil nematodes to restore northern prairie ecosystems Graduate Student Invited Speaker
October 26, 2018 Alistair Rogers From the Arctic to the tropics, improving the representation of photosynthesis in Earth system models
November 2, 2018 Arthur E. Weis When to Do It: selection on phenology through the general, social and internal environments
November 9, 2018 Rick Simpson The evolution of complex courtship traits: covariation and interactions between hummingbird displays, plumage, and color appearance
November 16, 2018 John Stinchcombe Adaptation and constraint in introduced plant species
November 26, 2018 Sapna Sharma On thin ice: Are lakes feeling the heat?
November 30, 2018 Barb Katzenback Amphibian skin innate immunity: Newly generated Xenopus laevis skin epithelial cell lines and their role in sensing viral infections
December 7, 2018 Emilie Widemann, Julien Le Roy and Sameer Dixit Spider mite: from biology to adaptation
January 11, 2019 Stephanie J DeWitte-Orr Double stranded RNA: an understudied nucleic acid with a big punch
January 18, 2019 Elizabeth Weretilnyk Coping with low phosphate: Lessons from the extremophyte Eutrema salsugineum
January 25, 2019 Fred Dick and Greg Kelly New applications of CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering for the study of vertebrate development and disease
February 1, 2019 Megan E. Meuti Uncovering the Molecular Regulators of Seasonal Responses in Mosquitoes
February 8, 2019 Angela B. Lange Integrative control of feeding and reproduction in the Chagas disease vector, Rhodnius prolixus
February 15, 2019 Amanda Roe Functional ecology of spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana) and the importance of intraspecific variation
March 1, 2019 (1) Alex S. Torson Transcriptomic and metabolomic changes in overwintering Asian longhorned beetles
(2) Sara Lupi Role of the gut-hormone ghrelin in the control of avian migratory behavior
(3) Meghan Duell Emerald ash borer thermal tolerance in established and new invasive populations
March 8, 2019 (1) Chris Guglielmo Using isotopic analysis of breath H2O and CO2 to measure energy expenditure and fuel use of migratory birds
(2) Hugh Henry Reduced precipitation = drier or colder? A multi-site perspective
March 15, 2019 Dinesh Christendat Protein engineering approaches to study the Evolution and Diversity of enzymes in Specialized Metabolism
March 22, 2019 Amanda E. Bates Thermal Safety, Environmental Variability and Biodiversity Change Graduate Student Invited Speaker
March 22, 2019 Helen Petropoulos Helen Battle Lecture
March 29, 2019 John P. Wiebe New Approach To Breast Cancer: etiology, detection, intervention, treatment
April 3, 2019 Joe Bowden Climate change impacts in the north with a focus on terrestrial arthropods Special Biology Seminar
April 5, 2019 Julien Muffat Humanized Models Of Microglial Development Shed Light On Viral Teratogenicity And Neurodegenerative Processes
April 12, 2019 Zoë Lindo Can beach debris reveal long distance dispersal events for Oribatid mites on Haida Gwaii?
