Seminars

All Biology Department Seminars are free and open to the public. Seminars take place Fridays at 4:10 PM in B-19 in the basement of the Biology Building on the Reed College Campus (unless otherwise noted on the schedule). Seminars are immediately preceded by a service of coffee, tea, and other refreshments.

The Reed College campus is located in southeast Portland at 3203 SE Woodstock Blvd. (Online maps are available for getting to Reed and for the Campus).

Fall

4:10-5:00 in Biology B-19 (unless otherwise noted).
Directions to Reed.

Sept 4	Location: Vollum Lounge Summer Research Poster Session Summer '15 Research Assistants, Biology Dept, Reed College Sponsor: TBA
Sept 11	"Natural genetic variation: ecological processes and food security" Thomas Mitchell-Olds, Department of Biology, Duke University Sponsor: The Ellis Fund
Sept 18	"The genetic basis of adaptation and speciation in house mice" Michael Nachman, Museum of Vertebrate Zoology & Dept of Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley Sponsor: The Ellis Fund
Sept 25	"Division of power: MY019 in mitochondrial segregation during mitosis" Omar Quintero, Dept of Biology, University of Richmond Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund
Oct 2	"Dissecting the mechanistic basis of behaviour variation in fishes using an integrative approach" Nadia Aubin-Horth, Departement de Biologie, Institut de Biologie Integrative et des Systemes, Universite Laval Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Oct 9	"Genomics of speciation driven by hybridization and chromosomal plasticity" Christian R. Landry, Departement de Biologie, Institut de Biologie Integrative et des Systemes, Universite Laval Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund
Oct 16	No seminar, Friday before Fall break
Oct 23	No seminar, Fall break
Oct 30	"Comparative transcriptomics and the evolution of the monogamous brain" Hans Hofmann, The University of Texas at Austin, Department of Integrative Biology Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Nov 6	"Larkspurs in the wake of the flood: evolutionary diversification of a PNW wildflower" Keith Karoly, Biology Dept, Reed College, followed by CAT rep visit Sponsor: The Ellis Fund
Nov 13	"Forest diversity, disease & disturbance: cascading effects of an emerging pathogen in western forests" Margaret Metz, Biology Department, Lewis & Clark College Sponsor: The Ellis Fund
Nov 20	"Genomics-assisted breeding for stress adaptation in cereals" Patrick J. Brown '99, Dept of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund
Nov 27	No seminar, Thanksgiving break
Dec 4	No seminar - S/F '15 Thesis celebration

Spring

4:10-5:00 in Biology B-19 (unless otherwise noted).
Directions to Reed.

Jan 29	Bacteria-phage coevolution in a long-lived tree host Britt Koskella, Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Feb 5	An informal discussion with Mark Ptashne '61 Mark Ptashne '61, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center An additional short information session on Reed's summer research fellowship opportunities will be presented at the beginning of the seminar.
Feb 12	Exploring dark regions of the genome: Genome architecture via single molecule technologies Ali Bashir, Dept of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Feb 19	Dynamics of color-coded dividing cells in the zebrafish brain Tamily Weissman-Unni, Dept of Biology, Lewis & Clark College Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Feb 26	Using an ancient virus to fight infectious diseases and cancer Klaus Frueh, Vaccine & Gene Therapy Institute, Oregon Health & Science University Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund
Mar 4	Biology Post-doc Talks Kayla Hardwick (Schlenke/Schaack Labs) The Genomics of Adaptive Divergence in White Sands Lizards. Maia Benner (Renn/Schaack Labs) How Selenium Affects the Brain and Behavior: A Nutritional Genomics Approach Using a Zebrafish Model
Mar 11	Epidemiology in Action: Communicable Disease Surveillance, Outbreak Investigation, and Prevention in Oregon Kate Ellingson, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Sponsor: The Liu Fund
Mar 18	No seminar, Friday before Spring break
Mar 25	No seminar, Spring break
Apr 1	You’ll miss the best things if you keep your eyes shut – what you can (and can’t learn) about biology using a microscope. James and Catherine Galbraith, OHSU Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund
Apr 8	S.T.A.R.s: Students Talking About Research seminar, Biology Department, Reed College Sponsor: TBA Hanna Dornhofer "From feces to family trees: Genotyping beavers in the Reed Canyon.” Meghan O'Connell Characterization and in vivo kinetic analysis of Drosophila CG10915 Michael Weiss "Non-Kinship Social Bonds in Resident Killer Whales.”
Apr 15	Location: CANCELLED Coordinating auditory and vocal development for communication Sarah M.N. Woolley, Psychology Department, Columbia University Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund Social communication exerts strong selective pressure on brain evolution; information exchange among individuals and groups is important for fitness-related behaviors such as mating, parenting and predator escape. At the species level, the brains of communication signal senders and receivers must be functionally coupled to produce and perceive the same signals. We study vocal behavior and auditory processing in multiple species of estrildid finches whose species-specific songs differ dramatically in spectral and temporal acoustics. Our goal is to understand how species identity and experience interact to shape the neural systems that underlie complex vocal communication. Young male finches develop songs by copying the songs of adult tutors and using auditory feedback to practice and hone their own songs. Both sexes rely on auditory processing to recognize conspecific song and to learn to recognize the songs of individuals in a social group. I will describe current experiments that examine relationships between: 1) the acoustic features of songs and the tuning properties of auditory cortex neurons across species; and 2) the influence of learning to sing on song representation and spectrotemporal tuning in the auditory cortex.
Apr 22	Circuit assembly, disassembly and reassembly in the vertebrate retina Rachel Wong, Department of Biological Structure, University of Washington Sponsor: The Lamfrom Fund