| Assessment of a Multifaceted Approach, Including Frequent PCR Testing and Variant Tracing, to Mitigation of COVID-19 Transmission at a Residential Historically Black University | 282 | Assessment of a Multifaceted Approach, Including Frequent PCR Testing and Variant Tracing, to Mitigation of COVID-19 Transmission at a Residential Historically Black University | assessment-of-a-multifaceted-approach | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/derrick-scott.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:10-7:30PM: Dr. Derrick Scott,
Delaware State University</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>COVID-19 posed an unprecedented threat to residential colleges in the fall of 2020. While there were mathematical models of COVID-19 transmission, there were no established or tested protocols of COVID-19 testing or mitigation for school administrators to follow. Here, we investigate the association of a multifaceted COVID-19 mitigation strategy using social, behavioral, and educational interventions and a program of frequent testing with prevalence of disease spread. Also of importance, we are tracking the evolution and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus as it propagates in our Delaware communities.</p><p><strong>Bio:</strong> Dr. Scott is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and is the Executive Director of the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at Delaware State University. He received his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina-Columbia in genomics. He has raised over a million dollars in grants from NSF and NIH. He is an author of "Assessment of a Multifaceted Approach, Including Frequent PCR Testing, to Mitigation of COVID-19 Transmission at a Residential Historically Black University." <em>JAMA Network Open</em> 4, no. 12 (2021): e2137189-e2137189;" "Utilizing Next Generation Sequencing to GenerUate Bacterial Genomic Sequences for Evolutionary Analysis;" and, "Complete genome sequence of a wild-type isolate of <em>Caulobacter vibrioides</em> strain CB2." Microbiology Resource Announcements 7, no. 17 (2018): e01215-18.</p> | | | | | | | |
| Plasticity, epigenetics, and evolution | 285 | Plasticity, epigenetics, and evolution | plasticity-epigenetics-evolution | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/david-pfennig.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>8:10-9:00PM - Dr. David Pfennig - National Science Honorary
Society Sigma Xi Keynote Speaker</p><p><strong>Abstract:</strong> Explaining how trait variation arises––and how it's inherited––is central to evolutionary biology. Although Darwin did not know about genes, they are now widely regarded as explaining both trait variation and inheritance. Yet, as Darwin recognized, many organisms can respond to changes in their environment by altering their features––during their lifetime––via 'developmental plasticity.' Moreover, these environmentally modified traits can sometimes be passed to offspring without changes in genes; that is, acquired characteristics can be inherited 'epigenetically.' In this talk, we will examine whether and how such environmentally induced changes to organismal development affect evolution. As we will see, research into developmental plasticity and epigenetics has important implications for evolution and even human health. As we will also see, Darwin was amazingly prescient in understanding how trait variation arises and how it's inherited!</p><p><strong>Bio: </strong>Dr. Pfennig is a Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and a 2021-2022 Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer. His research focuses on how the interplay between evolution, ecology, and development shapes biodiversity. He has published nearly 150 scientific papers and two books: <em>Evolution's Wedge</em> (in 2012, with Karin Pfennig) and <em>Phenotypic Plasticity and Evolution</em> (in 2021). His research has been featured on The National Geographic Channel, on PBS's Nature series, and in The New York Times, Newsweek, National Geographic, Scientific American, New Scientist, and Discover, among other publications. His awards include being the Zachary Taylor Smith Distinguished Professor for Excellence in Undergraduate Education; a Fellow in the Academic Leadership Program, Institute for Arts and Humanities, UNC; recipient of the Hettleman Prize for Artistic and Scholarly Achievement, UNC, the Pitelka Award, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, and the Gaige Award, American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists. His research has been funded continuously since 1994 by the National Science Foundation. He is a contributing author to Scientific American and has appeared on television on BBC/PBS's Nature series (twice) as well as on National Geographic TV and KUAT's "The Desert Speaks". He has spoken at over 85 universities and at dozens of museums, civic groups, and K-12 schools.</p> | | | | | | | |
| Bee-utiful Diversity! | 270 | Bee-utiful Diversity! | the-diversity-of-symbioses | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/deborah-delaney.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:30-7:50PM: Dr. Deborah
Delaney, University of Delaware</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>The diversity of symbioses and co-evolution through the lens of the bee.</p><p><strong>Bio: </strong>Dr.<strong> </strong>Delaney is an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware where she mentors graduate and undergraduate students working on various aspects of pollinator health and productivity. She adores teaching and currently teaches Insects and Society, Apiculture, Pollination Ecology, Aquatic Entomology, Bridging Art and Science: Environmental Communication, Growing Future Naturalists and Insect Pest Management. She has over 30 years of experience working with pollinators, specifically honey bees and maintains between 100-200 colonies in and throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Her research program has four main focal areas: 1) genetic identity and diversity of US honey bees 2) temporal stability of pollinator populations and 3) best management solutions for creating sustainable managed pollinator populations 4) pollinator nutrition and forage mapping. Her publications include: "Decline of six native mason bee species following the arrival of an exotic congener." <em>Scientific Reports</em> 10, no. 1 (2020): 1-9; "Consumer demand for local honey." <em>Applied Economics</em> 47, no. 41 (2015): 4377-4394;" and, "Mating frequencies of honey bee queens (Apis mellifera L.) in a population of feral colonies in the northeastern United States." <em>PLoS One</em> 10, no. 3 (2015): e0118734.<br></p> | | | | | | | |
| Using history to teach biology: The value of controversy | 272 | Using history to teach biology: The value of controversy | darwins-idea-of-descent | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/mark-borrello.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:50-8:10PM: Dr. Mark
Borrello, University of Minnesota</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Darwin's idea of descent with modification has been controversial since its initial unveiling in 1859. In this brief talk I'll examine a couple of controversies (not the teaching of evolution in US public schools) and argue that historical analysis of these episodes can lead to a richer understanding of contemporary evolutionary theory and an appreciation for the historical roots of science. </p><p><strong>Bio:</strong> Dr. Borrello is an Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior in the College of Biological Sciences, a historian of science, and the Director of the Program in the History of Science and Technology at the University of Minnesota. His work focuses on the history of evolutionary theory and genetics in the 19th and 20th centuries. After his Ph.D. from Indiana University, he had a post-doctoral fellowship at the Lyman Briggs School at Michigan State University where he taught courses in the history of genetics and evolution and was co-leader of a study abroad course in Panama on Tropical Biodiversity and Conservation. Currently, he is examining the connections of group selection to ethology and evolutionary psychology. This research aims to clarify the factors that contributed to the development of the field of ethology and illuminate some of the shortcomings of the developing field of evolutionary psychology that are a direct result of this history. His publications include: <em>Evolutionary Restraints: The Contentious History of Group Selection,</em> University of Chicago Press, 2010; "Experimental evolution of multicellularity." <em>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</em> 109, no. 5 (2012): 1595-1600; "The rise, fall and resurrection of group selection." <em>Endeavour</em> 29, no. 1 (2005): 43-47; and, "Mutual aid and animal dispersion: an historical analysis of alternatives to Darwin." <em>Perspectives in Biology and Medicine</em> 47, no. 1 (2004): 15-31.<br></p> | | | | | | | |
| On the Origin of Species and Duties of Species Preservation | 281 | On the Origin of Species and Duties of Species Preservation | origin-of-species-and-duties-of-species-preservation | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/mark-greene.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:50-8:10 Dr.
Mark E. Greene, University of Delaware</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Many people believe that there are duties to preserve endangered species even, sometimes, when it is inconvenient for us. But Darwin's view was that species are "merely artificial combinations made for convenience." Although it is often a good idea to preserve species, Darwin's view presents an impossible problem for the belief that there is a general, ethical duty to do so.</p><p><strong>Bio: </strong>Dr. Greene specializes in ethical issues that arise as a result of the introduction of new methods in biotechnology<strong>. </strong>He is well versed in medical ethics, bioethics and health policy. Dr. Greene has a D.V.M in veterinary medicine prior to his work in philosophy and bioethics. He wrote: "Dr. Jenny Paul, my high school biology teacher, told me I should not be a veterinarian. She thought I would be bored and she had a point: It's a great profession and I miss surgery, but there was an awful lot of brute-force learning. I kept my brain alive by reading philosophy and then, since I went into practice conveniently near Oxford, I took some philosophy classes. That was even more fun than expected, so I took a year off for an MA at the University of Hull: just for giggles. It proved to be more than a year off when the MA progressed to PhDing, initially at Bristol, but then across the pond to continue at Stanford. I was lucky enough to get a Greenwall post-doctoral fellowship in medical ethics and policy," A particularly relevant article of his talk is: "On the Origin of Species Notions and Their Ethical Limitations." In Tom L. Beauchamp & R. G. Frey (eds.), <em>The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics</em>, Oxford University Press. pp. 577-602. 2011. Therein, he argues: "that defenders of general duties of species preservation are faced with an impossible task. I distinguish derivative from non-derivative value and argue that the derivative value of species can yield only limited and contingent duties of preservation. There can be no general duty of species preservation unless all species have non-derivative value.</p> | | | | | | | |
| Thought experiments and computer simulations in evolution | 288 | Thought experiments and computer simulations in evolution | thought-experiments-and-computer-simulations-in-evolution | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/john-huss.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:30-7:50PM Dr. John E. Huss, Professor and Chair, Department of Philosophy, University of Akron</p><p>
<strong>Abstract: </strong>Computer simulation is one way to explore hypothetical and counterfactual evolutionary scenarios. In some respects, computer simulations are similar to thought experiments. In other respects they are not. In this talk I will discuss a case of computer simulation from the history of paleobiology, work done in the 1970s by Stephen Jay Gould, David Raup, Thomas Schopf, Daniel Simberloff, and Jack Sepkoski, a set of simulations using the so-called MBL Model, named for the Marine Biological Laboratory where they first met to begin their work. Recent work by Johannes Lenhard has shown the importance of differentiating computer simulations from thought experiments. I will illustrate one consequence of this using the MBL Model.</p><p>
<strong>Bio: </strong>Dr. Huss is professor and chair of philosophy at The University of Akron, where he is also on the faculty of the Integrated Bioscience PhD program. He was a Fulbright Visiting Professor, Institute of Philosophy, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, Fall 2013-Spring 2014. He is the recipient of the Outstanding Researcher Award at the University of Akron and was awarded in May 2013 a Baker-Nord Humanities Center from Case Western Reserve University. His areas of research include philosophy of science, philosophy of medicine, and bioethics. John earned a B.S. in geology from Beloit College, and an M.S. in geophysical sciences and Ph.D. in the Conceptual Foundations of Science from The University of Chicago. As per his t-shirt logo below, John is actively involved with the International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology. Some of his relevant papers include: "Experimental reasoning in non-experimental science."
<em>Case studies from paleobiology</em> (2004): 1088-1088; "The Shape of Evolution: The MBL Model and Clade Shape." (2009). In Sepkoski D, Ruse M (eds),
<em>The Paleobiological Revolution</em>. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pages 326-345; "Other Minds."
<em>Quarterly Review of Biology</em> 93, no. 2 (2018); "Methodology and Ontology in Microbiome Research." <em>Biol Theory</em> 9<strong>, </strong>392–400 (2014); and "From metagenomics to the metagenome: Conceptual change and the rhetoric of translational genomic research." With Eric Juengst,
<em>Genomics, Society and Policy</em> (2009), Vol.5, No.3, pp.1-19. His forthcoming book is entitled:
<em>A Reader's Guide to Thomas Kuhn's Structure of Scientific Revolutions.</em></p> | | | | | | | |
| Obfuscating Science: What Connects Mad Men, Big Oil, Darwin and Anti-Vaxxers/Maskers? | 290 | Obfuscating Science: What Connects Mad Men, Big Oil, Darwin and Anti-Vaxxers/Maskers? | obfuscating-science-what-connects-mad-men | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/jory-weintraub-edit.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>8:10-9PM: Morris Library keynote speaker: Dr. Jory
Weintraub – Science Communication Director, Duke Initiative
for Science & Society, Duke University</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>The Theory of Evolution has elicited skepticism and denial since Darwin first published <em>On the Origin of Species</em>, 163 years ago. But the strategies used to attack it are not unique to evolution. In fact, many of them were codified by Madison Ave. advertising agencies and PR firms in the 1950s and 60s to spread misinformation (i.e., <em>lies</em>) about the risks of cigarette smoking, and continue to be employed by climate change deniers, and even anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers in the midst of our current global pandemic. What are the strategies in this "anti-science playbook" and why are they so effective? What can we learn about how to craft compelling, science-based messages by examining the tactics employed by creationists and proponents of intelligent design, tobacco and big-oil executives, and anti-vaxxers/anti-maskers? What do the data tell us about the most effective ways to conduct constructive, non-confrontational conversations with skeptics, and even those with an anti-science agenda? This session will explore these questions and attempt to provide some answers, based on empirical data, as well as the thoughts and perspectives of leaders in science communication.</p><p><strong>Bio:</strong> Jory Weintraub is a co-Principal Investigator and Director of Training/Professional Development for the NSF-funded Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (<a href="https://www.researchinsociety.org/">ARIS</a>), which supports the practice and policy of communicating societal impact of STEM research. Prior to this, he was a faculty member and Science Communication Director with the Duke University Initiative for Science & Society, where he taught undergrad and graduate courses in science communication, and conducted scicomm training for faculty and postdocs. From 2005-2015 he served as Director of Education & Outreach for the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, an NSF-funded evolutionary biology research center, where he developed and ran national and international evolution education/outreach programs for K-12 students and teachers, undergraduates and the general public. He has a BS in Biochemistry/Cell Biology from UC San Diego and a PhD in Immunology from UNC Chapel Hill, and received an NSF postdoctoral fellowship in STEM Education & Outreach. Jory serves on the Advisory Board of the Triangle Center for Evolutionary Medicine (TriCEM), and previously served on the Editorial Board for the journal <em>Evolution: Education and Outreach, </em>on the Education Committee of the Society for the Study of Evolution, and on the Board of Directors of Science Communicators of North Carolina (SCONC). His professional interests include science communication, STEM outreach/education, STEM DEI, and broader impacts of research. <br></p> | | | | | | | |
| Concrete: A unique environmental niche | 275 | Concrete: A unique environmental niche | concrete-unique-environmental-niche | <img alt="" src="/SpeakerSeriesFiles/pics/2022%20Darwin%20Days/julia-maresca-edit.jpg" style="BORDER:0px solid;" /> | <p>7:10-7:30PM: Dr. Julia Maresca, Associate
Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Co-Director, Microbiology
Graduate Program, University of Delaware</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Concrete is
the most used building material in the world, which makes it an extremely
common habitat. However, it is very unfriendly to life: It is dry, salty, very
alkaline, and has almost no nutrients. Although life has adapted to other
extreme environments on geologic time scales, it cannot adapt the same way to
concrete, because each concrete structure is made of freshly mixed and
poured concrete, and the microbes in concrete are seeded from its components.
Thus, it is a potentially intriguing place to monitor adaptations to extreme
environments.</p><p><strong>Bio: </strong>Dr. Maresca got her
BA in Biology at the University of Chicago, and her PhD in Biochemistry,
Microbiology, and Molecular Biology at Penn State University. She then did a
postdoc at MIT before coming to the Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering at UD in 2011. She now works on bacteria in natural and engineered
environments.</p> | | | | | | | |
