Seminar Series
The Biology Department Seminar Series invites guest speakers from research institutions around the country to share their research results several times each semester.
Biology thesis students also present their work through the Biology Seminar Series.
2022-2023 Henry Louis Smith Lecture
Dr. Shane C. Campbell-Staton, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University
Tuesday, January 24, 2023: Evolution in the Age of Us: Mechanisms and Consequences of Human-Mediated Selection
Human impact is reshaping the planet and its ecosystems in ways never before seen. Animals and plants are rapidly changing to find ways to live alongside us. What challenges do these species face in their journey to keep pace with us? What can these changes tell us about how life works? Can the solutions found by natural selection help us deal with some of the biggest problems facing human health and well-being in the world we’ve built for ourselves? Shane Campbell-Staton will explore these questions as he discusses his most recent research on rapid evolution in the Anthropocene, from elephants adapting to poaching, to lizards evolving in cities and wolves surviving in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Along the way, he reveals some emerging truths about the lasting biological impact of our human footprint on the tree of life.
Recent Seminars
Dr. John Quinn, Furman
Where to Save Biodiversity: Supporting Conservation Decision Making Beyond Protected Areas
Dr. Devyn Gillette, Duke
Put Your Dukes up: Ineffective Innate Immune Responses to Infection
Dr. Debbie Thurtle-Schmidt, USCF
What Regulates the Regulators? Investigating How Genomic Organization Contributes to Transcriptional Regulation
Chicka Fujii '17, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Modeling CD4 gene regulation with short-lived EGFP
Jon Lim '17, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Investigating Roles of Testis-Specific Subunits in Mediating ATP Synthase Interactions and Nebenkern Shaping in Drosophila
Zachary Zapatero '17, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Deciding To Be A Helper: Exploring The In Vivo Function Of The Cd4 Enhancer NCE
Dr. Terry Fry, NIH
Immunotherapy for Pediatric Leukemia: At the Intersection of Science and Clinical Medicine
Dr. Beth Destasio, Lawrence University
Investigating the Complexity of Neuronal Gene Expression
Dr. Kevin Saunders '05, Duke
Progress Towards Developing a Protective HIV-1 Vaccine
Dr. Jim Oliver, UNCC
Topic Pathogenesis of Vibrio vulnificus
Chika Fujii '17, Jon Lim '17, Zachary Zapatero '17, Davidson
Thesis Previews
Dr. Susan Sloan, Visterra
From Bench to Clinic: Designing Antiviral Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutics
Dr. Amy Cheng Vollmer, Swarthmore
The Importance of Mentoring and Networking
Zach Carico '10, Duke
How to Assemble a Diverse Pool of T Cell Receptors: Modern Technologies Help Answer an Old Question
Morgan Shannon '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Investigating the Role of Slitrk1 in Zebrafish Spinal Cord Development
Hannah Itell '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Characterizing Paper-Based Genetic Networks as a Low-Pathogen Detection Technique
Elizabeth Brunner '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Exploring Unique Mitochondrial Membrane Shaping in Drosophila
Brian Johnson '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Characterizing the Rold of nmd in Drosophila Spermatogenesis
Caroline Naso '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: The Effects of BPA on the Developing Tadpole Brain
Emily Keator '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Analysis of Antiviral Compounds
Phoebe Parrish '16, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: The Multifactorial Role of the Phytotoxin Coronatine in Plant Disease in Nicotiana benthamiana
Annalee Tutterow '17, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Few and Far Between: Evaluating the Status of NC Bog Turtle Populations
Adi Dubash, Ph.D., Furman University
Cardiac Disease Gene Regulation by Cell-Cell Contact
Adam Reitzel, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Charlotte
Molecular Pathways For Environment- Organism Interactions in "Simple" Animals: A View From an Estuarine Cnidarian
Leslie Vosshall, Ph.D., Rockefeller University
Smith Lecture: Mosquitoes: Understanding and Controlling the World's Most Dangerous Animal
Nic Kooyers, Ph.D., University of Virginia
Yogis of the Plant World? Understanding Rampant Local Adaptation in a Widespread Annual Plant, Mimulus guttatus
Phoebe Parrish '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: The Role of the Bacterial Phytotozin Coronatine in Plant Disease
Caroline Naso '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: The Effects of BPA on Tadpole Brain and Behavior
Morgan Shannon '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: Investigating the Role of Slitrk1 in Nervous System Development
Hannah Itell '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: Low Tech Pathogen Detection to Improve Public Health
Brian Johnson '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: Characterizing the Role of Nmd in Drosophilia Spermatogenesis
Elizabeth Brunner '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: Exploring Unique Mitochondrial Membrane Shaping in Drosophilia
Emily Keator '16, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: Characterizing New Antiviral Compounds
Annalee Tutterow '17, Davidson College
Thesis Preview: The Conservation Status of North Carolina Bog Turtle Populations
Gerald Siu, M.D., Ph.D.
Modern Biology in Drug Discovery
Michael Beuhler, Ph.D., Carolinas Poison Control Center
North Carolina Snake Envenomations
Sabrice Guerrier, Ph.D., Millsaps College
Understanding the Molecular Mechanisms of Membrane Trafficking During Tetrahymena Conjugation
Kaki Bennett '15
Thesis Presentation: Do the ENDS Justify the Means? Characterizing the Effects of Electronic Cigarette Vapor on Rat Alveolar Type II Cells
Hannah McMillan '15
Thesis Presentation: Helping Plants Fight Back: Calcium's Nuclear Role in Plant Immunity
Devon Harris '15
Thesis Presentation: Proteins Involved in Interactions Between Mitochondria and the Cytoskeleton in Developing Fruit Fly Sperm
Thomas Pederson '15
Thesis Presentation: Invasive Species in Temporary Ponds: a Case Study in Drought as a Method for Restoration
Sophie Zebell, Duke University
To Be or Not to Be, Questions in Plant Defense
Matthew Surdel '10, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine
Novel Strategies to Fight Infection: Target Identification of a Small Molecule Activator of Heme Biosynthesis
Dennis Tarasi, UNC Chapel Hill
Invaders in Our Midst: Exotic Plant Species Dominance and Its Impacts in NC Forests
Marty Chalfie, Ph.D., Columbia University
Touching Worms: Using C. elegans Genetics to Examine Sensory Neuron Development and Function
Marty Chalfie, Ph.D., Columbia University
GFP: Lighting Up Life
Kyle Summers, Ph.D., East Carolina University
Life History Tradeoffs and the Evolution of Cancer
Kyle Summers, Ph.D., East Carolina University
Mimicry and Monogamy in Peruvian Poison Frogs
Lauren Woods, Ph.D., Davidson College
Influence of Landscape Context and Disturbance on the Biodiversity of Aquatic Ecosystems
Shannon Pittman '08, Ph.D., Davidson College
Importance of Movement Ecology in Species Conservation
Angela Bauer, Ph.D., High Point University
Endocrine Disruption and Human Health
Jeremy Hyman, Ph.D., Western Carolina
Aggression, Personality, and Urbanization in Song Sparrows
Sue McRae, Ph.D., East Carolina
Royal Flush: Behavior and Ecology of the King Rail, a Threatened Species in North Carolina's Coastal Marshes
Chris Peek '15, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Investigation of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Attachment and Replication
Sally Permar '97, M.D., Ph.D., Duke University
Can We Achieve an AIDS-free Generation?
Jonathan Mein, Ph.D., Monsanto Center for Food and Nutrition, North Carolina Research Campus
Vegetable Innovation for Consumer Appeal: Providing Consumers with New, Nutritious Vegetable Options
Patrick Zollner, Ph.D., Purdue University
Over Simulated or Valuable Insight: The Use of Individual Based Models in Ecology
Richard Peek '84, M.D., Vanderbilt University
The Interplay Between Ulcer Bacteria and Cancer
Catherine Doyle '14, Davidson College
Converting Aptamers to Riboswitches is Essential for Modular Programmed Evolution of Bacteria for Optimization of Theophylline Biosynthesis
Eric Sawyer '14, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Roles for ATP Synthase in Drosophila Spermatogenesis
Nathan Tublitz, Ph.D., University of Oregon
A Spineless Tale: Those Amazing Cephalopods
Birgit Scharf, Ph.D., Virginia Tech
Motility and Chemotaxis of the Symbiotic Soil Bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti
David Pfennig, Ph.D., University of North Carolina
The Flexible Organism
Melissa Srougi, Ph.D., North Carolina State University
Rho GTPases in the DNA Damage Response
Elene Clemens '13, Davidson College
Characterization of Ammonium Chloride Resistance and Viral Entry in Reovirus Mutants
Raye Alford '86, Ph.D., Baylor School of Medicine
Down the Rabbit Hole: The Human Genome & Electronic Medical Records
Max Kern '13, Davidson College
Thesis Presentation: Factors Causing Deviation from Optimal Egg Size Theory in the Diamondback Terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin)
Kelli Carroll '09, Harvard University
The Role of Estrogen on Blood Stem Cell Formation
Susanne Brander, Ph.D., UNC Wilmington
From Molecules to Metapopulations: Assessing Endocrine Disruption in Aquatic Life