Wednesday, April 22, 2015, 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Join us this April when Dr. Patrick Nosil delves into the life and times of Timema stick insects he has studied in California over the last 15 years.
Speaker: Dr. Patrik Nosil
Cost: Free to the public
Patrik describes how studies of plant-feeding stick insects in California have yielded new insights into the adaptation of organisms to their environment, the formation of new species, and the nature of ecological communities. Ecological field studies can now be combined with genome sequencing to better understand biological diversity. The synthesis of traditional field ecology and cutting-edge genetic sequencing is creating opportunities for continuing advancement in evolutionary biology.
Mating pair of the striped morph of the chaparral walking stick, Timema cristinae resting on chamise.
Patrik and his lab’s work have a local connection. Timema cristinae, one of their target study stick insects, was first described by and named for Cristina Sandoval, Director of Coal Oil Point Reserve.
Patrik Nosil is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist based at the University of Sheffield in the UK. He has conducted field studies of insects in California for the last 15 years. His lab’s research focuses on the evolutionary processes driving and constraining the formation of new species, in particular the role of adaptation to new ecological environments, via natural selection, in the speciation process.
