Life Science Hour Seminar - CANCELED

Title:

TBA

Life Science Hour Seminar - CANCELED

Title:

Freshwater fishes and trophic dynamics in a changing climate: examples from reservoirs, lakes, and streams

Life Science Hour Seminar - CANCELED

Title:

Salvaging game meat in the wild; mitigation of microbial growth

Abstract:

Alaska state law requires big game hunters to salvage all edible meat from that animal’s carcass and preserve that meat for human consumption until it is removed from the field. In remote Alaska, the challenge to salvage effectively is intensified by variable environmental conditions and extended field storage times. Freshly harvested meat can remain stable for up to 14 days under carefully controlled storage conditions, but wild meat can spoil quickly due to such as excessive heat and moisture. Original data will be shared that have defined effective preservation skills beyond the basics of keeping game meat clean, cool and dry. This includes precise data on time/temperature as it relates to combating microbial growth as preservation of wild meat are directly dependent upon managing storage conditions and deep core temperatures. These original data study have established realistic expectations for optimal salvage of wild meat in the field.

About the Speaker:

Larry Bartlett is a professional hunter and outdoor expert who has written three how-to books and produced multiple instructional videos. He has developed several condition-specific outdoor adventure products and provides services utilized by researchers and sportsmen alike. He is particularly passionate about the importance of public land and the multiplicative benefits of an active lifestyle. Based in Fairbanks, Alaska, he has spent 22 years cultivating his wilderness adventure company, Pristine Ventures.

2020 Irving-Scholander Memorial Lecture - CANCELED

Title:

Secrets of spider webs

Abstract:

Spiders are the superstars of the natural world when it comes to spinning silk. Spiders reign supreme in the diversity of silks they can spin and in the remarkable properties of their silks. For example, the extreme toughness of dragline silk rivals some of the best manmade materials, and other spider silks are remarkably stretchy. Furthermore, spiders never evolved wings, but can use silk to go air-borne and travel vast distances by ballooning through the atmosphere. Silk allows spiders to trap and subdue creatures that are many times their size, including elusive flying prey. Capable of remarkable feats, spiders and their web spinning abilities have been the inspiration for ancient legends, beloved children’s books, comics, and movies. Also, numerous television shows and news articles have promoted spider silk as the basis for novel, eco-friendly technologies. But what is really known about spider silk? In this seminar, I will share results from the latest discoveries about the mysteries of silk synthesis, which spiders have held secret for several hundred million years.

About the Speaker:

Cheryl Hayashi is a curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology, a professor in the Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Leon Hess Director of Comparative Biology Research, and the Director of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics. Dr. Hayashi is one of the world’s top experts on spider silks. Dr. Hayashi studies the characteristics of spider silks, as well as the relationship between spider genomes and their ability to make silks. Dr. Hayashi also investigates silks from other arthropods (such as caterpillars), non-fibrous proteins such as glues, and comparative analysis of spider silk biomechanics. Her findings, already advancing our understanding of the evolution of spiders and their silks, also have the potential to influence the development of biomimetic material for a variety of applications, from tissue scaffolds and medical devices to lightweight vehicle parts. Dr. Hayashi earned her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wyoming and was on the faculty at the University of California, Riverside, prior to joining the American Museum of Natural History in 2017.

Life Science Hour Seminar - CANCELED

Title:

Evolutionary and functional genomics of spider silks

Abstract:

Much of the evolutionary success of spiders (>48,000 species) can be attributed to innovative uses of silk. For instance, orb-webs and cobwebs are constructed from multiple silk types that are synthesized in morphologically differentiated abdominal glands. Spider silks are proteinaceous and largely composed of a spider-specific structural protein, called “spidroins” (spider fibroins). Spidroins are encoded by a gene family and my research has focused on discovering the members of this gene family and understanding how the different gene family members encode specialized silks for dispersal, shelter, prey capture, defense, and reproduction. In this seminar, I will discuss insights on spidroin evolution and function that I have gained by integrating phylogenetic, transcriptomic, whole genome, and biomechanic approaches.

About the Speaker:

Cheryl Hayashi is a curator in the American Museum of Natural History’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology, a professor in the Richard Gilder Graduate School, the Leon Hess Director of Comparative Biology Research, and the Director of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics. Dr. Hayashi is one of the world’s top experts on spider silks. Dr. Hayashi studies the characteristics of spider silks, as well as the relationship between spider genomes and their ability to make silks. Dr. Hayashi also investigates silks from other arthropods (such as caterpillars), non-fibrous proteins such as glues, and comparative analysis of spider silk biomechanics. Her findings, already advancing our understanding of the evolution of spiders and their silks, also have the potential to influence the development of biomimetic material for a variety of applications, from tissue scaffolds and medical devices to lightweight vehicle parts. Dr. Hayashi earned her B.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Wyoming and was on the faculty at the University of California, Riverside, prior to joining the American Museum of Natural History in 2017.