Evolution Letters Online Summer Talks

From 08-12 June 2020 we are excited to host a series of fascinating short online talks on a range of cutting edge evolutionary biology research topics, given by scientists who have published with Evolution Letters in the last 12 months.

Details of the talks and when they will be released can be found below. Video links will be added as the talks are released. To ensure as many people as possible can watch the talks, the videos will remain available after their designated release time – please feel free to come back and watch them at any time! We will post each talk as it is released via our Twitter account, and this will also provide an opportunity to ask the speakers any questions.

We hope you enjoy the exciting array of new evolutionary biology research we have on offer!

Schedule

All times are in British Summer Time (BST)​ (​ GMT+1)

Monday 08 June

1pm: Hollie Marshall / DNA methylation and gene expression changes between bumblebee workers

Hollie Marshall tells us how DNA methylation and gene expression changes between bumblebee workers. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.129

4pm:​ ​Jay Goldberg / Herbivore-mediated negative frequency-selection underlies a trichome dimorphism in nature

Jay Goldberg presents his research on how negative frequency‐dependent selection (NFDS) maintains polymorphism in nature. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.157

7pm: Julie Gauzere​ ​/ Where is the optimum? Predicting the variation of selection along climatic gradients and the adaptive value of plasticity

Julie Gauzere presents her research on predicting the variation of selection along climatic gradients and the adaptive value of plasticity, using tree phenology as a case study. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.160

Tuesday 09 June

1pm: Philip Madgwick​ ​/ Evolution of strategic cooperation

Philip Madgwick presents his research on the evolution of strategic cooperation. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.164

4pm: Nora Mitchell​ /​ Correlates of hybridisation in plants

Nora Mitchell presents her research on the correlates of hybridisation in plants. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.146

7pm: Amanda Pettersen / How does competition shape variation in metabolic rates?

Amanda Pettersen tells us how competition shapes variation in metabolic rates. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13213

Wednesday 10 June

No Talks – #ShutDownSTEM https://www.shutdownstem.com

Thursday 11 June

1pm: Renée Firman / Paternal sex allocation: a mechanism and an implication

Renée Firman talks us through her research on paternal sex allocation. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.123

4pm: Amir Yassin / Quantifying the extent of homoplasy in D​rosophila

Homoplasy is a fundamental phenomenon in evolutionary biology, and Amir Yassin talks us through its extent at the morphological level. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.115

7pm: Louise Nørgaard / Infection in patchy populations: contrasting pathogen invasion success and dispersal at varying times since host colonization

Louise Noergaard talks us through her study investigating infection in patchy populations: contrasting pathogen invasion success and dispersal at varying times since host colonisation. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.141

Friday 12 June

1pm: Vlad Demartsev and​ ​Amiyaal Ilany / The “Law of Brevity” in animal communication: sex specific signalling optimisation is determined by call amplitude rather than duration

Vlad Demartsev and Amiyaal Ilany tell us about the “Law of Brevity” in animal communication, and why sex specific signalling optimisation is determined by call amplitude rather than duration. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.147

4pm: Julien Dutheil / The genomic determinants of adaptive evolution in a fungal pathogen

Julien Dutheil explains the genetic mechanisms of fungal pathogen adaptive evolution. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.117

7pm: Carrie Wessinger / Adaptation to hummingbird pollination is associated with reduced diversification in P​enstemon

Carrie Wessinger presents her research on adaptation to hummingbird pollination. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.130

Bonus talk: Brian Metzger / Compensatory trans-regulatory alleles in are common within Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Brian Metzger presents his research: Compensatory trans-regulatory alleles minimizing variation in TDH3 expression are common within Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Link to paper: https://doi.org/10.1002/evl3.137

The Evolution Letters Online Summer Talks were coordinated by MSc Science Communication student Emily Jones, in collaboration with Communications Editor Dr Nicola Hemmings. Thank you to all the authors that took part in the event.