Seminar Series

The Biology Seminar Series was started by Dr. Muriel Roscoe and Dr. H.G. Perry in 1927, and has met weekly during term since then. It was formerly known as the Biology Seminar Club. It provides a forum for rich and diverse presentations in biology from esteemed colleagues at Acadia and abroad. The seminar series is organized each semester by a dedicated group of graduate students.

About 1 week before each talk, titles will be posted here. Topics are placeholders meant to spark interest.

Seminars Fall 2021

Team: Alysa Czenze, Emma Rand, Cole MacLeod, McKenzie Brown, Maria Roy, and Rachel Pomerleau
Location: KCIC Main Auditorium
Time: Thursdays @ 16:00-17:00 (4:00-5:00 PM)

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
16-Sep-2021 Dr. Laura Ferguson (Acadia/Dalhousie)
"Infection, immunity, and the forgotten season: why winter matters for understanding disease dynamics and climate change"
23-Sep-2021 Andrew Hebda (Nova Scotia Museum - retired)
"Bats - Their nature, our technology and our understanding"
30-Sep-2021 No Seminar
National Truth and Reconciliation Day

 

No Seminars Fall 2020 or Winter 2021

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there were no seminar in the 2020-21 academic year.

Seminars Winter 2020

Team: Matthew Penney, Brandon Nilsen and Carter Feltham
Location: Elliot 207
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
16-Jan-2020 Dr. Dave Shutler (Acadia)
"Tree swallows, Leach’s storm-petrels, coyotes, and more"
23-Jan-2020 Dr. Dave McCorquodale (Cape Breton University)
"How COSEWIC works: examples from bees in Nova Scotia"
30-Jan-2020 Dr. Sean McCann (Simon Fraser University)
"Wasp killers! Read-Throated Caracara foraging and nesting behaviour in French Guiana"
6-Feb-2020 Bruce Malloch (Acadia)
"Mites: a taxonomic trove of strangely spectacular species"
15-Feb-2020 Dr. Jeremy Lundholm (Saint Mary's University)
"More kinds or more stuff? Productivity vs heterogeneity as drivers of species coexistence and ecosystem functioning"
20-Feb-2020 Study Break - No Seminar
27-Feb-2020 Dr. Kurt Samways (UNBF/Parks Canada)
"Back from the brink: tackling an upstream battle to restore endangered Atlantic Salmon"
5-Mar-2020 Dr. Patricia Wright (University of Guelph)
"Phenotypic plasticity across life stages: lessons from amphibious fishes"
12-Mar-2020 Dr. Anna Metaxas (Dalhousie)
"Evidence-based conservation: ecological connectivity and the design of marine protected areas"
19-Mar-2020 Dr. Mirwais Qaderi (Mount Saint Vincent University)
[Cancelled due to Covid-19] "Plant-derived methane: what do we know about it?"
26-Mar-2020 Andrew Hebda (Nova Scotia Museum)
[Cancelled due to Covid-19]
2-Apr-2020 Dr. Heather Hunt (UNB-Saint John)
[Cancelled due to Covid-19] "Ecology of coastal benthic communities in a changing ocean"

 

Seminars Fall 2019

Team: Matthew Penney, Brandon Nilsen and Carter Feltham
Location: Elliot 207
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
19-Sep-2019 Dr. Matthew Smith (Parks Canada)
"Welcome to Kejimkujik: Novel Ecosystem or Invasive Species Wasteland? "
26-Sep-2019 Dr. Jeff Clements (Norwegian University of Science and Technology)
"Ocean acidification and fish behavior: impending doom or false alarms? "
3-Oct-2019 Dr. Andy Davis (University of Georgia)
"The marvelous migration of monarch butterflies and its human stressors "
10-Oct-2019 Dr. Tim Webster (COGS/Dalhousie)
"Nearshore Benthic Habitat Mapping using Topo-bathymetric lidar"
17-Oct-2019 Dr. Zoe Migikovscy (Dalhousie)
"Comparing apples to apples using genomics"
24-Oct-2019 Drs. Anna Wilks and Soren Bondrup-Nielsen (Acadia)
"Life on the edge: Philosophical theory in the practice of biology"
31-Oct-2019 Study Break - No Seminar
7-Nov-2019 Dr. David Smith (University of Western Ontario)
"Stranger Things: the organelle genome edition"
14-Nov-2019 Dr. Paul Manning (Dalhousie)
"Ecosystem functions of dung beetles"
21-Nov-2019 David Ireland (Ecology Action Centre)
"Marketing nature and the rise of citizen science"
28-Nov-2019 Patrick Champagne (Amazon Rainforest Conservancy)
"Anaconda (Eunectes murinus) Ecology in Lowland Amazonian Rainforests - Preliminary Results of an Animal Tracking study in South Eastern Peru "
5-Dec-2019 Dr. Sam Andrews (University of New Brunswick - Fredericton)
"Restoration potential for reproduction by Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) in the Saint John River, New Brunswick "

 

Seminars Winter 2019

Team: Brandon Nilsen, Jessie Lilly, Danni Harper and Matthew Penney
Location: Elliot 207
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
24-Jan-2019 Dr. Aaron MacNeil (Dalhousie)
"Decline and Recovery on the Great Barrier Reef"
31-Jan-2019 Dr. Jason Berman (Dalhousie)
"Something fishy is going on; applications of the zebrafish to study childhood cancer and other rare genetic disorders"
7-Feb-2019 Dr. Heather Bowlby (Fisheries and Oceans Canada)
"Science and Species at Risk: Evaluating White Shark"
14-Feb-2019 Dr. Kristina Boerder (Dalhousie)
"Eyes on the Sea: New global observation tools from space"
21-Feb-2019 No Seminar - Study Week
28-Feb-2019 Dr. Brian Sanderson (Acadia Tidal Insitute)
"Solving the Problem: Bay of Fundy tides, in-stream turbines and marine animals"
7-Mar-2019 Dr. Tamara Franz-Odendaal (Mount Saint Vincent)
"Understanding the diverse ocular skeletons of vertebrates: evolutionary and embryological perspectives"
14-Mar-2019 Dr. Sarah Gutowsky (Dalhousie/Acadia)
"Keeping Birds Off The Hook: Seabirds, Fisheries and Conservation in the Southern Ocean"
21-Mar-2019 Dr. Russell Wyeth (St. FX)
"A talk about slugs, crows, and sea squirts and their differences"
28-Mar-2019 Dr. Bruce Hatcher (Cape Breton)
"Ecosystem biology: Whole and parts, pattern and processes"
4-Apr-2019 Dr. Sean Modesto (Cape Breton)
"A natural history of captorhinid reptiles"

 

Seminars Fall 2018

Team: Tyler d'Entremont, Brittni Scott, and Nick Knutson
Location: KCIC (Main Auditorium)
Time: Thursdays @ 12:00 noon

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
13-Sep-2018 Dr. Zhongmin Dong (St. Mary's)
"From rhizobia in legume nodules to rhizobacteria"
20-Sep-2018 Dr. Ross Davidson (Dalhousie)
"Antimicrobial resistance; a lesson in antimicrobial stewardship"
27-Sep-2018 No Seminar
4-Oct-2018 Darrin Reid (Parks Canada)
"Invasive fish on our doorstep: Protecting the Kejimkujik freshwater ecosystem"
11-Oct-2018 Kari Martin (Mt. Allison)
"Mission mangrove: Morphological, physiological and behavioural adaptations of an amphibious mangrove fish living in a variable environment"
18-Oct-2018 No Seminar
25-Oct-2018 Dr. Shelley Adamo (Dalhousie)
"Do insects feel pain?"
1-Nov-2018 Dr.Kendra McClure (Perennia Food & Agriculture Ltd.)
"Genomic research in horticulture crops"
8-Nov-2018 Dr. Daniel Ruzzante (Dalhousie)
"Genetics and the estimation of abundance in harvested, small, or data deficient populations: A validation with North Mountain (NS) brook trout"
15-Nov-2018 No Seminar
22-Nov-2018 Dr. Amy Marsters (NS Department of Lands and Forestry)
29-Nov-2018 Allain Belliveau (E.C.Smith Herbarium)
"Our home: The Acadian forest region in a nutshell"

 

Seminars Winter 2018

Team: Lita O'Halloran, Brittni Scott, Maja Reinhartsen, Tyler d'Entremont, and Nick Knutson
Location: BAC 132 (Beveridge Arts Centre)
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30 AM

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
18-Jan-2018 Dr. Tim Frasier (St. Mary's)
""
25-Jan-2018 Dr. Todd Smith (Acadia)
"Hepatozoon blood parasites in frogs and mosquitoes: host specificity, cryobiology and immunity"
1-Feb-2018 Dr. Joe Nocera ()
""
8-Feb-2018 Eileen Haskett (Acadia)
"Invertebrate-sediment interactions and the effects of two suspended sediment concentrations on high-, mid-, and low-intertidal communities"
15-Feb-2018 No Seminar - BioFeedback
22-Feb-2018 No Seminar - Study Week
1-Mar-2018 Dr. Michelle Patriquin (St. Mary's)
""
8-Mar-2018 Dr. Glenys Gibson (Acadia)
"Epigenetics for ecologists"
15-Mar-2018 Dr. Hilary Moors-Murphy (Dalhousie)
"Cetacean-related issues within the Maritimes"
22-Mar-2018 Alexandra Merkx-Jacques (Mara Corp.)
"Discovery and optimization of micro-algae for biotechnology"
29-Mar-2018 Dr. Erin Bertrand (Dalhousie)
"Phytoplankton need their vitamins too: using proteins to study microbial nutrition in the ocean"
5-Apr-2018 Celia Boone (DNR)
"Entomologist - 'How did I get here'"

 

Seminars Fall 2017

Team: Lita O'Halloran, Brittni Scott, Maja Reinhartsen, Tyler d'Entremont, and Nick Knutson
Location: BAC 132 (Beveridge Arts Centre)
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30 AM

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
14-Sep-2017 Dr. Stephanie MacQuarrie (CBU)
"Reaping Unsown Benefits of BioChar"
21-Sep-2017 Brad Toms (MTRI)
"Bat Conservation in Nova Scotia"
28-Sep-2017 Dr. Bryan Crawford (UNB)
"Multifaceted Matrix Metalloproteinases: the cellular tools of tissue architecture"
5-Oct-2017 Kathleen Martin (Canadian Sea Turtle Network)
"Learning from leatherbacks"
12-Oct-2017 Leif Helmer (NSCC)
"Operation Loon Pontoon: Floating Citizen Science, Service Learning and Applied Research at NSCC"
19-Oct-2017 Dr. Haley Viehman (Acadia)
"Maine to Minas: what we’ve learned about instream tidal energy turbines and fish, and where we’re going from here"
26-Oct-2017 Dr. Zoë Migicovsky (Dalhousie)
Grape genetics
2-Nov-2017 Dr. Linda Campbell (SMU)
"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Aquatic impacts from historical gold mines in Nova Scotia"
9-Nov-2017 TBA
16-Nov-2017 Dr. Scott Pavey (UNB/CRI)
"Genomics of freshwater eels demonstrates adaptive genetic differences in panmictic species"
23-Nov-2017 Dr. Alejandro Cohen (Dalhousie)
"Proteomics for the masses:uncovering the protein secrets of biology"
30-Nov-2017 Dr. Suzie Currie (Mount Allison)
"Flexible fish? How ecological and social context influence physiological responses to environmental change"

 

Seminars Winter 2017

Team: Stephanie White, Lita O'Halloran and Tyler d'Entremont
Location: BAC 132 (Beveridge Arts Centre)
Time: Thursdays @ 11:30 AM

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
26-Jan-2017 Dr. Hal Whitehead (Dalhousie)
"Gene-culture co-evolution in whales and dolphins"
2-Feb-2017 Dr. Donald Miller (Manitoba)
"The blood-brain barrier in health and disease"
9-Feb-2017 Dr. Robert Scheibling (Dalhousie)
"Climate change, disease and alternative-state dynamics of a kelp-bed ecosystem"
16-Feb-2017 No Seminar - Study Week
2-Mar-2017 Dr. Stephanie Walsh (Nova Scotia Power)
"Working for industry: An ecologist at Nova Scotia Power"
9-Mar-2017 Dr. David Langelaan (Dalhousie)
"Characterizing the structure and function of fungal hydrophobin proteins"
16-Mar-2017 Dr. Alain Belliveau (Atlantic Canada Conservation Data Centre)
"Place of the alders: Unraveling mysteries of the Tobeatic, with notes on the area's wildlife and ecology "
30-Mar-2017 Mike Crowell & Christine Jeans (Stantec Consulting Ltd.)
"So you want to be an environmental consultant?"

 

Seminars Winter 2016

Team: Lita O'Halloran, Stephanie White, Emily Chase, Robin Dornan

Date Presenter and Title/Topic
21-Jan-2016 Dr. Aaron Spares (Acadia)
"THERE AND BACK AGAIN: An evaluation of fishway passage and spawning migration survival for alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus)"
28-Jan-2016 Dr. Ian Spooner (Acadia)
"Applied Paleolimnology"
4-Feb-2016 Dr. Ryan Stanley (Dal/BIO, Canadian Healthy Oceans Network)
"Exploring the world of larval lobsters: looks, behaviour and why it all matters"
10/11-Feb-2016 Biofeedback
2-day-long series of Honours students presentations. Location TBA.
18-Feb-2016 No Seminar - Study Break
25-Feb-2016 Peter Sykes (Aquaculture Association)
"The Nova Scotia Aquaculture Industry: poised for growth through R&D collaborations"
3-Mar-2016 Dr. Heather Major (UNB)
"Habitat modification as a means of restoring Aethia auklet colonies"
10-Mar-2016 Dr. Russell Easy (Acadia)
"Stress. What is it good for? Lessons from crickets, caterpillars, and fish!"
17-Mar-2016 Dr. Russell Wyeth (St. FX)
"Two tales of attraction and avoidance: stopping the squirts and navigation by snails"
24-Mar-2016 Dr. Nicolas Lecomte (U. de Moncton)
Polar and boreal ecology
31-Mar-2016 Dr. Hugh Broders (SMU)
"Social and population biology of temperate bats"
7-Apr-2016 Dr. Nick Hill (Fern Hill Conservation)
"Canada's rarest plant... What's it good for?"