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?" |