Events: Recent submissions
Now showing items 1-20 of 666
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Revisiting Darwin's Insectivorous Plants: Modern Insights Into Carnivorous Plant EvolutionCharles Darwin is widely known for On The Origin Of Species, but his curiosity extended far beyond animals; he was also a passionate botanist with a fascination for carnivorous plants. His 1875 work, Insectivorous Plants, investigated how carnivorous plants have adapted to trap and digest prey. This lecture will revisit Darwin's early contributions to our understanding of carnivorous plant evolution and explore how recent advances in evolutionary biology have expanded his work.
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Searching For Shade: Adapting To Extreme Heat In The Northeast USAIn early 2024, the world passed the 1.5C warming threshold for the first time. In the northeast of the U.S., extreme heat events are becoming more frequent while aging infrastructure is not designed for a warmer climate. Cities across the northeast have responded by planting millions of trees to increase resilience and adaptability. In this talk, Professor Geron will evaluate different types of tree planting.
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The Intersection Of Homologous Recombination And Heterochromatic Maintenance In Saccharomyces CerevisiaeMating-type switching in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a fascinating process that enables haploid yeast cells to switch mating types, facilitating diploid formation and enhancing genetic diversity within populations. This process is intiated by a DNA double-strand break and is dependent upon homologous recombination at a heterochromatic donor template to repair the break. This talk will delve into how these two processess are coordinated and influence genome stability and gene regulation.
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How Do Hurricanes And Wildfires Influence Earth's Carbon And Water Cycles?Hurricanes and wildfires are notorious environmental disturbances that greatly influence local hydrological, biological, geological, and chemical mechanisms, commonly known as hydro-biogeochemical processes. Under steady-state conditions, the interconnected relationship between hydro-biogeochemical processes is routinely recognized. In this presentation, we will discuss the invisible influence hurricanes/wildfires have on hydro-biogeochemical processes governing the carbon and water cycle.
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Evolution At The Cosmic ScaleWhy do we find ourselves in a Universe that is hospitable for life? How has order emerged in a Universe that -- according to the laws of physics -- should be becoming more disordered? To address these questions, modern cosmologists have been taking inspiration from Darwinian evolution. Can we extend the principles of evolution beyond the biosphere to understand the evoltuion of the universe as a whole? This talk wil describe two approaches to the study of cosmi evolution and assess their potential to answer some of our biggest questions.
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Evolving Ecosystems: Seaweeds in a Changing ClimateWhen most people visit the seashore and decide to poke around to look at organisms, they are typically focused on the animals and especially the ones they see moving. While seaweeds might be overlooked by many, they form the base of most marine ecosystems. Habitat-forming seaweeds are those that form the three-dimensional structure of coastal habitats and include many species of rockweeds and kelps. Due to the combined effects of climate change, especially increased sea surface temperature, the abundance and distribution of habitat-forming seaweeds have been changing. These changes are likely to cause ripple effects through entire coastal marine ecosystems that may affect which species are present and in what quantities. In this talk, Dr. Green-Gavrielidis will share research on how habitat-forming seaweeds in the northwest Atlantic are changing, and offer a glimpse at what may be local adaptation in seaweed populations to changing conditions. Dr. Green-Gavrielidis will also highlight findings from other temperate regions and propose future research areas to better understand the complexity of the response of seaweeds to climate change stressors.
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Appreciating the Magic of Natural NightLeigh Ann Henion is the New York Times bestselling author of Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens, and Other Marvels of the Dark (2024) and Phenomenal: A Hesitant Adventurer’s Search for Wonder in the Natural World (2015). Night Magic was, in part, inspired by an article Henion wrote for The Washington Post Magazine about synchronous fireflies. After that piece ran, many readers reached out to let her know that they’d started turning off their porch lights more often, and she was amazed that her story had inspired real-world action that led to reduced light pollution. Henion subsequently spent several years in the company of owls, moths, salamanders, and other nocturnal creatures to explore the importance of natural darkness in an age of increasing artificial light.
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A Genomic Threat: How Repetitive DNAs Cause DNA Damage And MutationsMuch of the human genome is comprised of repetitive DNA sequences. Microsatellite regions are small sequences which repeat, can change in length and cause over 30 inherited neurodegenerative disorders. Biochemical characteristics of DNA mean microsatellite repeats can form non-linear DNA structures and impede DNA transactions. My talk will focus on how microsatellite sequences must be negotiated during essential processes like DNA repair and discuss the human consequences when accurate repair fails at these sites.
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Of Moose and Men: Evolutionary Threads in Wildlife Disease and Vaccine ManufacturingMoose calves (Alces alces americana) in northern climates face substantial nutritional stress during winter, and many carry extraordinary winter tick (Dermacentor albipictus) burdens—sometimes exceeding 90,000 ticks per animal. To date, nearly 400 collared calves and 51 adult cows in northern Maine have been examined for how co-infection with an uncharacterized Anaplasma bacteria and varying winter tick loads influences survival and fitness. Calves experiencing both Anaplasma blood infection and moderate to heavy tick loads showed a marked reduction in overwinter survival probability. Physiological indicators suggest that Anaplasma infection contributes to anemia and may alter immune function. These findings highlight how co-infecting parasites compound stress in a population already challenged by climate-driven tick proliferation, underscoring the importance of genetic and ecological monitoring for a species of major cultural, ecological, and economic significance in Maine. The second section part of the talk shifts to the molecular manufacturing landscape during the COVID-19 pandemic, detailing an Alumni’s journey to being a part of how New England Biolabs mobilized to support Moderna’s mRNA vaccine program. I describe the rapid scaling and manufacturing process development of critical enzymatic reagents and the collaborative problem-solving required to maintain uninterrupted access to high-quality raw materials essential for vaccine production. This high level behind-the-scenes view illustrates how industrial biotechnology can respond with speed and precision when the stakes are global.
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Investigating The Influence Of Diet On Mammalian Evolution: Are You What You Eat?Darwin well knew that climate and its effects on food availability in the environment played a major role in natural selection. In the almost 200 years since his writings, we have learned much more about how an animal’s diet is linked to almost every other aspect of its ecology and evolution. As a paleontologist, I use a variety of methods to test hypotheses about the ecological links among extinct taxa and their environment. By both looking at the fossil record and modern animals, we can better understand the processes that govern organismal diet, ecological diversity, and changes in ecological communities. In this talk, I will discuss insights from several projects that have aimed to answer the question: how has diet influenced mammalian evolution and extinction through time?
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Evolving Worldviews and their Impacts: Bringing in Indigenous PerspectivesWorldviews shape our relationship to the life around us. Today’s ecological crisis is primarily driven by human activity, leaving us with the impression that humans inherently have a negative impact on the planet. However, indigenous cultures have persisted for millennia, living in ways that promote biodiversity and create conditions of mutual thriving. We'll discuss some of the values held in Indigenous worldviews and see how humans can have a positive impact on the world around them!
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Why Everything You Know About Shark Conservation Is Wrong: An Interdisciplinary Look At Public Misunderstanding Of Conservation ScienceSharks are some of the most ecologically important, most threatened, and most misunderstood animals on Earth. If we are to avoid extinction of animals that have been around since before trees existed on land, strong conservation protections based on evidence and data are an urgent necessity. Fortunately, more people care about the environment and want to help than ever before. Unfortunately, ocean conservation discussions are plagued by misinformation, pseudoscience, and extremism. In this talk, Dr. David Shiffman will present some key results from his decade of work trying to understand the causes and consequences of public misunderstanding of ocean conservation threats and their solutions. Where did so many people learn wrong information about these important topics, and what can experts do to get things moving in the right way?
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Sea Level Rise and Multispecies Climate JusticeClimate change is causing sea levels to rise at an accelerating rate, impacting shorelines around the world. The long-term impacts will occur over generations and will be highly spatially variable along coastlines. Sea level rise impacts and adaptation responses vary geographically and affect all who dwell in or move through coastal spaces. The emerging lens of multispecies climate justice allows us to look deeper into the interrelated ecologies of climate impacts by considering a broad assessment of interrelated beings and ecosystems. This talk will discuss research on the global impacts of sea level rise on nonhuman animals, and implications for advancing multispecies climate justice. This work was a collaborative project with my former undergraduate students Ava Sharpe, Rory Crisfield, Libby Rankin, and Caitlin Bolzan.
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The Natural History Museum, London, and Charles DarwinLondon’s Natural History Museum opened its doors to the public in 1881. Today a statue of Charles Darwin has pride of place in the main hall. To the surprise of many, Darwin never set foot in the building and had no role in the planning of the “Cathedral of Nature”. We hold comparatively few of his specimens. However, Darwin’s successful theory underpins the museum’s research themes. Knowledge produced from Natural History and conclusions from that knowledge, including Natural Selection, would promote fierce intellectual conflict during the “long” 19th century, the British century. The driving force behind the creation of the Natural History Museum, Richard Owen, in the words of his biographer was “eclipsed by Darwin”. The significant Darwin specimens that the Museum does hold are from the Ornithological collections from the Voyage of the Beagle but, perhaps surprisingly, from closer to home here in the United Kingdom. We will look at those and discuss their significance. We will also examine additional research projects, including the one that led to our collaboration with Salem State. Another of Darwin’s great anticipations was the discovery of the mechanism for species change, the mutation of the DNA molecule. We are re-curating our collections to an order derived from DNA sequencing - a massive task. It’s a privilege to work with collections of such huge significance. Perhaps I can offer advice to anyone who’d like to take a career path similar to mine.
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Lunch & Learn featuring Roxanne Dunbar-OrtizThis event was part of Against Erasure: An Exhibit for Indigenous Peoples History Month. It was coordinated by the Salem State University History Department, Philosophy Department, Historical Association, Inclusive Excellence's Center for Equity, Education and Belonging, the Center for Justice and Liberation, and the Frederick E. Berry Library.
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Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Tobacco Use and CessationRacial and ethnic disparities in cigarette and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use in the United States persist as a pressing public health concern. A legacy of targeted marketing (Nicksic et al., 2022), socioeconomic inequities (Forman et al., 2025; Levy et al., 2025), and unequal access to cessation resources (Avila et al., 2022; Lee et al., 2023) continues to sustain these disparities. Research demonstrates that while cigarette smoking has declined overall, the rise of e-cigarette use has introduced new forms of nicotine dependency, disproportionately affecting marginalized populations (Foxon et al., 2024; Lozano et al., 2021). Furthermore, policy initiatives such as menthol bans demonstrate potential but must be paired with culturally responsive cessation interventions to achieve equitable outcomes (Booras et al., 2023). This literature review synthesizes current findings (2020-2025) and concludes that public health strategies rooted in cultural competency and structural reform are essential for reducing racial and ethnic inequities in tobacco and e-cigarette use.
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Step Toward Functional Independence: Teaching Shoe Tying Through Video Modeling and Task AnalysisShoe tying is a functional life skill which requires dexterity, fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. This project takes place at the Recreational Education Center (REC) in Peabody, Massachusetts with the objective of testing the effectiveness of using a video model to teach shoe tying. At the time of recruitment, the participant was a client receiving applied behavior analysis services at the REC who was unable to tie shoes, and was capable of learning the skill. Once the video model was selected, a task analysis was created which breaks the skill down into small steps to track progress. After baseline data was collected, intervention trials were conducted using a least-to-most prompting hierarchy. Results found video modeling to be successful in improving shoe tying independence.
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Surveying Radiologic Technologists: Factors That May Influence Employees to Stay in Their JobsThis project examines workplace factors that Radiologic Technologists consider most important in influencing their retention at Salem Hospital. The assessment was based on observations across all modalities in the Radiology department, with the most notable finding being a shortage of Radiologic Technologists. This shortage is a common challenge faced by many hospitals, prompting extensive research into the contributing factors. The project was carried out using a survey distributed to Radiologic Technologists in the X-ray, Nuclear Medicine, Mammography, Interventional Radiology, and Ultrasound departments. The goal was to identify which factors were most important to Radiologic Technologists and make inferences on whether these factors may contribute to retention. Overall, the survey results showed that work-life balance and workplace culture/supportive leadership were the most important factors, whereas professional growth and recognition/appreciation are not as important. This indicates that the decision to stay or leave a job may depend on a good work-life balance and a positive work culture.
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Mothera and Child Resources: A Resource Pamphlet Supporting Mothers and Children in LynnThis project, completed with the Lynn Public Health Division, focused on identifying and organizing resources available to mothers and children in the community. By assessing local programs and gaps in services, I developed an accessible resource pamphlet to support families and improve awareness of available assistance. Research highlights ongoing disparities in maternal health, including limited access to care and higher rates of hypertension and financial concerns among recent immigrants. To ensure inclusivity, the pamphlet should be translated into multiple languages and regularly updated. It will be distributed during North Shore Mother Visiting Group appointments and made available in the Lynn City Hall Resource Room.
