Natural Connections: Community-wide Science Seminars covering contemporary topics in global ecology and the environment. Science Seminars are co-sponsored by the Academy of Science of St. Louis and the Saint Louis Zoo. These seminars feature St. Louis and regional scientists presenting timely topics and/or recent "discoveries." All programs are presented so those with little scientific background can gain a better understanding of how each topic effects our world or has personal connections.This fascinating series is free and open to the public (geared for high school age and older). No reservations required. All Science Seminars are held on Wednesday evenings in the Zoo's Living World (north entrance of the Zoo on Government Drive). Free parking on the North Lot. Call (314) 768-5408 for more information. Also check out the list of this year's programs for adults which includes weekend and evening offerings that looks at what the Zoo is doing for both animals under our care and in the wild. Here are the 6 programs for this year. Emergence: Nature's Mode of Creativity
Wednesday, October 10; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Ursula W. Goodenough, Ph.D., Professor of Biology in Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis; Fellow, Academy of Science - St. Louis Scientists have had spectacular success with reductionism - taking natural processes and reducing them to ever smaller components and ever-simpler laws. Response to this success has been mixed, with many decrying, and some rejecting, the Humpty-Dumpty fragments that appear to be all that remain of their whole-egg world where the human is the point. And in fact, by starting from wholes and moving "down" into parts, one is moving in the opposite direction from the way matters actually arise. As atoms and molecules interact, new properties emerge; and one encounters "something-more-from-nothing," but as a consequence of increasingly complex relationships. Dr. Ursula Goodenough, author of The Sacred Depths of Nature explains, in language accessible to non-initiates, how emergent properties arise in non-living and living systems, with a focus on the dynamics of emergence in the origin and evolution of life and awareness. Dr. Goodenough extends these concepts to human forms of consciousness and applies them to the urgent project of sustainability and habitat preservation. The concept of emergence, she suggests, puts Humpty Dumpty back together again in ways that are wonderfully resonant with our existential yearnings. Advancing Research Into Climate Change and Natural Hazards - A Multidisciplinary Approach
Panelists from Saint Louis University Center for Environmental Science
Wednesday, November 14; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Moderator: Tim Kusky, Ph.D., Director, CES (Center for Environmental Sciences), Saint Louis University; and CES Associate Director Panelists: Rick Mayden, Ph.D., Biology; Bill Dannevik, Ph.D., Earth & Atmospheric Sciences; Steve Buckner, Ph.D., Chemistry; Mike Dockter, Ph.D., Administration; Bob Cropf, Ph.D., Public Policy; Dave Sterling, Ph.D., Public Health; Wynne Moskop, Ph.D., Political Science; and Doug Williams, J.D., Environmental Law The Earth's natural environment is rapidly changing on a global scale, making it imperative that societies strive to understand these changes in order to respond, adapt, and survive. The nature of science too is changing rapidly, becoming increasingly interdisciplinary. In response, Saint Louis University recently launched the Center for Environmental Science. Among the Center's main areas of research are the scientific and social aspects of water resources, including river and flood systems, water quality and supply, and water-borne disease that affects much of the world's population. As our climate undergoes rapid change both from natural and human causes, global temperatures and sea levels rise, patterns of precipitation change, severe storms become stronger and more numerous, and the impact on human populations is one of greater intensity and frequency. And as populations grow, people are increasingly stepping into the path of disaster - moving into hazardous areas such as flood plains, hurricane-prone coastal environments, flanks of volcanoes, and along high-shake zones in earthquake prone locales. Other populations suffer from disease and health threats from water-borne pathogens, and still others may be at threat from acts of bioterrorism. Saint Louis University CES panelists explore how to deal with climate change and its impact on people (atmospheric, hydrological, cultural, economic), finding better mechanisms to deal with the threats, and ways to minimize the risk to populations who are pressured to move into hazardous areas. Conservation Medicine in the Galapagos Islands: Disease Threats to Endemic Birds
Wednesday, December 5; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Patricia Parker, Ph.D., Des Lee Professor of Zoological Studies, University of Missouri - St. Louis; Senior Scientist, Saint Louis Zoo; Fellow, Academy of Science - St. Louis Wildlife populations around the world are threatened by the increased spread of diseases, and those on islands are particularly vulnerable due to their isolation and lack of previous exposure. The University of Missouri - St. Louis Department of Biology collaborates with the Saint Louis Zoo, the Charles Darwin Foundation, and the Galapagos National Park to survey pathogens present on the Galapagos Islands, to begin to understand the history of island pathogens and the threat that they pose. Dr. Parker discusses three discovered categories of pathogens: 1) those that appear to have colonized the islands with their host bird species and evolved alongside those hosts to become a species distinct from mainland relatives; 2) those that appear to have jumped from one host species to another since their arrival on the islands; and of greatest concern, 3) those that are much more recent arrivals, probably explainable by human activities. To date, many of the pathogens known to have had drastic effects on wildlife populations elsewhere (Plasmodium blood parasites or West Nile Virus) are not present, but other pathogens existing in the Galapagos, such as the Avipoxvirus, do have serious effects. Continued monitoring will hope to alert the Park to the arrival of any new pathogens, and those occurring there now offer wonderful opportunities to study the evolution of disease organisms. Special thanks to Sigma-Aldrich, 2007 Academy of Science Leadership Award recipient, for sponsoring, "Conservation Medicine in the Galapagos." The Greenhouse Effect
Wednesday, January 30; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Carl Bender, Ph.D., Professor of Physics, Washington University in St. Louis; Scientific Consultant, Los Alamos National Laboratory; Visiting Professor, Mathematics Department, Imperial College, UK; Fellow, Academy of Science - St. Louis Since the beginning of the industrial revolution and mostly in the last century, the activities of the Earth's human population have caused major changes in the chemical constitution of the planet's atmosphere. These changes are causing a warming of the earth by a process referred to as the greenhouse effect. The consequences of a planet-wide warming of just a few degrees could be catastrophic. Renowned mathematical physicist, Carl Bender, summarizes the changes that have occurred in the atmosphere, the process of planetary warming by greenhouse gasses, the predicted temperature changes, and the possible consequences. Snapshot in Time: Geologic Secrets of the World's Oldest Rainforest: Danville, Illinois, Fossilized Forest
Wednesday, February 27; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Scott D. Elrick and John Nelson, Geologists, Illinois State Geological Survey A 300-million-year-old Carboniferous fossilized forest discovery opens a wide window into the past. It's a rare opportunity for an up-close look at this rare find preserved in the roof of an underground coal mine near the town of Danville, Illinois. The forest, covering approximately 25 square kilometers, is probably the largest intact rainforest from the Pennsylvanian Period ever to be discovered; and its sheer size affords an unprecedented view of ancient forest life. Illinois State Geological Survey geologists, Scott Elrick and John Nelson, showcase a photographic array of some of the rainforest's beautifully preserved and somewhat bizarre plants, many of which are extinct today. From the exposures of plants and their encapsulating geology, a great deal can be learned about the ancient environmental conditions in which they formed and the coal that they left behind. Elrick and Nelson talk about the geology of this amazing underground discovery and discuss the tectonic and climatic factors that made these conditions possible. Hopping the Gauntlet: Multiple Stressors and Amphibian Biodiversity
Wednesday, April 2; 7:30 - 9 p.m.
Jon Chase, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Biology, Division of Biology & Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis Amphibian declines have been observed across the world, in some of the most pristine habitats on earth. Because of their physiology, amphibians' essentially, "absorb the world around them" through their skin, making them particularly susceptible to a litany of biotic (diseases, parasites, predators) and abiotic (pollutants) threats. Everything from the destruction of habitat, to the introduction of predators and diseases, to organic and inorganic pollutants, including those that make them hermaphrodites, seems to matter to amphibians. As a result, they are often likened to the "canaries in the coal mine," indicating how anthropogenic activities may affect species in the communities around us. In partnership with laboratory colleagues, faculty at other universities throughout the U.S., and state and federal agencies, Washington University associate professor, Dr. Jon Chase, is using basic rules of community ecology to help to understand how amphibian biodiversity, along with the biodiversity of associated organisms, respond to anthropogenic changes. Dr. Chase discusses this collaborative work and how this information will be used to help guide restoration efforts of these communities.
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