EvoS Seminar Series

Spring 2025 seminars will be held on Mondays, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm in the SCIENCE LIBRARY, Room 212 (when classes are in session). All are welcome.

NOTE: SPRING 2025 SEMINARS BEGIN MONDAY, January 27 with an introduction to the course by Dr. Rolf Quam. See detailed schedule below for more information.

Every spring semester, the EvoS seminar series brings distinguished speakers and alumni to campus to share their work on all aspects of humanity and the natural world from an evolutionary perspective. All are welcome to attend in person or by Zoom.

While visiting campus, the speakers meet with faculty and researchers to share ideas and explore opportunities for collaboration. In many respects, the seminar series is the hub of EvoS, both as an educational program and a pathway for interdisciplinary research.

For undergraduates and graduate students, "Current Topics in Evolutionary Studies" (EVOS451/ANTH 481/BIOL451/580S) is a 2-credit course based on the seminar series. Every week, students read scholarly articles and write a commentary to prepare for the seminar. This course is frequently rated among the students' best intellectual experiences at 绿帽社.

The seminars are open to the campus and local community. Lectures are typically less than an hour, followed by a brief Q&A by guests, and a longer discussion with students. Some lectures will be remote and others in-person. All guest lectures can be viewed live via Zoom.

Meeting ID: 947 4133 5034 Passcode: 519161

SPRING 2025 SERIES:

Monday, January 27 - Introduction to the Course

Rolf Quam, 绿帽社, Anthropology and Evolutionary Studies

(In-person lecture)

  • Details
    • Monday, January 27
    • In person

Monday, Feb 3 - Speaker 1

Speaker:   Andrey Vyshedskiy, Remote via Zoom

Affiliation:   Boston University, Metropolitan College, Department of Biology

Faculty Profile:

Topic:   Three levels of language comprehension in modern individuals 鈥

Implications for language evolution

  • Details
    • Monday, Feb 3, 3:30 pm
    • Remote via Zoom
    • Topic: Three levels of language comprehension in modern individuals 鈥 implications for language evolution
      Speaker: Andrey Vyshedskiy, Boston University, Department of Biology
    • Abstract: The prevailing belief is that language comprehension development follows a linear trajectory, with children acquiring grammatical rules one at a time. Over 20 years ago, I investigated the neurobiology of language and predicted the existence of three distinct language comprehension/symbolic mechanisms. Our recent research has now confirmed this prediction. We analyzed language comprehension abilities of over 31,000 autistic individuals aged 4 to 22 years. The analysis identified three levels of language comprehension, corresponding to the three language mechanisms I had previously proposed.
      The most-advanced syntactic-language-comprehension-phenotype is manifested by all typical individuals aged 4-years-and-beyond. The other two phenotypes may represent stages of language comprehension evolution: the most-basic command-language-comprehension-phenotype is limited to comprehension of simple commands, and the intermediate modifier-language-comprehension-phenotype adds comprehension of color, size, and number modifiers, but no comprehension of complex syntax.
      In this seminar we will take a look into implications of this discovery for paleoanthropology. The three language mechanisms were likely acquired in a sequential manner throughout human evolution. The human lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees around 6 million years ago, possibly acquiring the most-basic command mechanism soon after. The modifier mechanism began to develop gradually around 3 million years ago as suggested by first stone tool manufacturing. Lastly, archaeological findings indicate that the syntactic mechanism emerged 70,000 years ago, sparking what is often referred to as the cognitive revolution.

    • Biosketch: Dr. Andrey Vyshedskiy is a neuroscientist from Boston University. He has authored over 100 landmark review articles and original research publications in some of the premier journals of the world including the New England Journal of Medicine and Nature. His research focuses on children development, the neurological basis of imagination, and evolution of human language. He has founded multiple successful companies and directed the development of several FDA approved medical devices. Based on his research, ImagiRation has designed a novel therapy for children, that has been demonstrated to significantly improve their language abilities.

    • Accompanying reading:

      For reading material:

      For TED talk:

Monday, February 10 - Darwin Day Film

Title: Inherit the Wind; Classic film with Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly (Stanley Kramer, 1960)

Monday, 3:30 鈥 5:30 PM, Science Library, Rm. 212 (Sorry, no Zoom option)

On Monday, February 10, we will watch the film "Inherit the Wind" about the famous Scopes "Monkey" Trial in 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. This year is the 100th anniversary of the "Trial of the Century" which put a schoolteacher on trial for teaching evolution to his students. The movie is just over 2 hours in length, so it will take up the entire class period. Here is the official trailer of the movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PKkLSCuiEE.

For background, link here to the Wikipedia page on the Scopes Trial: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scopes_trial. 

Monday, February 17 - Speaker 2

Speaker:  Dr. Kaeden O鈥橞rien

In-person and via Zoom

Affiliation:  SUNY Oneonta-Department of Anthropology

Faculty Profile: 

Topic:   Paleoenvironmental Drivers of Human Evolution

  • Details

    In person and via Zoom; 

    Title: Paleoenvironmental Drivers of Hominin Evolution

    Abstract:

    Dating back to Darwin's and Raymond Dart's ideas that hominins evolved in savannas, asking how environmental change drove hominin evolution is a cornerstone of anthropological debate. My research uses a combination of vertebrate paleontology, stable isotope geochemistry, and quantitative analysis to determine how climate and ecosystem dynamics shaped hominin evolution over the past five million years. I explore this through three case studies from Kenyan fossil sites, each representing a key moment in our evolutionary history. First, I explore large herbivore migration and other seasonal behaviors across the Middle Stone Age to Later Stone Age transition. Next, I evaluate the sympatry of Homo and Paranthropus across habitats in the Early Pleistocene. Finally, I introduce new interdisciplinary work challenging the conventional "Savanna Hypothesis" for hominin origins. These case studies lay the framework for a new paradigm in which we understand that hominins are just one component of African ecosystems, and much is to be gained through deeper knowledge of the rest of the mammal community we evolved alongside.

    Biosketch:

    Dr. Kaedan O'Brien is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at SUNY Oneonta, specializing in Biological Anthropology. He competed a Bachelor of Science in Anthropology and Zoology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology from the University of Utah. His research uses the  large mammal fossil record and stable isotopes to address one central question: What were the paleoenvironmental drivers of human evolution in Africa? This research addresses (1) late Cenozoic mammal community structure, (2) the impact of scale on paleoenvironmental reconstruction, (3) isotopic evidence for prehistoric seasonality and migration, and (4) megafaunal extinction. Currently, he is involved in projects in the Turkana and Baringo Basins of Kenya and the Western Cape of South Africa.

    Accompanying Reading

    TBA

Monday, February 24 - Speaker 3

Speaker:  Dr. Matthew Emery

In-person and via Zoom

Affiliation:  绿帽社 Department of Anthropology

Faculty Profile: /anthropology/faculty/profile.html?id=memery

Topic:   Neandertal Genomics - Latest discoveries

  • Details

    In-person and via Zoom;

    Title: Exploring the hidden history of admixture in ancient hominin genomes

    Abstract
    Ancient DNA analysis has transformed the field of palaeoanthropology over the past two
    decades, culminating in the sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2010, followed by the
    sequencing of numerous other ancient human and archaic hominin genomes. This presentation
    traces the history of these breakthroughs, beginning with the first mitochondrial DNA
    sequences in the 1990s and progressing to high-resolution nuclear genomes enabled by next-
    generation sequencing technologies. The sequencing of the Neanderthal and Denisovan
    genomes has uncovered significant admixture (introgression) events with anatomically
    modern humans. These admixture events have reshaped our understanding about hominin
    evolution through time. Introgression between archaic hominins and modern humans
    conferred several adaptive advantages, including enhanced immunity, cold and high-altitude
    adaptation, and gene regulatory changes related to lipid metabolism. Looking ahead,
    advancements in functional genomics, sedimentary DNA analysis, and epigenetics are
    expected to provide even deeper insights into human evolution and the intricate legacy of
    interactions with other hominins. This exploration underscores the transformative power of
    ancient DNA in unraveling evolutionary processes and bridging molecular biology,
    archaeology, and anthropology.

    Biosketch
    Dr. Matthew Emery received his PhD from McMaster University in Canada. He is interested
    in a wide range of biomolecular applications in forensic, anthropological, and the
    (bio)archaeological sciences. To date, Emery鈥檚 research has focused on applying ancient DNA
    and next-generation sequencing methods to highly degraded archaeological and forensic
    human bones and teeth. Currently, Emery鈥檚 research is focused on integrating ancient DNA
    extraction methods with those employed in modern forensic DNA laboratories. His analysis
    seeks to better understand the nature of DNA degradation of forensic human remains when
    subjected to high-intensity thermal changes from the surrounding environment, such as fire.
    His previous Master鈥檚 research focused on deciphering the geographic origins of American
    and British soldiers who died during the War of 1812, using isotope and multi-criteria
    evaluation-GIS analysis. His PhD research employed a suite of molecular techniques, such
    isotope and ancient DNA analysis, to reconstruct the biogeographic origins of pre-Roman and
    Roman period individuals recovered from southern Italy.

    Accompanying Reading

    TBA

Monday, March 3 - Speaker 4

Speaker:   Dr. Mercedes Conde Valverde

Remote via Zoom

Affiliation:   Universidad de Alcala

Faculty Profile: https://www.uah.es/en/estudios/profesor/Maria-de-las-Mercedes-Conde-Valverde/

Topic:   The Child Who Lived: Down Syndrome in Neandertals

  • Details

    In person and via Zoom;

    Title: The Child Who Lived: Down Syndrome in Neandertals

    Abstract
    Caregiving for disabled individuals among Neanderthals has been known for a long time, and
    there is a debate about the implications of this behavior. Some authors believe that caregiving
    took place between individuals able to reciprocate the favor, while others argue that
    caregiving was produced by a feeling of compassion related to other highly adaptive prosocial
    behaviors. The study of children with severe pathologies is particularly interesting, as children
    have a very limited possibility to reciprocate the assistance. We present the case of a
    Neanderthal child who suffered from a congenital pathology of the inner ear, probably
    debilitating, and associated with Down syndrome. This child would have required care for at
    least 6 years, likely necessitating other group members to assist the mother in childcare.


    Biosketch
    Mercedes Conde-Valverde earned her Bachelor鈥檚 degree in Biology, Master鈥檚 degree in
    Physical Anthropology and PhD in Human Evolution from the University of Alcal谩 with an
    Extraordinary Doctorate Award. She is a member of the Atapuerca team since 2011. She is
    currently the director of the Chair of Evolutionary Otoacoustics and Paleoanthropology at HM
    Hospitales and the University of Alcal谩 and Assistant Professor of the Department of Life
    Sciences at the University of Alcal谩. Visiting Professor and Coordinator of the Human
    Evolution Area of the Francisco Javier Mu帽iz Research Center of the University of Buenos
    Aires and associate researcher at 绿帽社 (New York). She is the author of
    more than a dozen academic articles in some of the most prominent scientific journals
    including Science Advances, Nature Ecology and Evolution, eLife and Journal of Human
    Evolution.

    Accompanying Reading

    TBA

Monday, March 10 - SPRING BREAK

Monday, March 17 - Speaker 5

Speaker:   Dr. Mariah Donahue

In-Person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   绿帽社 - Department of Biology

Faculty Profile: /biology/people/profile.html?id=mdonohue4

Topic:   Lemur-Gut Microbiome Co-Evolution on Deep and Shallow Evolutionary

Timescales 

  • Details

    In person and via Zoom;

    Abstract

Monday, March 24 - Speaker 6

Speaker:   Dr. Andrew Gallup

In person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   Johns Hopkins University

Faculty Profile:  https://krieger.jhu.edu/behavioralbiology/people/

Topic:  The Evolution of Yawning 

  • Details

    In person and via Zoom;

    Title: The evolution of yawning
     
    Abstract: Yawning occurs in a stereotyped pattern across vertebrate classes, suggesting that this complex reflex has been evolutionarily conserved following its emergence in jawed fish. Despite the omnipresence of this behavior, research on the evolution of yawning has been limited. This talk will discuss recent studies on the proximate (causal) and ultimate (functional) mechanisms of both the primitive (spontaneous) and derived (contagious) forms of this response, as well as how the act of yawning alters the cognition and behavior of observers.
     
    Biosketch: Andrew is a Teaching Professor of Behavioral Biology at Johns Hopkins University. In recognition of his research in the evolutionary behavioral sciences, he was named a fellow of the Psychonomic Society and received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Scholarship. Andrew is a proud alum of 绿帽社, where he completed a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences and was among one of the first cohorts to receive a graduate certificate in Evolutionary Studies (EvoS). He currently lives in Maryland with his wife and three children.

    Website:  https://sites.google.com/view/andrewgallup

Monday, March 31 - Speaker 7

Speaker:   Dr. Miguel Vilar

In person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   University of Maryland

Faculty Profile:  https://anth.umd.edu/facultyprofile/vilar/miguel

Topic: TBA

Monday, April 7 - Speaker 8

Speaker:   Matthew Fujita

In-Person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   Univ. Texas Arlington - Department of Biology

Faculty Profile: https://www.uta.edu/academics/faculty/profile?username=mkfujita

Topic:   Parthenogenesis in Reptiles and Genome Evolution

Monday April 28 - Speaker 9

Speaker:   James Lamsdell

In person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   West Virginia University

Faculty Profile:  https://www.geo.wvu.edu/faculty-and-staff/james-lamsdell

Topic:   Horseshoe Crab Evolution and 鈥淟iving Fossils鈥

Monday May - Discussion  

Topic: Evolution: Q & A

Rolf Quam

In person lecture

Past seminar series

  • Archived Seminar Series (by semester)

    SPRING 2024

    Monday, January 22 - Introduction to the Course

    Speaker: Rolf Quam, 绿帽社, Anthropology and Evolutionary Studies


    Monday, January 29 - Speaker 1

    Topic: The Enduring Interest and Relevance of the Evolution of Human Skin Pigmentation

    Speaker: Nina Jablonski, Penn State University, Anthropology and Atherton Professor, Evan Pugh Professor Emeritus of Anthropology


    Monday, February 5 - Speaker 2

    Topic: Neanderthals and other extinct humans: tales from the teeth.

    Speaker: Shara Bailey, New York University, Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Anthropology


    Monday, February 12 - Darwin Day

    Title: Inherit the Wind; Classic film with Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly (Stanley Kramer, 1960)


    Monday, February 19 - Speaker 3

    Topic: Stone Tool Use of Non-human Primates

    Speaker: Dr. Caroline Jones, Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania


    Monday, February 26 - Speaker 4

    Topic: Market Integration and Transitions in Fertility, Marriage and Kinship Systems: An Evolutionary View

    Speaker: Mary Shenk, Penn State University, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Demography, and Asian Studies


    Monday, March 11 - Speaker 5

    Topic: Mammoths: On the path to de-extinction

    Speaker: Emil Karpinski, Harvard University, Harvard Medical School, Department of Genetics 


    Monday, March 18 - Speaker 6

    Topic: An Engineering鈥攁nd Evolutionary鈥擯erspective on Prestige: The Case for Maintenance 

    Speaker: Guru Madhavan, Director, National Academy of Engineering

    EvoS Retrospective - David Sloan Wilson, Professor Emeritus, 绿帽社


    Monday, March 25 - Speaker 7

    Topic: Unraveling the evolutionary relationships of ancient echinoderms 

    Speaker: Sarah Sheffield, 绿帽社, Assistant Professor, Geology


    MONDAY, APRIL 8 - SOLAR ECLIPSE - Seminar will begin at 4:00 PM

    Monday, April 8 - Speaker 8

    Topic: Human-Virus Coevolution: Evidence of Virus Microevolution from SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Monkeypox Outbreak

    Speaker: Michel Shamoon Pour, 绿帽社


    Monday April 15 - Speaker 9  

    Topic: Human adaptive evolution to starch digestion upon the onset of agriculture

    Speaker: Omer Gokcumen, University at Buffalo, Professor, Biological Sciences


    Monday April 29 - Discussion  

    Topic: Evolution: A discussion and debate

    Speakers: Rolf Quam and Allen MacNeill, 绿帽社

    Spring 2023

    Monday, Jan 23 - Seminar 1: Introduction to EvoS 451
    Rolf Quam, 绿帽社, Anthropology/EvoS
    Topic: Course Introduction, Syllabus Review

    Monday, Jan 30 - Seminar 2
    Allen MacNeill, 绿帽社, EvoS
    Title: Introduction to Tinbergen鈥檚 4 Questions

    Monday, Feb 6 - Seminar 3 
    Speaker: Joseph Brewer, Earth Regenerators
    Title: Cultural Evolution for the Regeneration of Earth

    Monday, Feb 13 - Seminar 4
    Speaker: Nasser Malit, SUNY Potsdam, Anthropology
    Title: Human Evolution in Africa: Evidence from the Central Highlands of Kenya

    Monday, Feb 20 - Seminar 5
    Speaker:  Adriane Lam, 绿帽社, Geology
    Topic: Deep sea core sediments and climate change

    Monday, Feb 27 - Seminar 6
    Speaker: Laure Spake, 绿帽社, Anthropology
    Topic: Alloparenting and Cooperative Breeding in Humans

    Monday, Mar 6 - Seminar 7
    Speaker: Mercedes Conde-Valverde, University of Alcal谩, Alcal谩 de Henares (Spain)
    Title: Sounds of the Past

    Monday, Mar 13 - Seminar 8
    Speaker: Omer Gokcumen, University at Buffalo
    Topic: Balancing selection in the hominin genomes, affecting metabolism and immunity.
    Title: 鈥淎ncient trade-offs: A story of archaic ancestors, starvation, and microbes鈥

    Monday, Mar 20 - Seminar 9            
    Speaker: Leticia Aviles, Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia
    Title: Evolution of Sociality and Multilevel selection (including spiders)

    Monday, Mar 27 - Seminar 10
    Speaker: Richard Lenski, Michigan State University
    Title: Time Travel in Experimental Evolution
    Topic: Long-term evolutionary experiment with E. coli

    Monday, Apr 17 - Seminar 12
    Speaker: David Braun, George Washington University, DC
    Topic: Origins of Technology
    Title: Technological Origins: How Long Have We Depended on Technology?

    Monday, May 1 - Seminar 14 
    Speaker:  Katie Hinde, Arizona State University
    Topic: hormones in milk, primarily cortisol, and impacts on infant development

    Spring 2022
    • Yaneer Bar-Yam, New England Complex Systems Institute
      Implications of the Pandemic for Values and the Survival of Humanity
    • Rolf Quam, 绿帽社, Anthropology/EvoS
      Mystery of the Pit of the Bones
    • Allen MacNeill, 绿帽社, EvoS
      On Purpose: The Evolution of Intentionality
    • Jeremy DeSilva, Dartmouth College, Anthropology
      First Steps: How Upright Walking Made Us Human
    • Antonio Lazcano, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
      Origin of Life
    • Steven Brown, McMaster University, NeuroArts Lab
      The Origins of the Vocal Brain in Humans
    • Sage Gibbons, Northeastern University
      Collective Efficacy and Neighborhood Adaptability to COVID-19
    • Wendy Jones, Author and Independent Scholar
      The Attachment System: How and Why We Find Safety in Close Relationships
    • Paul Ewald, University of Louisville, Biology
      The Evolutionary, Historical and Epidemiological Context of COVID
    • David Schaffer, 绿帽社, Visiting Research Professor
      Evolving artificial brains
    • Tyler Murchee, McMaster University, Anthropology
      Ancient DNA and Pleistocene Megafauna Extinctions
    • Cai Caccavari, 绿帽社, Anthropology
      Graduate Student Presentation
    Spring 2021
    • Seminar Title: Humpback whale communication in the Anthropocene \ Speaker: Michelle Fournet, Cornell, Biology
    • Seminar Title: The World Recipes Project and the Biocultural Evolution of Cuisine \ Speaker: Solomon H Katz, University of Pennsylvania
    • Seminar Title: The Cheating Cell: How cancer evolves inside us and how we can keep it under control \ Speaker: Athena Aktipis, Arizona State University, Anthropology
    • Seminar Title: Talking with Neandertals \ Speaker: Rolf J. Quam, 绿帽社, Anthropology
    • Seminar Title: Ecological Adaptation and the Origin and Maintenance of Biodiversity \ Speaker: Thomas Powell, 绿帽社, Biology/EvoS
    • Seminar Title: Self-governance and the unitary veil \ Speaker: Michael Cox, Dartmouth, Environmental Studies
    • Seminar Title: The Evolution of Belief: Meaning-making, belief, and world shaping as core processes in the human niche  \ Speaker: Agustin Fuentes, Princeton, Anthropology
    • Seminar Title: The Cultural Foundations of Cognition \ Speaker: Helen Davis, Harvard, Anthropology
    • Seminar Title: Vertical Polygyny in 20th Century America: Are Americans Monogamous or Polygamous? \ Speaker: Allen MacNeill, Cornell University
    • Seminar Title: The evolutionary ecology of monument construction: a Rapa Nui (Easter Island) case study \ Speaker: Robert 鈥淏eau鈥 DiNapoli, 绿帽社, Anthropology
    Spring 2020
    •  Introductory lecture by David Sloan Wilson, 绿帽社
      Tinbergen's four questions and others
    • Introductory lecture by Barrett Brenton, 绿帽社
      Biocultural Evolution of Cuisine
    • Darwin Day Panel discussion with 绿帽社 faculty
    • Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, University of Buffalo:
      Modern human cranial variation: An evolutionary morphology approach
    • Daniel T. O鈥橞rien, Northeastern University
      The Urban Commons: How Data, Technology, and Behavioral Science Can Help Us Rebuild Our Cities
    • Glenn Branch, National Center for Science Education (NCSE)
      Twists and Turns in Teaching Evolution over the Years  
    • Rolf Quam, EvoS Director, SUNY 绿帽社
      The Evolution of Language: Part 1 
    •  Rolf Quam
      The Evolution of Language: Part 2 
    • David Sloan Wilson
      Nothing about the Coronavirus Pandemic Makes Sense Except In the Light of Evolution
    • Adam van Arsdale, Wellesley College
      Race, Ancestry, and Populations in the Pleistocene and the Present
    • Robert Pennock, Michigan State University
      An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and the Moral Character of Science
    • Mark Urban, University of Connecticut
      Eco-evolution in communities