Colgate’s Picker Interdisciplinary Science Institute is hosting a symposium this week in the Ho Science Center.
Scientists from Australia, Canada, and the United States will gather up on the hill to discuss what is under the sea, focusing on the topic: “Evolutionary Transitions in Marine Invertebrate Larval Forms.”
The 18 participants for the three-day event, which begins Thursday, will discuss the diversity of marine life while applying common principles and different areas of expertise to new approaches currently bearing on the field, according to Colgate biology professor Damhnait McHugh, director of the institute.
She said the symposium represents interdisciplinary research at its finest, with developmental biologists, morphologists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and a philosopher of biology all scheduled to attend.
Rudolf Raff, Distinguished Professor and James H. Rudy Professor of Biology at Indiana University, will deliver a presentation on Thursday to the 100 or so students who spend the summer conducting research on campus.
Raff plans to introduce the students to the interdisciplinary field coined “evo-devo,” which merges evolutionary biology with developmental biology.
“Ultimately, we hope that the symposium will lead to a publication that summarizes the current state of our understanding of larval transitions, any common principles that are emerging from across different fields, and suggestions for future directions,” said McHugh, who organized the symposium with Bruno Pernet, of California State University, and Andreas Heyland, University of Guelph.