Distinguished Ecologist Seminars
We invite ecologists from around the world to speak each year. In the Fall, we highlight the work of a GDPE alum and a faculty member, and in the Spring we bring in outside speakers. We define “distinguished” broadly as someone who has contributed important work to the discipline of ecology. Below you will find information about our upcoming seminars.
Location: Bio 136
3:30 pre-seminar tea
4:00 seminar
for details on the receptions, check the Digest!
September 30 - Honored Alum
Katie Langin - Associate editor at Science
Host: Bradley Allf
Title: Finding your career niche: advice for students and mentors
Dr. Katie Langin is an editor at Science, where she oversees coverage of ecology and environmental research for the journal’s newsroom. She also writes stories about the scientific community and helps edit Working Life, the journal’s popular essay section, which explores challenges scientists face in their careers. Her path to journalism began in science. After completing a Ph.D. in CSU’s Graduate Degree Program in Ecology in 2014, she worked at National Geographic as a AAAS Mass Media Fellow—an opportunity that opened her eyes to career options. She went on to do a postdoc at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Fort Collins Science Center before deciding to pursue science journalism full time. She joined Science’s news team in 2018 and works remotely from Fort Collins.
October 28 - Resident Ecologist
Melinda Smith - Biology Professor CSU
Host - Meena Balgopal
Title: Understanding the impacts of climate extremes on grassland ecosystems through an experimental lens
Dr. Melinda (Mendy) D. Smith is Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at Colorado State University. Smith is an internationally recognized scholar in ecology and climate change science, her research focuses on biodiversity, grassland ecosystems, and the impacts of drought and environmental change on plant communities and ecosystem resilience. A Fellow of AAAS, the Ecological Society of America, and the American Geophysical Union, Smith is also a respected academic leader who has served in key faculty governance and administrative roles at CSU.
February 3 - Visiting Ecologist
Alison Greggor - Research Scientist: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Host: Caitlin Wells
Title TBA
Dr Alison Greggor is a Scientist at the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, whose work focuses on improving the practice of conservation breeding and translocation with a variety of species, primarily Hawaiian birds and the Pacific pocket mouse. With a PhD from the University of Cambridge, Dr Greggor’s research has broadly aimed to bridge the fields of animal behavior and cognition with conservation. Dr Greggor has served as a scientific expert in specialist groups for the USFWS, CMS, and the IUCN, is a founding member of the Integrative Conservation Clinic and a Board Director at Defenders of Wildlife.
March 10 - Resident Ecologist
Ian Pearse - U.S. Geological Survey Research Ecologist
Hosts: Jill Baron and Kyle Ruszkowski
Title TBA
Dr. Ian Pearse conducts research at the individual, population, community, and ecosystem level scales. His work focuses on plant-insect interactions and involves work on endangered insects such as bumble bees, strategies to map and control invasive plants, the chemical ecology and behaviors that affect herbivory, and the boom and bust seed production dynamics of many trees (i.e. mast seeding). His work informs management decisions made by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Parks, and a variety of other groups. Ian is especially fond of oak trees and spends a considerable amount of time staring up into them with the vague excuse of counting acorns, gall wasps, or rates of herbivory.
April 28 - Visiting Rising Star
Sarah Fitzpatrick -Associate Professor, Michigan State University
Host: Chris Funk and Scott Monahan
Title TBA
Dr. Sarah Fitzpatrick is broadly interested in evolution, ecology, and conservation of natural populations. Research in her lab combines genomic tools, mark-recapture methods, and experiments to study how interactions between gene flow, drift, and selection affect population dynamics and diversity patterns. She is especially interested in gaining a mechanistic understanding of genetic rescue, which is the increase in population growth caused by the infusion of new genetic variation, and in implementing this tool in conservation and management.