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 and Zoom links (in progress).

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 Binghamton.

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 can be viewed live via Zoom.

SPRING 2025 SERIES:

Monday, January 27 - Introduction to the Course

Rolf Quam, 黑料视频, 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: https://www.bu.edu/prsocial/profile/andrey-vyshedskiy/

Topic:   Three levels of language comprehension in modern individuals 鈥

Implications for language evolution

  • Details
    • Monday, Feb 3, 3:30 pm
    • Remote via Zoom

Monday, February 10 - Darwin Day Film

Darwin Day Movie: Creation

Details TBA

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; 

    Abstract

    Biosketch

    Accompanying Reading

    TBA

Monday, February 24 - Speaker 3

Speaker:  Dr. Matthew Emery

In-person and via Zoom

Affiliation:  黑料视频 Department of Anthropology

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

Topic:   Neandertal Genomics - Latest discoveries

  • Details

    In-person and via Zoom;

    Abstract

    Bio/Research page

    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;


    Abstract

Monday, March 10 - Speaker 5

Speaker:   Dr. Mariah Donahue

In-Person and via Zoom

Affiliation:   黑料视频 - 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:   Horseshoe Crab Evolution and 鈥淟iving Fossils鈥

  • Details

    In person and via Zoom;

    Abstract

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, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频


    Monday, March 25 - Speaker 7

    Topic: Unraveling the evolutionary relationships of ancient echinoderms 

    Speaker: Sarah Sheffield, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频


    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, 黑料视频

    Spring 2023

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

    Monday, Jan 30 - Seminar 2
    Allen MacNeill, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频, Geology
    Topic: Deep sea core sediments and climate change

    Monday, Feb 27 - Seminar 6
    Speaker: Laure Spake, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频, Anthropology/EvoS
      Mystery of the Pit of the Bones
    • Allen MacNeill, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频, Visiting Research Professor
      Evolving artificial brains
    • Tyler Murchee, McMaster University, Anthropology
      Ancient DNA and Pleistocene Megafauna Extinctions
    • Cai Caccavari, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频, Anthropology
    • Seminar Title: Ecological Adaptation and the Origin and Maintenance of Biodiversity \ Speaker: Thomas Powell, 黑料视频, 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, 黑料视频, Anthropology
    Spring 2020
    •  Introductory lecture by David Sloan Wilson, 黑料视频
      Tinbergen's four questions and others
    • Introductory lecture by Barrett Brenton, 黑料视频
      Biocultural Evolution of Cuisine
    • Darwin Day Panel discussion with Binghamton 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 Binghamton
      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