Plenary Speakers
Plenary sessions are scheduled for Friday and Saturday at 08:00. This year’s speakers include:
Friday, 17 April 2009, 08:00-9:30 am
New Perspectives In Evolutionary Ornithology
Alexander Badyaev
Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, The University of Arizona
Avian diversity has fascinated biologists for thousands of years and the search for the mechanisms behind the origination, modification, and historical persistence of this diversity has fueled major breakthroughs in evolutionary and life history theory. Now, in the post-genomic era, 150 years since Darwins theory of natural selection, birds, and ornithologists, are again on the forefront of a new evolutionary synthesis. New empirical advances enable us, for the first time, to resolve such long-standing conceptual problems as the link between adaptation and adaptability, between development and inheritance, and between within-generation plasticity and evolutionary change. I will highlight empirical studies of the ecology and evolution of avian maternal effects and plumage coloration to illustrate the promise of this new approach and to suggest that it brings us closer to a more realistic understanding of avian diversity and its evolution.
Friday, 17 April 2009 1:00 - 1:30 pm
Are Some Maniraptorans Birds Rather Than Dinosaurs?
Dr. Frances James
Pasquale P. Graziadei Professor of Biological Science Emerita, Department of Biological Science, Florida State University
Saturday, 18 April 2009, 08:00-9:30 am
Young Professional Award Speakers
Three Young Professional Award speakers who will speak for 20 minutes each with a five-minute Q&A period.
Jamie Cornelius - Title: INTERPLAY BETWEEN SEASONAL CHANGES IN STRESS PHYSIOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL CUES AND MIGRATORY BEHAVIOR IN AN IRRUPTIVE NOMAD, THE RED CROSSBILL
Karie Decker - Title: SEASONAL DECLINE IN AVIAN CLUTCH SIZE: A TEST OF FOUR ALTERNATIVE HYPOTHESES
Eben Paxton - Title: WHERE SHOULD WE PLACE THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE SOUTHWESTERN WILLOW FLYCATCHER?