In partnership with the Biodiversity Research Centre (BRC), the Beaty Biodiversity Museum presents an ongoing series of lectures exploring our understandings of biodiversity.
As humans we appreciate biodiversity from diverse points of view. As scientists we study its origins and global significance. As artists we celebrate its staggering beauty. As consumers we depend on it. As organisms we participate in it. In this public lecture series, prominent scientists, artists, and public figures will share their perspectives on biodiversity: How did life diversify? What are the ecological interconnections in biodiversity? How does biodiversity matter to us? And, with one of today’s most pressing questions, how much biodiversity can we afford to lose?
For a list of upcoming biodiversity lectures and other events, please visit our Events Calendar.
Upcoming Presentation:
“What’s Left to What’s Needed: Reframing Biodiversity in Decision-Making” with Justina Ray
Event Details
When biodiversity protection starts from “what we can spare” rather than “what nature needs,” the outcome is predictable: ecosystems degrade and species decline. Default approaches in planning, policy, and climate action marginalize biodiversity from the beginning, locking in compromises before the conversation has truly begun. This is despite the central role of nature in human wellbeing, economic stability, and in addressing climate change. This talk will explore why reframing these early stages is essential to achieving lasting conservation outcomes, and how science and civil society can help drive the shift toward embedding biodiversity needs at the very start of decision-making.
Dr. Justina Ray has been President and Senior Scientist of Wildlife Conservation Society Canada since its incorporation in 2004 and has led research and policy efforts focused on biodiversity conservation in northern boreal landscapes. She has served on numerous government advisory panels on species at risk and land use planning, serves on the scientific advisory board of the Liber Ero Post-doctoral Fellowship program and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto and Trent University.
Past Presentations:
“The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savannah to Your Sofa” with Jonathan Losos
October 29, 2024, 7:00 pm
The domestic cat — your cat — has undergone a remarkable transformation from its African origins to become one of the planet’s most successful and varied species in a relatively short time. Jonathan Losos, both a scientist and a cat enthusiast, delves into how today’s researchers are uncovering the secrets of cats, both past and present, using cutting-edge tools like GPS tracking (you’d be surprised by where those backyard cats wander), genomics (what’s the real story behind your so-called Siamese?), and forensic archaeology. Losos not only investigates your cat’s history but also provides a fascinating look at today’s environments, introducing you to wild relatives around the world whose behaviors sometimes strikingly resemble those of your own sweet house cat. 
Ever wondered if lions and tigers meow? Why does your cat leave dead mice at your feet or on your pillow? Is owning a pet ocelot a bad idea? When and why did cats make their significant leap from the African plains? What’s the story behind all those cats in Egyptian hieroglyphics? With a friendly tone and a knack for making complex science and history accessible, Losos draws on his own research and experiences with his multi-cat household to explain how both natural and artificial selection over thousands of years has shaped the modern cat. Despite the vast differences in anatomy and behavior among new breeds compared to their ancestors, the cat remains a fierce predator, always on the cusp of returning to its wild roots as it adapts to new environments around the globe.
Humans are transforming cats, and in turn, cats are influencing the world around them. This engaging and insightful book offers a glimpse into what the future might hold for both Felis catus and Homo sapiens.
Jonathan Losos is an evolutionary biologist renowned for his research on how lizards quickly evolve to adapt to changing environments. His comprehensive approach integrates field experiments, behavioral observations, biomechanical analyses, and genomic studies. Recently inspired by a friend’s advice that “life’s too short not to study cats,” Losos has applied these same methods to exploring the domestic cat.
Losos completed his undergraduate studies at Harvard University and earned his PhD from the University of California. Following a postdoctoral position at UC Davis, he began his academic career at Washington University. He then moved to Harvard University as a professor of biology and Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. In 2018, Losos returned to Washington University to establish the Living Earth Collaborative, a partnership dedicated to the study and conservation of biodiversity with the Saint Louis Zoo and the Missouri Botanical Garden.
He has published over 250 scientific papers and authored three books, including The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from the Savanna to Your Sofa (Penguin Random House, 2017). Losos has been recognized with memberships in the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, as well as fellowship in the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. His honors also include the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences and the Edward O. Wilson Naturalist Award from the American Society of Naturalists.
“The Origin of Modern Species” with Dolph Schluter
November 3, 2022, 7:00 pm
Why are there so many species on earth? Do they evolve by natural selection as Darwin claimed? How do they evolve, persist, and go extinct? Can humans create new species? Biology has come a long way since Darwin, and he would be astonished at some of the answers to these questions.
Dr. Schluter will explain recent great discoveries in the origin of new species using examples from flies to fish, including his own work on BC stickleback. Findings will include: that new species are originating fastest at cold latitudes such as Canada, instead of hot latitudes such as the Amazon; that when new species form rapidly, evolution of new species often re-uses old genes borrowed from previous species; and that humans now know how to make new species in the lab.
Bio and Featured Works
Dr. Dolph Schluter, Professor of Zoology at UBC’s Biodiversity Research Centre, is an evolutionary biologist who studies adaptive radiation — the evolution of ecological diversity in groups of organisms that are multiplying rapidly. His research suggests that adaptation to the environment can result in the evolution of new species. Dr. Schluter has worked on Darwin’s finches in the Galàpagos and has helped to develop the three-spined stickleback as an experimental model for studies of adaptation and the origin of species.
Dr. Schluter and his team investigate the ecological forces that drive the rapid origin of new species and allow them to persist, the genetic basis of species differences, and the wider ecological impacts of adaptive radiation.
He is the author of The Ecology of Adaptive Radiation (2000) and The Analysis of Biological Data (third edition, 2020). He was elected as a foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences in 2017, and he is a Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and of Canada. Dr. Schluter’s work has fundamentally changed our understanding of evolution, revealing the ecological mechanisms driving the origin of species and probing the factors generating and maintaining biodiversity.
“My lab studies how new species form, how they evolve their differences, how they persist, and how quickly they go extinct. We carry out field experiments in lakes and ponds to measure natural and sexual selection and how they drive the origin of species. We also investigate the evolution of major biodiversity gradients, such as the greater number of species in the tropics than in the temperate zone. My earliest work was carried out on Darwin’s famous finches in the Galápagos Islands. My lab now mainly works on a mini-explosion of new types of threespine stickleback in lakes of coastal BC, which include some of the youngest animal species on earth.”
“The Epic Migrations of Birds”
November 4, 2021, 7:00pm
Jack Poole Hall at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
Peter P. Marra
“Can (and should?) biotechnology reverse extinction?”
November 5, 2019, 7:00 p.m.
Jack Poole Hall at the Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre
Beth Shapiro
Could extinct species, like mammoths and passenger pigeons, be brought back to life? Is it possible to clone extinct species using the same or similar technologies that created Dolly the sheep in the 1990s? What are the chances that the science fiction of “Jurassic Park” will someday become science fact?
In this lecture, Beth Shapiro, ancient DNA scientist and author of How to Clone a Mammoth, will discuss the real science behind the emerging idea known as “de-extinction.” From deciding which species should be restored, to sequencing and editing their genomes, to anticipating how revived populations might be overseen in the wild, she will walk through the process of resurrecting extinct species, considering the technical, ethical and ecological challenges of de-extinction as well as its potential benefits.
While she argues that it may never be possible to bring back an identical copy of a species that has gone extinct, de-extinction technology is likely to provide new solutions to revitalize and stabilize contemporary ecosystems, with benefits to the preservation of existing biodiversity.
Beth Shapiro is an evolutionary biologist who specializes in the genetics of ice age animals and plants. As Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UC Santa Cruz and HHMI Investigator, Beth uses DNA recovered from bones and other remains to study how species evolved through time and how human activities have affected and continue to affect this dynamic process.
Her work focuses on organisms ranging from influenza to mammoths, asking questions about domestication, admixture, speciation, and pathogen evolution. Her current work develops techniques to recover increasingly trace amounts of DNA such as from environmental and forensic samples.
A 2009 MacArthur Fellow, Beth is also an award-winning popular science author and communicator who uses her research as a platform to explore the potential of genomic technologies for conservation and medicine.
Floras for the Future: Why Plant Description Still Matters
6 November, 2018, 8:00 p.m.
Centre for Interactive Research on Sustainability (CIRS), Lecture Hall 1250
Sandra Knapp
Exploration of plant diversity has been going on since humans first walked the Earth – so surely we must be done by now. Why should we describe the plant life of a country and write a flora, rather than investigating the deep structure of the tree of life, or addressing immediate societal problems such as war or hunger?
In this lecture, Dr. Sandra Knapp will argue that the description of plant life on Earth is the basis for plant science and thus essential and always relevant for its advancement.
A Bee’s Eye View of a Healthy Food System
7 November, 2017, 7:00 p.m.
Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre
Claire Kremen
From the perspective of native pollinators, Claire Kremen will describe how our current food systems is not only unhealthy for the planet, but also for pollinators and people. She will describe studies of native bees and other pollinators that reveal how we can create environmentally-friendly farming systems that are also highly productive.
“A rose by many other names”: Sharing and Adapting Ancient Knowledge in Northwestern North America
October 27, 2016, 7:00 p.m.
UBC Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre
Nancy Turner
In Northwestern North America, plants have supported the survival and well-being of First Peoples of the region for over 13,000 years, providing them with the necessities of life: nutritious foods, materials for construction and implements, fuel, medicines and ceremonial items. Many culturally important plants – over 250 species – are named in multiple Indigenous languages of the area, often reflecting common usage across different speech communities and language families. How did people acquire this rich knowledge about plants and their ecology? How did they pass on their knowledge, practices, and beliefs from generation to generation, from family to family, and from community to community? And, how did they adapt these practices to the new and changing situations they encountered? Even more importantly, in the face of these rapidly changing times, how can this precious knowledge be recognized, maintained, and perpetuated for the benefit of future generations both within and beyond First Nations’ communities? Join ethnobotanist Nancy Turner as she discusses these questions and more.
Nancy J. Turner, CM, OBC, PhD, FRSC, FLS, is an ethnobotanist whose research focuses on traditional knowledge systems and traditional land and resource management systems of Indigenous Peoples of western Canada. She is recently retired from her position as Distinguished Professor and Hakai Professor in Ethnoecology in the School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, Canada and is now Professor Emeritus. She is also a 2016 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation fellow. She has worked with, and learned from, First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 45 years, helping to document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and environments, including Indigenous foods, materials and traditional medicines. Her two-volume book, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America (July, 2014; McGill-Queen’s University Press), represents an integration of her long term research. She has authored or co-authored/co-edited 19 other books, including: Plants of Haida Gwaii; The Earth’s Blanket; and“Keeping it Living”: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America, as well as over 120 book chapters and peer-reviewed papers. She has received a number of awards for her work, including: Richard Evans Schultes Award in Ethnobotany from the Healing Forest Conservancy, Washington DC (1997); Canadian Botanical Association Award, Lawson Medal for lifetime contributions to Canadian Botany in the field of Ethnobotany (2002); Order of British Columbia, and elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (both 1999); Order of Canada (2009); Distinguished Economic Botanist of the year, Society for Economic Botany (2011); and honorary degrees from Vancouver Island University and University of British Columbia(both 2011), University of Northern British Columbia (2014) and Simon Fraser University (2015); and the James Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award Award from the American Botanical Council, the Klinger Award from the Society for Economic Botany, and the Canada Prize in the Social Sciences from the Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences, for her book, Ancient Pathways.
The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World – Wade Davis
January 29, 2015, 7:00 p.m.
UBC Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre
Wade Davis
One of the greatest explorers of our generation, a real life Indiana Jones, will be giving our next Biodiversity Lecture. Wade is an anthropologist, ethnobotanist, photographer, and author. Come hear about Wade’s adventurous life and research.
One of the greatest explorers of our generation, a real life Indiana Jones, will be giving our next Biodiverstiy Lecture – The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World. Wade is an anthropologist, ethnobotanist, photographer, and author. Come hear about Wade’s adventurous life and research.
Wade Davis was named by the National Geographic Society as one of the Explorers for the Millennium, he has been described as “a rare combination of scientist, scholar, poet, and passionate defender of all of life’s diversity.” In recent years his work has taken him to East Africa, Borneo, Nepal, Peru, Polynesia, Tibet, Mali, Benin, Togo, New Guinea, Australia, Colombia, Vanuatu, Mongolia, and the high Arctic of Nunuvut and Greenland.
An ethnographer, writer, photographer, and filmmaker, Davis holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. Mostly through the Harvard Botanical Museum, he spent over three years in the Amazon and Andes as a plant explorer, living among fifteen indigenous groups in eight Latin American nations while making some 6000 botanical collections. His work later took him to Haiti to investigate folk preparations implicated in the creation of zombies, an assignment that led to his writing Passage of Darkness (1988) and The Serpent and the Rainbow (1986), an international best seller later released by Universal as a motion picture.
His other books include Penan: Voice for the Borneo Rain Forest (1990), Shadows in the Sun (1993), Nomads of the Dawn (1995), One River (1996), which was nominated for the 1997 Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, The Clouded Leopard (1998), Rainforest (1998), Light at the Edge of the World (2001), The Lost Amazon (2004), Grand Canyon (2008), Book of Peoples of the World (ed. 2008), and The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World, the 2009 Massey lectures. His books have been translated into fifteen languages, including Basque, Serbian, Korean, Mandarin, Bulgarian, Japanese and Malay, and have sold approximately 800,000 copies worldwide.
This presentation is part of the Biodiversity Lecture Series – in partnership with the Biodiversity Research Centre, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum presents an ongoing series of lectures exploring our understandings of biodiversity.
The State of Canada’s Birds
March 6, 2014, 7:00 p.m.
UBC Earth Sciences Building, Ross Beaty Lecture Theatre
Dick Cannings
Bird population trends are one of the best indicators of ecosystem health. Take flight with Dick Cannings on a Canada-wide assessment of the country’s birds, the first time this had ever been done for any major group of animals.
Bird population trends are one of the best indicators of ecosystem health. They are relatively easy to monitor, and an army of talented and enthusiastic birders is available to gather data on a continental scale. Bird species diversity and varied habitat preferences allow biologists to find patterns in bird population trends that can inform polices on ecosystem management. In 2012, bird biologists brought together data from a wide range of surveys from across Canada to assess the status of the country’s birds, the first time this had ever been done for any major group of animals.
Dick Cannings is a biologist and author living in Penticton, BC. He formerly curated the Cowan Vertebrate Museum in the Department of Zoology at UBC, and has written a dozen books on natural history subjects, including the award-winning British Columbia: a Natural History and An Enchantment of Birds. Much of his work involves the coordination of continent-wide bird population monitoring programs and the conservation of species at risk in Canada.
Amoeba in the Room
Thursday, October 3, 2013, 7:00 p.m.
Nicholas Money, Miami University
The flowering of microbial science is revolutionizing biology and medicine in ways unimagined just a few years ago and is inspiring a new view of what it means to be human.
Here are some facts of life: a drop of seawater contains 100,000 bacteria and millions of predatory viruses; a pinch of soil swarms with cryptic microbes whose activities are a mystery; the atmosphere is misted with 50 million tons of fungal spores that affect the weather; and, our bodies are farmed by vast populations of bacteria and viruses that control every aspect of our well-being. The more we learn about microbial biodiversity, the less important animals and plants become in understanding life on earth. The flowering of microbial science is revolutionizing biology and medicine in ways unimagined just a few years ago and is inspiring a new view of what it means to be human.
Presenter: Nicholas Money, Miami University
Nicholas Money is Professor of Botany and Western Program Director at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed papers on fungal biology and has published four books, including Mushroom (2011), described by Nature as a “brilliant scientific and cultural exploration.” The Amoeba in the Room, his new book to be published by Oxford University Press in 2014, examines the extraordinary diversity of the microbial world and the invisible majority of life that is detectable only using molecular methods.
Books for Purchase
Books written by Nicholas Money will be available for purchase on site:
- Mushroom (2011): Nicholas Money offers a vibrant introduction to the world of mushrooms, investigating the science behind these organisms as well as their enduring cultural and imaginative appeal. A must-read for mycophiles, mushroom gatherers, and nature lovers alike.
- The Triumph of the Fungi: A Rotten History (2006): This book is concerned with the most devastating fungal diseases in history, focusing on the fascinating biology of the well- and lesser-known diseases, and also tells the stories of the scientists involved in their study, and of the people directly impacted by the loss of forest trees.
- Carpet Monsters and Killer Spores: A Natural History of Toxic Mold (2004): When an investigation in Ohio revealed that babies suffering from a serious lung illness had been exposed to a toxic black mold in their homes, millions of Americans became nervous about mold in their homes, and the crisis soon ballooned into a fully-fledged media circus with lawsuits filed in every state. Nicholas Money explores the science behind the headlines and courtroom dramas, and profiles the toxin-producing mold that is a common inhabitant of water-damaged buildings.
- Mr. Bloomfield’s Orchard: The Mysterious World of Mushrooms, Molds, and Mycologists (2004): Nicholas Money introduces readers to a dazzling array of fungi, showcases the lives of famed mycologists, and recounts his own childhood introduction to fungi in Mr. Bloomfield’s orchard, where trees and fruit were devoured by a rogue’s gallery of bitter rot, canker, rust, powdery mildew, rubbery wood, and scab.
Co-Sponsors: Beaty Biodiversity Museum, Biodiversity Research Centre, and Green College at UBC
50 Years in Serengeti: The Science Behind the Story
April 25, 2013, 7:00 p.m.
Dr. Anthony R.E. Sinclair, UBC
Join researcher Dr. Anthony R.E. Sinclair and learn more about the story behind the science; the exciting events that took place while scientists documented these dramatic changes, and why we must now consider the future of conservation.
Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is the foremost World Heritage Site. Research over the past fifty years has shown why Serengeti is unique, what produces its vast numbers and biodiversity, how it became a protected area, and how political, economic, and social events over past centuries have shaped it.
Join researcher Dr. Anthony R.E. Sinclair and learn more about the story behind the science; the exciting events that took place while scientists documented these dramatic changes, and why we must now consider the future of conservation.
About the Speaker
Dr. Anthony R.E. Sinclair began research in 1965 in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, to understand the local increase of animal populations. Over the next five decades, he went on to document the effects of drought and starvation, the role of predators and disease, and the reasons behind the region’s extraordinary migration. These studies have been synthesized in five books culminating with Serengeti Story published in 2012. He has also worked in the Yukon, Australia, and New Zealand. Until recently, Sinclair was Director of the Biodiversity Research Centre at the University of British Columbia. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of London and the Royal Society of Canada.
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Baby Steps for SARA: Evaluating the First Decade of Canada’s Species at Risk Act
Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 7 p.m.
Jeannette Whitton, UBC
To explore how well SARA has been implemented, collaborators from UBC and SFU analyzed the progress towards recovering species at risk. Though challenges exist, full implementation of SARA has the potential to effectively protect Canada’s species at risk.
The goal of Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) is to prevent the loss of Canada’s biodiversity. Ten years after the enactment of SARA, more than 500 species have been listed, including icons like the Vancouver Island marmot, polar bear and burrowing owl, but excluding others like Atlantic cod, tri-colored bat and the coast manroot. Once listed, the act requires a species recovery plan be developed, but more than half of the species listed under SARA still await plans, with only a handful moved forward to the action stage.
To explore how well SARA has been implemented, collaborators from UBC and SFU analyzed the progress towards recovering species at risk. Though challenges exist, full implementation of SARA has the potential to effectively protect Canada’s species at risk.
Presenter: Jeannette Whitton, Director of UBC Herbarium, Beaty Biodiversity Museum
Jeannette Whitton is an evolutionary biologist who studies the origin and spread of plants in nature. She studied at Macdonald College (McGill University) as an undergraduate before pursuing a Ph. D. at the University of Connecticut. Jeannette arrived at UBC in 1997, and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Botany, and a Member of the Biodiversity Research Centre. She has been the director of the UBC Herbarium since 2006, and was Scientific Co-director of the Beaty Biodiversity Museum in 2011. She has served as a member of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) since 2007.
Co-Sponsors: Beaty Biodiversity Museum, Biodiversity Research Centre and UBC Department of Botany
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Frequent Fliers: Tracking Songbird Migration Through the Americas
Monday, August 13, 2012, 7:00 p.m.
Bridget Stutchbury
North American Ornithological Conference – Vancouver 2012 (NAOC-V), the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Nature Vancouver are pleased to offer a free public lecture “Frequent Fliers: Tracking Songbird Migration through the Americas” by internationally renowned scientist, Dr. Bridget Stutchbury from York University.
North American Ornithological Conference – Vancouver 2012 (NAOC-V), the Beaty Biodiversity Museum and Nature Vancouver are pleased to offer a free public lecture “Frequent Fliers: Tracking Songbird Migration through the Americas” by internationally renowned scientist, Dr. Bridget Stutchbury from York University.
Each fall, billions of songbirds leave Canada on an epic journey to their far-away wintering grounds in Central and South America where many live in tropical forests shared by toucans, howler monkeys, and jaguars. Dozens of species have experienced serious, long-term population declines that are driven in part by the threats that these birds face on migration and while in the tropics. But only recently has it been possible to track the entire migration of individual songbirds to find out how they accomplish their amazing 10,000 km (or more!) round trip and to map out critical habitats used during migration. Bridget Stutchbury will reveal her surprising migration tracking results for Purple Martins, Red-eyed Vireos and Wood Thrushes and discuss how this research can help us save songbirds.
Multimedia
Biography
Bridget Stutchbury was born in Montreal and raised in Toronto. She completed her M.Sc. at Queen’s University and her Ph.D. at Yale, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Smithsonian Institution. She is a professor and Canada Research Chair in Ecology and Conservation Biology at York University, Toronto. Since the 1980s, she has followed songbirds to their wintering grounds in Latin America and back to their breeding grounds in North America to understand their behaviour, ecology and conservation. She serves on scientific advisory committees for World Wildlife Fund Canada, Wildlife Preservation Canada, and Earth Rangers. She is also author of Silence of the Songbirds (2007 finalist for the Governor General’s Award) and The Bird Detective (April 2010).