OEB Events and Fall 2025 Seminar Series

The OEB Seminar speakers are scientists reflecting the range of intellectual breadth in the community and representing diverse genders, ethnicities, races, life experiences and career stages. OEB provides a welcoming and supportive environment for all people. Unless otherwise noted seminars are in 222 Morrill II. Refreshments are served at 2:45 pm. Seminars start at 3:00 pm

Nominate a speaker

We invite UMass OEB Community members to nominate a future seminar speaker after reading the OEB Seminar Speaker Selection Criteria.  Speaker nominations will be reviewed in March 2025.

Hollie Putnam photo
Acclimatory and adaptive responses to climate change in cryptic species with complex life histories: A case study from Pocillopora spp. reef building corals

September 19

Presenter:  Hollie Putnam
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Brian Cheng

Harvey Pelican
Leveraging Experimental and Omics data to Understand and Conserve Birds in a Changing Disease Landscape

September 26

Presenter:  Johanna Harvey
Institution: University of Rhode Island
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Lisa Komoroske

Ben Freeman
Climate change in the tropics: The escalator to extinction and the stairway to survival

October 3

Presenter:  Benjamin Freeman
Institution: Georgia Tech
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Nate Senner

Christie Bahai
Significant Heterogeneities: Tools for consensus building with environmental data in a noisy world

October 17

Presenter: Christie Bahlai
Institution:  Kent State University
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Emelia Kusi

Jeff Podos
Title: Linking diet, song, and evolution in tropical bird radiations

October 24

Presenter: Jeff Podos
Institution:  UMass Amherst 
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Ben Normark

Nichola Hill
The wild roots of bird flu: why understanding super-spreading in animals is key to predicting pandemics

November 7

Presenter: Nichola Hill
Institution:  Umass Boston
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Jeff Blanchard

Daelyn Woolnough
Freshwater mussels: Predicting where they live, contaminants found in them, and what lives on them

November 14

Presenter: Daelynn Woolnough
Institution:  Central Michigan University
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: Allison Roy

OEB Postdocs Joseph Mack and Simon Gallego

November 21

Presenter: Joseph Mack and Simon Gallego
Institution:  UMass Amherst Postdocs
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: NA

OEB Graduate Students Sonja Glasser, Megan Mitchell, and Katrina Zarella Smith

December 5

Presenter: Sonja Glasser, Megan Mitchell, and Katrina Zarella Smith
Institution:  UMass Graduate Students
Location: Morrill Science Center 2 South, Room 222
Host: NA