Biodiverse Anthropocenes profiling theme presents: Special Guest Seminar with Visiting Fellows

Our Guest Speakers are, Doctoral scholar Drashti Parmar, Dr. Yulei Guo and Dr. Łukasz Trębicki.

Drashti Parmar is an evolutionary biologist who is currently is pursuing her doctoral degree at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland. She is originally from the vibrant city of Gandhinagar, India. She is currently is currently focused on exploring the remarkable world of blowflies (Calliphoridae), creatures of medical, forensic and veterinary significance.

"Buzzing Beauties: Delving into Blowfly Biodiversity and Beyond"
Dive into the intriguing realm of blowflies as we unravel the mysteries surrounding these fascinating insects. This talk delves into the journey from past research endeavors in conservation and evolutionary genetics to the current focus on creating a global barcode library for blowflies. Offering insights into biodiversity conservation, forensic science, and the intricate dynamics of ecosystems, this exploration sheds light on the vital role played by nature's tiny detectives. Join us for a captivating exploration of blowflies and their significance in the natural world.

Dr. Yulei Guo is a Chengdu based researcher and dedicated advocate for wildlife conservation. She is currently working on her book "Panda Fandom." Her vision: fostering harmonious coexistence between humans and pandas.

"Panda fandom: An Ecosomatic Dance with Nature"
Panda fandom begins with a passion and love for one of the cutest animals on this planet. This devotion to pandas has shaped a lifestyle for a community of human participants whose identity and life experiences are built around the giant panda. The heroes of this research project are not giant panda experts, professionals, or scientists who traditionally claim their understanding of and knowledge about the animal, but ordinary people who have cultivated their relationship with the animal through what I term the “ecosomatic dance”. This project asks whether the ecosomatic dance with nature can help us reimagine our relationship with and existence on this planet.

Dr. Łukasz Trębicki: is an arachnologist from University of Lodz in Poland. He is interested in the integrative taxonomy, biogeography, and evolution of jumping spiders from the Australian and Oriental Zoogeographic Regions.

"Cutie and mysterious – studies on jumping spiders from tropical SE Asia and Australia"
In this presentation, Łukasz will introduce you with great diversity of jumping spiders – the most speciose spider family. The family of jumping spiders (Salticidae) includes almost 6700 species, characterised by a variety of body forms and habits. Salticidae evolved the unique high-resolution eyes to rapidly modify hunting strategy and to evaluate complexity of courtship behaviours. Some genera – like peacock spiders, with their rich ornaments and variety of mating behaviours, are competing with tropical birds-of-paradise. Based on lesser known salticids, Łukasz will emphasise the importance of integrative taxonomy in spider studies, including aspects of research based on historical museum collections and specimens collected during the expeditions to the tropics as well. Łukasz will talk about the species diversity and distributions, hidden morphology, unclear species boundaries, and finally how little-studied groups may become interesting model organisms.

The presentations are followed by the discussion aiming to build interdisciplinary bridges and promote collaboration.

Please remember to register by March 25th.

Register Here!

What: Special Guest Seminar: Visiting Fellows

When: 28 of March 9:00-11:00

Where: Tellus Frost Club, Linnanmaa Campus