Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science - M.S. Program Seminars

Upcoming seminars

Seminar Title: Coevolution and macroevolution of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in Southeastern Polynesia and the Pacific
Speaker: Dr. David Hembry, Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of Texas Permian Basin
When: Monday, 4 December, 4:00 PM
Where: In-person at UH Hilo, Wentworth Building, Room 1 and online via Zoom https://hawaii.zoom.us/j/96547023084
Meeting ID: 965 4702 3084
Passcode: TCBES

Abstract: Understanding the role of biotic interactions in the generation and maintenance of biological diversity is a central goal of both evolutionary ecology and macroevolution. Brood pollination mutualisms—such as those between figs and fig wasps, or yuccas and yucca moths, in which specialized insects pollinate host plants’ flowers as adults, but consume floral tissue of the same plants as larvae—have evolved only a few times in the entire coevolutionary history of insects and angiosperms. However, these interactions offer numerous opportunities to ask questions about the evolution of mutualistic and parasitic interactions. Here, I present research on the macroevolutionary history of the association between leafflower plants (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and their brood pollinating leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae: Epicephala). Glochidion is a genus of approximately 300 species of tropical trees, distributed from tropical Asia and Australia through the Pacific islands as far as Southeastern Polynesia (Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and the Pitcairn Islands). Specifically, I focus on the endemic radiation of Glochidion on oceanic islands in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands to show that despite extremely high species-specificity, these brood pollination interactions can be highly dynamic and labile over macroevolutionary timescales. I then examine the ways we can use species interaction network approaches to complement our understanding of these macroevolutionary dynamics in both oceanic island and continental leafflower-leafflower moth communities.

Fall 2023 Weekly Seminar Schedule

All seminars speakers are subject to change

Date	Speaker	Affiliation	Title
Aug 28	Dr. Noelani Puniwai	University of Hawaiʻi	ʻOiwi Stories; Climate change, management, and restoryation
Sep 18	Moana Ulu Ching, Corie Yanger, Shalan Crysdale	Conservation International, Three Mountain Alliance, The Nature Conservancy	Finding funding: Grant Writing and Reporting Strategies for Graduate Students, Researchers, & NGOs PANEL FOCUS: Tips and tricks for successful grant searching, writing, & reporting
Sep 25	Dr. Celia T. Bardwell-Jones	Philosophy and Gender & Women's Studies, UH Hilo	What does Decolonial Conservation Ethics Look LIke? Rethinking the Nature of Elemental Nature
Oct 2	Dr. Scott A. Bonar	USGS Arizona Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit, University of Arizona	How you can ethically influence people about natural resources conservation
Oct 9	Dr. Travis S. Mandel	Department of Computer Science, UH Hilo	Exploring and Developing Computer Vision Algorithms for Hawaiʻi Island Datasets
Oct 16	Franny Kinslow Brewer	Big Island Invasive Species	Committee Utilizing Social Psychology to Enhance Conservation Behavior
Oct 23	Dr. Rosie ʻAnolani Alegado	Sea Grant College Program, Microbial Ecology & Evolution in Hawaiʻi Laboratory, Ulana ʻIke Sea Grant Center of Excellence, SOEST Maile Mentoring Bridge Program, Center for Microbial Oceanography	O ke kahua ma mua, ma hope o ke kūkulu: What is Indigenous data sovereignty & knowledge stewardship?
Oct 30	Dr. Amber Wright	School of Life Sciences UH Mānoa	Behavior, Population, and Community Ecology
Nov 6	Dr. Susan Cordell	Forest Service, Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry, Pacific Southwest Research Station	Restoration of Hawaiian Ecosystems – a personal journey
Nov 13	Dr. Patrick Hart	Department of Biology, UH Hilo	How bird song can inform conservation and management of Hawaiʻs birds
Nov 20	Dr. Erica Newman	Department of Integrative Biology University of Texas at Austin	Towards a dynamic macroecology
Nov 27	Dr. Andrew J Rominger	School of Life Sciences, UH Mānoa	Data hungry models and data ethics in the study of biodiversity on Indigenous homelands
Dec 4	Dr. David Hembry	Department of Biology, University of Texas Permian Basin	Coevolution and macroevolution of leafflower trees (Phyllanthaceae: Glochidion) and leafflower moths (Lepidoptera: Epicephala) in Southeastern Polynesia and the Pacific

Past Seminars

Details of past seminars can be found in our Archived Seminars Section