Welcome to the PSU Biology Department Lester Newman Seminar Series. Seminars are Mondays 4-5pm in SRTC Room 247.
Please see this spreadsheet for past and future seminar topics.
Winter 2026
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Title | Host |
|---|
| 1/5/2026 | Christopher Marx | University of Idaho | Rapid eco-evolutionary dynamics within closely related strains during community assembly. | Thompson |
| 1/12/2026 | Katrina Gundlach | Pacific University | Zooming in on Host-Microbe Interactions in the Squid–Vibrio Symbiosis | Thompson |
| 1/19/2026 | | (UNIVERSITY CLOSED) | | |
| 1/26/2026 | Alonso Delgado | Harvard University | Deep dive into Ancient Marine Venoms | Masta |
| 2/2/2026 | Carson Hedberg | Brown University | Bridging Paleo and Conservation Ecology to Understand Human Impacts to Mammal Diversity | Ruedas |
| 2/9/2026 | Thomas E. Lee, Jr. | Abilene Christian University | Biogeography of the Mammals of Ecuador | Ruedas |
| 2/16/2026 | Melissa Whitman | Portland State — SEES | Investigation of Rhododendron Flower Characteristics and Pollinator Biogeography Across a Tropical Archipelago | Reddy |
| 2/23/2026 | Adrienne Godschalx | Lower Columbia College | Microbiology Cultivates Food Security for Public & Planetary Health | Reddy |
| 3/2/2026 | Arthur Charles-Orszag | U.C. Davis | Subcellular organization in archaea | Stedman |
| 3/9/2026 | J. Jeffrey Morris | Univ of Alabama, Birmingham | Impacts of Reactive oxygen species on marine ecosystems | Thompson |
Fall 2025
| Date | Speaker | Institution | Title | Host |
|---|
| 9/29/2025 | No Seminar! BI Faculty/Student Welcome Reception | | | |
| 10/6/2025 | Verity Mathis | Florida State University | Biodiversity of Pocket Gophers Revealed by Integrative Studies | Ruedas |
| 10/13/2025 | Edson Abreu | Angelo State University | Documentation and Description of Mammalian Diversity based on Field and Museum work | Ruedas |
| 10/20/2025 | Jeremy Coate | Reed College | Gene Specialization Following Whole Genome Duplications | Courcelle |
| 10/27/2025 | Amy Schmid | Duke University | Regulation of Extreme Stress Response in Archaea | Stedman |
| 11/3/2025 | Kenneth Strothkamp | PSU Chemistry | | Ruedas |
| 11/10/2025 | Katie Everson | Oregon State University | Insights on Species Diversification from Madagascar and Beyond | Ruedas |
| 11/17/2025 | Margaret Metz | Lewis and Clark College | Regeneration of Biodiversity in the Pacific Northwest Old-Growth Forests | Courcelle |
| 11/24/2025 | Glenna Clifton | University of Portland | Nature's Machines: What we can learn from marching ants, grasping crabs, and paddling birds | Ruedas |
| 12/1/2025 | Tracy Burkhard | Lewis and Clark College | From Sexy Songs to City Living: The Evolution of Complex Behaviors in Wild Mice | Courcelle |