WISE Seminar - Dianna Padilla

Dianna Padilla, Professor, Stony Brook University

Marine Invertebrate Responses to Changing Environments

Wednesday, March 16 @ 3:40 |  EOS Center and Zoom

Marine environments are not uniform or constant, and animals have a variety of responses to such change. Phenotypic plasticity, the ability of a single genotype to produce different phenotypes, and local adaptation, differences among populations under different conditions, are important responses for a variety of animals that live in changing conditions. But, at present, we do not know which of these is more likely when animals are faced with new anthropogenically induced changes, like species introductions or ocean acidification, and whether past experience with variable environments affects responses to new change. I will present work we have done with molluscs regarding environmental change, including responses to different food environments and the presence or absence of predators. We have also been exploring plasticity and the potential for local adaptation in response to introduced predators for gastropods and in response to ocean acidification for bivalves.

Dr. Padilla is a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University. She is an AAAS Science Fellow, an Aldo Leopold Leadership Fellow in conservation (ESA) and served as a Program Director in Biology at the National Science Foundation. She works on marine and freshwater invertebrates and algae, including ecology, conservation biology and restoration, functional ecology, phenotypic plasticity, invasion biology, and impacts of environmental change, including ocean acidification. Recent work includes collaborations with engineers, architects, terrestrial and marine ecologists to develop new designs for urban infrastructure.

Please email Sarah Cohen, sarahcoh@sfsu.edu for meetings with Dr. Padilla on Wednesday at EOS Center before the seminar, or meetings on main campus on Thursday or Friday. We additionally are planning a local intertidal excursion on Friday, so please contact Sarah if you are interested in further information.