Science and Math Colloquium Series
Science and Math Colloquium Series
The Science and Mathematics Colloquium Series invites distinguished speakers from science and mathematics disciplines to present current, exciting scientific research to Columbia College faculty, staff, and students, as well as Chicago's South Loop community. Talks are intended to introduce a general audience to a wide variety of important advances in science and math, their potential applications, and public policy implications. Reflecting the arts emphasis at Columbia College, select talks examine the intersections among science, math, art, and the media.
All lectures are free and open to the public. A brief reception will precede each talk in the Ferguson Auditorium Lobby.
Traveling in Deep Time - Using Rocks and Fossils to Explore Ancient Ecosystems
April 22 at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Presented By:
Anna K. Behrensmeyer, National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Rocks and fossils are tangible objects that can answer questions about the past and lead to understanding of our planet’s history. The language that they speak, whether held in the hand or seen in the grand sweep of a landscape, can be learned like any other language. This provides us with a way to time-travel, to explore the organisms and habitats of the distant past, and to comprehend how different the Earth can be compared with our familiar planet of today. This talk will draw upon research from different parts of the geological record of land ecosystems to show how multi-disciplinary field and laboratory research allow us to make scientifically-based portraits of ancient plant and animal communities, including the environments of the earliest mammals and African ecosystems where early humans evolved.
Biography
Anna K. Behrensmeyer is a research paleobiologist and former Associate Director for Research and Collections at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. She has pioneered interdisciplinary methods for understanding the fossil record of land organisms and reconstructing past ecosystems, and Discover Magazine selected her as one of the 50 top women scientists in 2002.
All lectures are free and open to the public. A brief reception will precede each talk in the Ferguson Auditorium Lobby.
Spring 2010
Traveling in Deep Time - Using Rocks and Fossils to Explore Ancient Ecosystems
April 22 at 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Presented By:
Anna K. Behrensmeyer, National Museum of Natural History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Rocks and fossils are tangible objects that can answer questions about the past and lead to understanding of our planet’s history. The language that they speak, whether held in the hand or seen in the grand sweep of a landscape, can be learned like any other language. This provides us with a way to time-travel, to explore the organisms and habitats of the distant past, and to comprehend how different the Earth can be compared with our familiar planet of today. This talk will draw upon research from different parts of the geological record of land ecosystems to show how multi-disciplinary field and laboratory research allow us to make scientifically-based portraits of ancient plant and animal communities, including the environments of the earliest mammals and African ecosystems where early humans evolved.
Biography
Anna K. Behrensmeyer is a research paleobiologist and former Associate Director for Research and Collections at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. She has pioneered interdisciplinary methods for understanding the fossil record of land organisms and reconstructing past ecosystems, and Discover Magazine selected her as one of the 50 top women scientists in 2002.