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The Evenings at Whitney Lecture Series hosted by the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience, continues at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9, with the program titled “The Molecular Anatomy of Animal Body Plans.” Chris Lowe Ph.D., associate professor, Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, will be the speaker.
This free lecture will be presented in person at the UF Whitney Laboratory Lohman Auditorium, 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine. Those interested also have the option of registering to watch via Zoom live the night of the lecture.
Register to watch online: ufl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_N-zN9c09RoqaWK4ygqiBxQ.
The lecture will introduce the history of our understanding of animal body plans and the role that molecular developmental biology has played in shaping our understanding the origin of the major phyla. Lowe will further focus on work from the lab on both hemichordate and echinoderm patterning and how these data help them understand chordate origins, but also more generally in how nervous systems evolve over time.
Lowe is from the UK and completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Sussex in biology. His interests in evolution and developmental biology led him to work with Greg Wray at SUNY Stony Brook on the evolution of the echinoderm body plan. His thesis work led him to become interested in addressing classical questions on chordate origins and the evolution of our own body plan, and this led him to hemichordates, which as the name suggests is a group of animals closely related to our own phylum.
As a Miller Fellow at UC Berkeley working with John Gerhart and with Marc Kirschner from Harvard, Lowe developed a species of hemichordate for developmental studies to address hypotheses of chordate origins. He began his independent career at the University of Chicago and moved to Stanford, based at Hopkins Marine Station in 2010, and is now a professor of biology.
Upcoming Whitney Lecture
Dec. 14: “Fish Ecology in a Rapidly Changing World,” Dr. Robert Lamb, research assistant professor, UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station
About Whitney Laboratory
Whitney Laboratory is a biomedical marine research institute of the University of Florida. It is composed of 11 faculty-led laboratories that use marine organisms for basic biological research that can be applied to human health, understanding of local natural resources and insight into our dynamic local environment.
Whitney Laboratory provides training for future experimental scientists, education programs for kindergarten through university-level students and monthly lectures for the general public to bring lifelong learning to the community.
Whitney Laboratory also features a Sea Turtle Hospital, which promotes ocean awareness and conservation through sea turtle rehabilitation, research and education.
Whitney Laboratory is located at 9505 Ocean Shore Blvd., St. Augustine, on the border of Flagler and St. Johns counties. For more information, go to whitney.ufl.edu or call 904-461-4000.
