Seminar Series

Spring 2025

Below is our Spring 2025 seminar schedule which will be finalized by the end of January. Seminars are held on Mondays from 12-1 p.m. in Gottwald Auditorium, A001.

Monday, January 13, 2025

Dr. Kristine Grayson, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, University of Richmond

  • Rearing Invasive Forest Insects for Biocontrol and Spread Management

Monday, January 27, 2025

Dr. Eugene Wu, Associate Professor of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Richmond

  • Stumbling onto a Potential Treatment for Pink Eye: Tales of Applying Basic Research

Monday, February 3, 2025

Dr. Kendra Sewall, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Virginia Tech

  • Coping with Anthropogenic Change: How Song Sparrows Respond to Urbanization

Monday, February 10, 2025

Matt Cowan, PhD Candidate, Drexel University

  • Exploring Differences in the Movement of Fibroblast and Glioma Cells in 3D Matrix

Monday, February 17, 2025

Dr. Dan Pierce, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Richmond

  • Microbes to Monks: Lessons in Biological Communication

Monday, February 24, 2025

Dr. Deborah Thurtle-Schmidt, Assistant Professor of Biology, Davidson College

  • What Regulates the Regulators? Investigating Determinants of Transcriptional Regulation

Monday, March 3, 2025

Devon Fitzgerald, PhD, TwinStrand Biosciences 

  • Advanced Sequencing Technology for Chemical Safety Testing

Monday, March 17, 2025

Saumya Jain, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Georgia Tech

  • How Do Nature and Nurture Shape the Developing Brain?

Monday, March 24, 2025

Honors Student Presentation

  • Chloe Ngo: Screening for Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi in a Novel Invasive Grass Species
  • Yulia Shatalov: The Interplay of Movement and Reward: An Investigation of the Effects of Enhanced Anticipation on Differently Motivated Responses in Rattus Norvegicus

Monday, March 31, 2025

Honors Student Presentation

  • Rose Agarwala: Genetic Modification of Agrobacterium to Inhibit Plant Pathogenesis
  • Kalynn Cheeks: Rats, Rears, and Research: A Comprehensive Study of Microbial Diversity, Environmental Influences, and Zoonotic Risks amongst Richmond’s Notorious Rodents 

Monday, April 7, 2025

Honors Student Presentation

  • Ben Konigsberg: A Cross-Taxa Comparison of Avian Telomere Dynamics, Age, and Lifespan
  • Adi Narayanan: Surveying the Neural Cellular Landscape in Wild and Laboratory Rats: Neuronal and Glial Profiles

Monday, April 14, 2025

Honors Student Presentation

  • Emily Lekas: Substrate Contrast is Not Correlated With Skin Pattern Complexity in Callistoctopus furvus
  • Lydia Wood: Leptospirosis Infection Risk Posed by Urban Rats in Richmond 

Contact seminar series organizer Stacey Criswell with questions.