Podcasts about comparative zoology

Spring is a time of migration for amphibians around New England. And there’s a lot being done to help these little creatures get to their summer homes - safely! Today, we hear from those working to aid the frogs, and toads, and helping them cross the roads. We might even get to meet a frog and a toad, or two! The Connecticut Beardsley Zoo joins us, and along with some amphibian friends! GUESTS: Mara Hoplamazian: Climate Reporter for New Hampshire Public Radio Jim Knox: Curator of Education of the Connecticut's Beardsley Zoo Stevie Kennedy Gold: Curatorial Associate of Herpetology for The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I was out for a walk along the Eramosa River in Guelph with a pal on New Years Day, when she lifted a log and showed me some strange white patches along it. We both recognized them from our walk a couple of days before. I guessed by the appearance of them, being small, white and silken-like, with many around, that they were likely egg cases of some small invertebrate, but I didn't know who may have made them. I also wasn't certain about egg case, but it seemed a likely guess. White, circular with a thin shallow dome constructed of webbing got me wondering who may have created this? I decided that this find, like a lot of the small wonders of the world would be worth researching a bit and recording a show about. Happy 2025! To learn more : Tracks and Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates by Charley Eiseman and Noah Charney. Stackpole Books, 2010.Common Spiders of North America by Richard A Bradley. University of California Press, 2013.Further Studies on the Activities of Araneads, II by Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Vol. 61, No. 3 pp. 548-569, 1909.The Spider Subfamiliy Castianerinae of North and Central America by Jonathan Reiskind. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, Vol. 138 num. 5, 1969.Spiders of North America by Sarah Rose. Princeton Field Guides, 2022.Hearing in a Jumping Spider by Princeton University, 2016. (video from youtube.com detailing Jumping Spider trichobotheria and perception of sound)Spiders of Toronto : A guide to their remarkable world by City of Toronto. 2012. (pdf)

Dr. Mansi Srivastava is Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University and Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Her lab uses distantly related species to study evolution and regeneration. She talks about establishing Hofstenia miamia, or the three-banded panther worm, as a model system. She also discusses her lab's work on adult stem cell lineage tracing and whole-body regeneration in Hofstenia, as well as her scientific outreach efforts.

Brian D. Farrell, Harvard Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Entomology in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, talks about his latest research with mosquitos and other insects.

Calling all lovers of true tales about the sea! This week I'm talking with Eric J. Dolin, bestselling author of numerous books that explore some aspect of American history, generally as it relates to the sea. His latest book is "Left for Dead: Shipwreck, Treachery, and Survival at the Edge of the World." Eric has a really interesting through line that started with him studying to be a marine biologist, then morphed into studying environmental policy, and includes a big list of cool, interesting jobs, including curatorial assistant in the mollusk department at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. We covered: - Eric's winding path to writing, which started with wanting to be Jacques Costeau as a kid, wended through getting three degrees in marine biologist, and ended with him working in government jobs (managing a fishery, for example) while saving up to make the leap to writing full-time - How winning awards can keep you going, even when you're not selling as many books as you'd like - HOT TIP: Eric's new book, "Left for Dead," would make a great Father's Day gift! - How "people are overly impressed with writers", and that recognition can also keep you going - The skills he developed as a student that help him write books - How researching his current book generally leads to the idea for his next book - The secret cove in Marblehead where Eric gets his reading done during the summer - How reading books from the 1800s and early 1900s (as part of his research) changes his language Visit Eric at ericjaydolin.com. For full show notes, visit katehanley.substack.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week's episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Adam Baldinger, the Curatorial Associate and Collections Manager of Invertebrate Zoology here at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University.

In this episode, Xavier Bonilla has a dialogue with James Costa about the life of Alfred Russel Wallace. They discuss the radical and revolutionary nature of Wallace, his inquisitiveness about nature since an early age, apprenticeship, trip to the Amazon, and scientific publications. They also talk about his trip to Asia, the interactions with Darwin, spiritualism, social justice, his legacy, and many more topics.James Costa is an entomologist and evolutionary biologist who is professor of biology and executive director Western Carolina University-Highlands Biological Station. He has co-taught in Harvard's summer Darwin program at the University of Oxford and has been a long-time Research Associate in entomology at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. His main interests and research are on Darwin, Wallace, and the history of evolutionary thinking. He is the author of numerous books including the most recent book, Radical By Nature: The Revolutionary Life of Alfred Russel Wallace. Website: https://jamestcosta.com/Twitter: @jimcostahbs This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit convergingdialogues.substack.com

Learn about Boas of the West Indies: https://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501765452/boas-of-the-west-indies/#bookTabs=1 Transcript here: https://otter.ai/u/3JA4ImNEDi8KJNpbLofa90KHtY0?utm_source=copy_url This episode, we speak with Graham Reynolds, co-author of the new book Boas of the West Indies: Evolution, Natural History, and Conservation. Graham's co-authors of the new book are Robert W. Henderson, Luis M. Díaz, Tomás M. Rodríguez-Cabrera and Alberto Puente-Rolón. Graham Reynolds is Associate Professor of Biology at the University of North Carolina Asheville, an Associate at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University, and a National Geographic Explorer. He is coeditor of The Amphibians of Tennessee and The Reptiles of Tennessee. You can follow him on Twitter @CaribbeanBoas. We spoke to Graham about how he and his fellow researchers and co-authors have helped to significantly increase the level of knowledge and understanding of the biology of boas in the West Indies, how they hope their new book will draw new researchers into the field, and we'll hear Graham share some interesting behind-the-scenes stories during his time studying boas. If you'd like to purchase the new book, use the promo code 09POD to save 30 percent on our website: cornellpress.cornell.edu. If you live in the UK use the discount code CSANNOUNCE and visit the website combinedacademic.co.uk.

Afrikaanse zandhoenders - ze zien er een beetje uit als een zandkleurige duif met exotische patronen - hebben een slim trucje om water te verplaatsen van de ene naar de andere plek.   Onderzoekers ontdekten dit toen ze ongelooflijk ver inzoomden op de veren van de vogel. Met het trucje lukt het mannetjes zandhoenders om zo'n 15 procent van hun eigen lichaamsgewicht aan water te verplaatsen naar hun jongen, terwijl ze bijna 65 kilometer per uur vliegen, een half uur lang.    Het zit hem allemaal in het ontwerp van de borstveren, die de mannetjes in het water laten zakken om het water op te nemen. Zo'n 50 jaar geleden werden de speciale veren al ontdekt, maar hoe ze precies water vasthouden, dat kon nu pas aangetoond worden dankzij hoge resolutie microscopen.  De veren hebben allemaal gespecialiseerde vertakkingen, kamertjes en buisjes die vloeistof perfect vasthouden. De onderzoekers denken dat de structuur - nu ze dit tot op de kleinste details in kaart hebben gebracht - een inspiratie kan zijn voor het gecontroleerd vangen, vasthouden en loslaten van vloeistof. Bijvoorbeeld bij het vangen van water uit de lucht, met een soort verennetten.   Ook denken ze aan een nieuw soort waterzakken en -flessen, waarin een op de zandhoen gebaseerde verenstructuur zou kunnen zorgen dat het water niet klotst als je het met je meedraagt. Zelfs betere medische samples nemen, denk aan de covid neus swabs, moeten met dit ontwerp mogelijk worden volgens de onderzoekers.   Oja, en goed om nog even te vermelden: de veren die zijn onderzocht kwamen van een mannetje uit de collectie van het Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. De wilde zandhoenders hebben ze voor dit onderzoek niet lastiggevallen. Lees hier meer over het onderzoek: How an African bird might inspire a better water bottle.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week's episode host, Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Professor Scott Edwards, the Curator of Ornithology for the Museum of Comparative Zoology, and the Department Chair of Harvard's Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/psychology

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn't ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. Guests: Diane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University and bestselling author of The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week's episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Breda Zimkus, the Director of Collections Operations at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. She coordinates all the activities among the museum's 10 different zoological collections, which support the work of hundreds of scientists and their groundbreaking science annually.

Gonzalo Giribet, the director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology and a Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Zoology, Harvard University, talks about the museum's many collections, including a considerable quantity from Latin America. He also discusses his fieldwork and how Harvard undergraduates in his class will have the opportunity to explore biodiversity in Bocas del Toro, Panama, for the first time since the pandemic.

We turn the compass north on this Dogwatch and thankfully are joined by Andrea Pitzer, a person who not only has been on multiple Arctic expeditions, but has also written Icebound: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World, a book about one of the early European polar explorers of the region, William Barents. Along with being a writer of books and a freelance journalist, Andrea has a wealth of other experiences that inform her perspectives. In our conversation, we discuss what life was like at the end of the 16th century, what questions Barents and others were trying to answer on their expeditions to the Arctic, and some of how those adventures turned out. Ultimately, Andrea helps us see Barents as someone who made his name not so much for his specific discoveries but for his ability to endure and persist in the face of incredible suffering, which became a template for later polar expeditions. She even points out how Shakespeare included a reference to Barents and his men in Twelfth Night, referring to an “icicle on a Dutchman's beard,” and shows how widely this adventure was known despite the account of the voyages not being published in English at the time.Given that this episode focuses on the Arctic, our feature is the late James McCarthy, who was a Professor of Biological Oceanography at Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology. H passed away in 2019 at the age of 75. The Harvard Gazette quoted Al Gore:“Nobody communicated the importance of the climate crisis in the context of the oceans as eloquently and passionately as Jim.”I definitely looked up to Jim in our interactions, and remember his generosity, passion, and particularly his commitment to understanding and taking action on climate issues. It is now up to us to follow Jim's lead, to redouble our efforts, and commit each day to take on this challenge.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. Our women's history month-themed podcast interview features Stephanie Pierce, Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology's very first female curator of vertebrate paleontology.

In this episode, we're hearing from Dr. Gonzalo Giribet, who is a Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Curator of Invertebrates and Director of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Gonzalo received his bachelor's degree and his PhD from the University of Barcelona, then did his postdoc at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. While there, his postdoc advisor convinced him to apply for a faculty position at Harvard, which he got, and he has been at Harvard ever since. Gonzalo was an early adopter of the idea of molecular phylogenetics, which he has used to help clarify our understanding of the invertebrate tree of life.  In this episode, we chat about:  What a postdoc at a museum is like and the types of research you can do at a museum What a science museum curator does (and doesn't do) Underrated invertebrates, including velvet worms How studying rare animals has enabled Gonzalo to travel the world Gonzalo's vision for the future of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology Some of the pros and cons of studying non-model organisms The value of being disciplined with how you use your time Finding a project you're really passionate about Windsurfing!  Get in touch with Steph: Twitter Get in touch with the podcast: Twitter Facebook Instagram Email: rootstostempodcast@gmail.com Website: rootstostempodcast.com

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. This week Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Gonzalo Giribet, the new director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard, and curator of invertebrate zoology. Giribet recounts his insatiable interest in scouring the beach for shells growing up south of Barcelona, Spain, which ultimately led him into a career as a scientist.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. This week Jennifer Berglund is speaking with James Hanken, Professor of Biology at Harvard University and outgoing Director and Curator of Herpetology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Jennifer speaks with Professor Hanken about his fascination with natural history from a young age in Queens, NY, his choice between a career in nature photography and academia, seeing the potential in renovating the collections, and the joy of watching vultures create a home in his garage during the pandemic. 

Does the earth change rapidly or slowly? We discuss the competing philosophies and the evolution of.... well, the end of the road for your food! Fun Paper Friday Hejnol, Andreas, and José M. Martín-Durán. "Getting to the bottom of anal evolution." Zoologischer Anzeiger-a Journal of Comparative Zoology 256 (2015): 61-74. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004452311500011X) Contact us: Show Support us on Patreon! (https://www.patreon.com/dontpanicgeo) www.dontpanicgeocast.com (http://www.dontpanicgeocast.com) SWUNG Slack (https://softwareunderground.org) @dontpanicgeo (https://twitter.com/dontpanicgeo) show@dontpanicgeocast.com John Leeman - www.johnrleeman.com (http://www.johnrleeman.com) - @geo_leeman (https://twitter.com/geo_leeman) Shannon Dulin - @ShannonDulin (https://twitter.com/ShannonDulin)

Dr. Shahan Derkarabetian is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. He talks to us about his upcoming paper to be published in the next issue of Invertebrate Systematics! Dr. Derkarabetian and his coauthors describe not only two new species, but each new species is in a new genus, and each genus is in a new family! Moreover, we talk about how these species got their names, including a new species named after Abaddon the Despoiler in Warhammer 40,000, acquiring DNA from specimens collected at the time of the signing of the truce of the American Civil War, and why people should care about these small predators of the leaf litter! Dr. Derkarabetian also issues a Twitter Challenge! He wants listeners to send him pictures of daddy longlegs from around the world and he'll try to identify all of them! Tag him with @sderkarabetian and he'll try to ID your daddy longlegs! Listen to the challenge at the end of the podcast. The title of the paper is “Phylogenomic re-evaluation of Triaenonychoidea (Opiliones: Laniatores), and systematics of Tiaenonychidae, including new families, genera, and species.” The paper is available free as Open Access through the month of March: https://www.publish.csiro.au/IS/IS20047 To learn more about Dr. Derkarabetian, follow him on Twitter, @sderkarabetian. Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), like the podcast page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast), and music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom). If you would like to support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPodcast

This week the M Files goes to the east coast to speak with Cyrus Green. Cyrus is a Curatorial Assistant at The Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Founded in 1859 by zoologist Louis Agassiz, the MCZ has over twenty million specimens in its collections. Cyrus joins us for the museum wire to discuss antiquated/older collections techniques before jumping into the interview. Cyrus describes his work at the MCZ and how university museums connect with research and in the classroom.Special thanks to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, for making this episode possible. To learn more about the MCZ, check out their website or on social media via the MCZ's Facebook, the MCZ Instagram account, or their various MCZ Twitter accounts.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. Today, Jennifer is speaking with José Rosado, the Collections Manager and Curatorial Associate of the Herpetology Collection at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, a collection of roughly 345,000 amphibians and reptiles.

Our guest for this episode, Dr. Gonzalo Giribet, is an invertebrate biologist working at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard, where he is Curator of Invertebrates and Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. Gonzalo is the first author of a recent paper about four new species of daddy long legs (also called harvestmen or opilionids) from New Caledonia! We learn that these harvestmen are—at the most—only a couple of millimeters long, how new species are named, and why we should care about new species—even ones that are so small! The paper was published in Invertebrate Systematics (Vol 35, pages 59-89), with the title "A revised phylogeny of the New Caledonian endemic genus Troglosiro (Opiliones: Cyphophthalmi: Troglosironidae) with the description of four new species." The paper may be viewed here, and downloaded for free for the month of February, 2021: https://www.publish.csiro.au/IS/IS20042 For more information about Dr. Giribet, you can follow him on Twitter (@ggiribet), visit his website (https://oeb.harvard.edu/people/gonzalo-giribet), or read about him on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzalo_Giribet)! Be sure to follow New Species on Twitter (@PodcastSpecies), like the podcast page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/NewSpeciesPodcast), and music in this podcast is "No More (Instrumental)," by HaTom (https://fanlink.to/HaTom). If you would like to support this podcast: https://www.patreon.com/NewSpeciesPodcast

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -That perches in the soul -And sings the tune without the words -And never stops - at all -Emily Dickinson was clearly onto something when she penned these famous lines. Across countless generations, birds have captivated our imaginations with their incredible beauty, their staggering diversity, and their unique talents. For Dr. Scott Edwards, birds are fascinating organisms with a rich and complex evolutionary history, but they are also harbingers of hope at a moment when we sorely need it.Scott joins Jocelyn and Bradley to discuss his work as an ornithologist, evolutionary biologist, and curator at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology. He explains how he uses a variety of techniques—even applying cutting-edge genomic analysis to specimens collected during the Lewis & Clark expedition!—to trace the evolution of new traits in birds. In addition, he shares stories of his cross-country bike trip inspired by #BlackBirdersWeek, and the friends discuss how the “tree of life” is not only a powerful metaphor for understanding evolutionary relationships but also for thinking about diversity, unity, the history of life and humanity’s place in it. Follow Scott on Twitter at @ScottVEdwards1, and learn more about his amazing work at the links below!https://edwards.oeb.harvard.edu/people/scott-v-edwardshttps://www.iamascientist.info/scott-edwardshttps://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/scott-edwardsScott’s bike journey across America:https://www.audubon.org/news/meet-harvard-ornithology-professor-biking-across-countryhttps://www.thecrimson.com/article/2020/8/21/scott-edwards-bike-trip/#BlackBirdersWeek: https://www.audubon.org/news/black-birders-week-promotes-diversity-and-takes-racism-outdoorshttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/black-birders-call-out-racism-say-nature-should-be-for-everyone/https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2020/06/i-cant-even-enjoy-blackbirdersweek-organizer-shares-her-struggles-black-scientistSystemic Racism in Higher Education (Science letter): https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/1440.2Harvard Dept. of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology: https://oeb.harvard.edu/Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology: https://mcz.harvard.edu/Where Song Began: Australia’s Birds and How They Changed the World: https://www.amazon.com/Where-Song-Began-Australias-Changed/dp/0300221665Related episodes:That is How an Evolutionary Biologist Do (Matt Wilkins): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/32-matt-wilkins-that-is-how-an-evolutionary-biologist-do/id1471423633?i=1000464730144The Lizarding World of Afro Herper (Earyn McGee): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/38-earyn-mcgee-the-lizarding-world-of-afro-herper/id1471423633?i=1000468800901

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world.GuestsDiane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology.Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College.  Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University  and best-selling author of  The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others.

Linking morality and science can conjure up disturbing histories around social Darwinism, eugenics, and genetically engineered humans. But scientists today are making discoveries that moral agents shouldn’t ignore: how to overcome aggression and tribalism, and how to sustain cooperation in a modern pluralist world. GuestsDiane Paul, professor emerita of the University of Massachusetts, Boston and research associate at the Harvard University Museum of Comparative Zoology. Author of The Politics of Heredity and Eugenics at the Edges of Empire, among others.Ben Allen, associate professor of mathematics at Emmanuel College. Steven Pinker, professor of cognitive psychology at Harvard University  and best-selling author of  The Better Angels of Our Nature, The Language Instinct, The Blank Slate, and many others.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. Today, Jennifer is speaking with Mansi Srivastava, an Associate Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard. She studies marine worms called three-banded panther worms, which have the capacity to regenerate any part of their bodies.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For the first episode celebrating Women's Suffrage Month, Jennifer is speaking with Reed Gochberg, the Assistant Director of Studies, History and Literature at Harvard. Her work focuses on 19th-century American culture, the history of science and technology, and museum studies. She is guest curating an exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History on the early history of women working at the Museum of Comparative Zoology in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.   

‘Radical’ Explores The Hidden History Of Breast Cancer  Nearly 270,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, along with a couple thousand men. But the disease manifests in many different ways, meaning few patients have the same story to tell.  Journalist Kate Pickert collects many of those stories in her book Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America. And one of those stories is her own. As she writes about her own journey with breast cancer, Pickert delves into the history of breast cancer treatment—first devised by a Scottish medical student studying sheep in the 1800s—and chronicles the huge clinical trials for blockbuster drugs in the 80s and 90s—one of which required armies of people to harvest timber from the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest.  She joins Ira Flatow to tell her story, and the surprising cultural history of breast cancer.  With Butterfly Wings, There’s More Than Meets The Eye  Scientists are learning that butterfly wings are more than just a pretty adornment. Once thought to be made up of non-living cells, new research suggests that portions of a butterfly wing are actually alive—and serve a very useful purpose.  In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, Naomi Pierce, curator of Lepidoptera at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, found that nano-structures within the wing help regulate the wing’s temperature, an important function that keeps the thin membrane from overheating in the sun. They also discovered a “wing heart” that beats a few dozen times per minute to facilitate the directional flow of insect blood or hemolymph.  Pierce joins Ira to talk about her work and the hidden structures of butterfly wings. Plus, Nipam Patel, director of the Marine Biological Laboratory, talks about how butterfly wing structure is an important component of the dazzling color on some butterfly wings.

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where Jennifer Berglund goes behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. Today, she is speaking with Andrew Williston, who manages the Museum of Comparative Zoology's Ichthyology collection, an assemblage of one and a half million specimens of preserved fishes.  

‘Radical’ Explores The Hidden History Of Breast Cancer  Nearly 270,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer every year, along with a couple thousand men. But the disease manifests in many different ways, meaning few patients have the same story to tell.  Journalist Kate Pickert collects many of those stories in her book Radical: The Science, Culture, and History of Breast Cancer in America. And one of those stories is her own. As she writes about her own journey with breast cancer, Pickert delves into the history of breast cancer treatment—first devised by a Scottish medical student studying sheep in the 1800s—and chronicles the huge clinical trials for blockbuster drugs in the 80s and 90s—one of which required armies of people to harvest timber from the evergreen forests of the Pacific Northwest.  She joins Ira Flatow to tell her story, and the surprising cultural history of breast cancer.  With Butterfly Wings, There’s More Than Meets The Eye  Scientists are learning that butterfly wings are more than just a pretty adornment. Once thought to be made up of non-living cells, new research suggests that portions of a butterfly wing are actually alive—and serve a very useful purpose.  In a study published in the journal Nature Communications, Naomi Pierce, curator of Lepidoptera at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, found that nano-structures within the wing help regulate the wing’s temperature, an important function that keeps the thin membrane from overheating in the sun. They also discovered a “wing heart” that beats a few dozen times per minute to facilitate the directional flow of insect blood or hemolymph.  Pierce joins Ira to talk about her work and the hidden structures of butterfly wings. Plus, Nipam Patel, director of the Marine Biological Laboratory, talks about how butterfly wing structure is an important component of the dazzling color on some butterfly wings.

Hello, and welcome to The Dirt, a podcast all about dinosaurs! Since we're archaeologists (and thus don't study dinosaurs, ahem) we know nothing about this subject, so for this special April Fools' Day episode, Anna sits down with paleontologist Chris Capobianco from Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology. Learn about how quickly a fossil forms, the process of preparing fossils for research or exhibition, what dinosaurs really looked like, how exactly one goes about becoming a paleontologist, and what the future may hold for the discipline (and humanity.

Jonathan Losos, biology professor at Harvard and curator of herpetology at the university’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, talks about his latest book, Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance and the Future of Evolution .

JONATHAN B. LOSOS is the Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America and Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and Curator in Herpetology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology. He is the author of Improbable Destinies: Fate, Chance, and the Future of Evolution. Jonathan B. Losos's Edge Bio Page (https://www.edge.org/memberbio/jonathan_b_losos) The Conversation: https://www.edge.org/conversation/jonathanblosos-urban-evolution

In episode #310 of Science Goes to the Movies, Director of the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, James Hanken, joins the show to talk about animal behavior as its depicted, and not depicted, in the animated Walt Disney film, Zootopia.

Hopi Hoekstra, an institute member at the Broad Institute, a Howard Hughes Medical Investigator at Harvard University, and the curator of mammals at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, tells us how her lab combines the genetic, environmental, and morphological traits of wild deer mice to answer questions about evolution and behavior.

Every year monarch butterflies begin a journey north from their overwintering grounds in Mexican forests. The epic migration spans generations and the better part of a continent. In this first of two episodes, we’ll meet a pair of women united by their fascination with this iconic insect. Mexican geographer Isabel Ramírez and American biologist Karen Oberhauser are working to save monarch habitat on both ends of this remarkable insect’s 2,500 mile journey. The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

As they wing their way across North America, millions of migrating monarch butterflies form a living river of orange. In this episode, the second of two podcasts on monarchs, we’ll meet citizens young and old who are dipping a toe in that river in the name of science and of beauty. The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

Volume: 1919By: Brewster, William, 1851-1919Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: 1918By: Brewster, William, 1851-1919Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Bury, Priscilla Susan, 1799-1872 - Cooke, M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt), 1825-1914Publication Details: London, W. Wheldon, [ca. 1869]Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: v.35:no.2 (1907)By: Rathbun, Mary Jane, 1860-1943Publication Details: Cambridge, U.S.A, Printed for the Museum, 1907Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Coral reefs are bustling cities of marine life, until rising ocean temperatures turn them into ghost towns. Can reefs spring back from devastating bleaching events? Ari Daniel Shapiro and researcher Dr. Randi Rotjan of the New England Aquarium, journey to the remote Phoenix Islands to find out. The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

Ugandan lepidopterist Perpetra Akite studies at a university in the capital city, far from the farm where she grew up. Since she began studying butterflies as a girl, the landscape of her homeland has changed radically, for butterflies as well as people. It’s change that can be measured in many ways—in the inches of rainfall, acres of forest cleared—or the span of a tiny butterfly’s wings. Ari Daniel Shapiro reports from Kigale. The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

How is a tadpole like a short-sleeved white tee shirt? The answer lies in the Alameda Creek outside San Francisco, California, USA. Ari Daniel Shapiro wades into the issue of dams and biodiversity with two biologists sampling the DNA of this threatened frog in order to save it. The One Species at a Time podcast series is supported by the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0.

Volume: v.26:no.4 (1903)By: Eastman, Charles Rochester, 1868-1918Publication Details: Cambridge :Printed for the Museum,1903.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Lawley, Roberto.Publication Details: Pisa,Tip. T. Nistri,1881.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Müller, Johannes, 1801-1858 - Henle, Jacob, 1809-1885 , joint author.Publication Details: Berlin,Veit und comp.,1841.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: v.36 (1913) textBy: Garman, Samuel, 1843-1927Publication Details: Cambridge, U.S.A. :Printed for the Museum,1913.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: v.36 (1913) platesBy: Garman, Samuel, 1843-1927Publication Details: Cambridge, U.S.A. :Printed for the Museum,1913.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: (1901)By: Lucas, Frederic A. (Frederic Augustus), 1852-1929Publication Details: New York,McClure, Phillips & Co.,1901.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Volume: v.4 no.10 (1876)By: Allen, J. A. (Joel Asaph), 1838-1921Publication Details: 1876Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Hutchinson, H. N. (Henry Neville), 1856-1927 - Smit, Joseph, 1836-1929 - Woodward, Henry, 1832-1921Publication Details: London :Chapman & Hall,1896.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Owen, Richard, 1804-1892Publication Details: Edinburgh :A. and C. Black,1860.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

By: Gaudry, Albert, 1827-1908Publication Details: Paris :J.-B. Baillière et Fils,1888.Contributed By: Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ernst Mayr Library

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Ornithology, 337690 19th century

Dr. Hopi Hoekstra is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of Biology in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and the Curator of Mammals at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Concerning her research interests and this lecture, she states: “Our planet is teeming with a stunning display of biological diversity—from star-nose moles to the giant blue morpho butterflies to majestic redwoods and the toxic deathcap mushrooms. How did this diversity evolve? With the recent advent of new DNA sequencing technologies, we are now able to answer this question with unprecedented precision by studying the genetic code. In my lecture, I will present one of the most complete studies of adaptive change in nature—the evolution of camouflaging coloration in mice inhabiting the coastal dunes of Alabama and Florida. Examples such as this are of growing importance for education as we live in a country in which less than half our citizens accept evolution.”