Chad Smith
Race To Egg: How Sperm Competition Drives the Evolution of the Sexes.
Why do males produce so many sperm? While Charles Darwin is famous for explaining how male competition for females could lead to the evolution of male ornaments and weapons, he did not foresee that competition could continue after mating is over. In this talk we’ll explore how competition between sperm from more than one male for the fertilization of the eggs can have widespread effects on male behavior, anatomy, and of course the characteristics of the sperm itself. In addition, we now recognize females can play an important role in determining the outcome of sperm competition, and as a consequence we’ll talk about female role in this process.
Click here to download the poster from Chad’s SUTS Event!
Eben Gering
Sexual conflict and female revolution in damselflies
Among the ponds of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory lurks the living evidence of a multi-million year struggle between males and females. Find out how the battle between the sexes contributes to evolution, and why some female damselflies at Brackenridge look suspiciously like males…
Eric Miller
Seeing It As It Happens: Witnessing, controlling, and understanding evolution
How do scientists discover how evolution affects a group of organisms? By doing what scientists do best — experimenting and recording the results! Join us as we talk about how scientists control the environment of bacteria, viruses, and insects to learn more about evolution. We will also talk about how people use evolution to improve computers, crops, pets, and clean up the environment.
Science Under The Stars 