The Annual Evolution Symposium
The American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) and NESCent co-sponsor a symposium on evolution at the annual National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) conference. The goal of the symposium is to bring applied and current evolutionary science to teachers for use in the classroom. Each year the symposium focuses on a different aspect of evolutionary science, and leading scientists give presentations on their research. Supplemental educational resources are available from each symposium.
2009 Evolution in Extreme Environments
2007 Evolution: Applications in Human Health and Populations
2005 Evolution and the Environment
2004 Evolutionary Science and Society
2009
Evolution in Extreme Environments
November 13, 2009
Educational Resources online CD
The focus for 2009's symposium is evolution in four distinct extreme environments: high altitude, extreme cold, darkness, and high pressure. How organisms survive, and even thrive, under these conditions is fascinating, but understanding adaptations that allow life under extreme conditions also provides insight about physiological systems that have evolved in more commonly encountered, moderate conditions. Our four speakers this year provided examples of how evolution yields organisms adapted to these harsh environmental conditions. Their presentations are available below. Educational resources relevant to each presentation are available through the online version of the symposium CD here. We would appreciate your feedback on the CD.
Speakers
Cynthia Beall - Human Evolution and Adaptation to High Altitude
Steve Haddock - Life in the Deep Sea: Only the Fragile Survive
William Jeffery - Cavefish: Evolution in the Dark
Jody Deming - Arctic Winter Sea Ice: A Biological Museum or Evolutionary Playground?
Cynthia Beall - Case Western Reserve University, OH
Human Evolution and Adaptation to High-altitude
During the past 100,000 – 200,000 years, humans have moved out of Africa to an enormous range of environments including the world's high plateaus in the Andes, Tibet, and East Africa. The environmental stress at high altitude is clear: lower barometric pressure results in fewer than normal oxygen molecules in every breath, and therefore in circulation. Lowlanders traveling to high altitudes respond to acute hypoxia - or oxygen deficiency - with homeostatic responses of the lung, heart, blood vessels, and blood. However, native residents of the world’s three high plateaus deliver oxygen more effectively, which is hypothesized to be the result of evolution by natural selection over thousands of years of high-altitude residence. Furthermore, the physiology in these populations differs, which suggests that three replications of the same natural experiment of moving from low to high altitude had different outcomes. There is also evidence of ongoing natural selection – differential survival of genotypes – in the Tibetan population. Strikingly, the degree of physiological hypoxia of healthy high-altitude natives on these plateaus is in the range considered pathological at low altitudes where it is routinely treated with oxygen therapy. Study of adaptations in healthy hypoxic people may suggest new therapies and interventions for patients with hypoxia at all altitudes.
Educational resources from the CD
Steve Haddock - Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, CA
Life in the Deep Sea: Only the Fragile Survive
The deep ocean is the largest living space on Earth, abundant with diverse alien-looking life forms despite the fact that it is dark, cold, has limited resources and exerts high pressures. In response to these environmental challenges and unique ecological constraints, organisms have evolved a variety of forms and functions including transparent dome eye covers, cloaks of invisibility, and the ability to communicate by making bioluminescent light. Because there are few surfaces, morphologies have diversified in unconstrained manner resulting in 40-meter long jellies and diaphanous comb jellies that propel themselves with eyelash-like cilia. Many of these deep-sea species are not yet described, and current research involves understanding the diversity and relationships of these animals, as well as the genetic underpinnings of their unique bio-optical properties. Although they are obscure even to marine biologists and live in some of most unexplored habitats on the planet, these animals actually can occur as close as a few kilometers from a large city. This paradox underscores how much we have yet to learn about life on this planet.
Educational resources from the CD
William Jeffery - University of Maryland, MD
Cavefish: Evolution in the Dark
Cave animals have adapted to the challenges of life in perpetual darkness by losing their eyes and pigmentation and enhancing other sensory systems, such as taste, smell, and tactile senses. Although the sensory gains are easily explained by natural selection, the losses are more difficult to explain because they seem to have no immediate benefits. Recent studies in the Mexican cavefish (Astyanax mexicanus) show that eye degeneration is developmentally linked to adaptive gains in the gustatory system via evolutionary changes in a pleiotropic gene called "sonic hedgehog." Thus, cavefish may illustrate a general phenomenon in biology in which pleiotropy and indirect selection guide the course and extent of evolution. Another benefit for cavefish living in dark caves is the absence of predators, which promotes survival by evolving an unusual suite of feeding behaviors. These behaviors would be risky in more complex, well-lit environments, such as exist on the Earth’s surface, illustrating the importance of environmental complexity as a driving force in evolution.
Educational resources from the CD
Jody Deming - University of Washington, WA
Arctic Winter Sea Ice: A Biological Museum or Evolutionary Playground?
During winter, the sea ice cover in the high Arctic grows and thickens, entrapping small organisms into its interior pore spaces. As temperatures drop, these spaces shrink in size as more pure water freezes, leaving behind high concentrations of sea salts that depress the freezing point and keep the sea-ice pores filled with liquid. Only single-celled microorganisms remain in this micrometer scale subzero salty habitat. There they are free of all grazers -- except viruses. Under conditions of environmental stress, viruses often fail to kill their hosts upon infection, instead incorporating as new DNA into their hosts' genomes. In the process, they can bring new genes from former hosts into the DNA of their new hosts. This striking form of horizontal gene transfer can be an adaptive boon for the microbes. The thick sea ice in the darkness of Arctic winter that has long appeared to Arctic explorers as a frozen museum for any life entrapped within it may in fact be an evolutionary playground where microbes and viruses interact in positive ways to bring new adaptations into the realm of oceanic microbes. Given the astronomical numbers of microbes that are trapped in the polar ice cap each year, returning to the ocean when the ice melts in summer, this form of evolution may contribute substantially to the ability of microbes to run the major biogeochemical cycles of the ocean.
Educational resources from the CD
To complement the AIBS/NESCent Evolution Symposium Friday morning, we offer a teacher workshop exploring the remarkable ability of some plants to undergo desiccation and revive with the addition of water. This ability is ancient, and modern day descendants of the earliest land plants, such as mosses, retain this ability. Vascular plants have lost desiccation tolerance in all tissues (with the exception of seeds, pollen and spores), but it has re-evolved in a few species. This workshop explores a problem space in which we can compare gene expression patterns in desiccation tolerant and sensitive plants and examine the evolutionary relationships of genes involved in desiccation tolerance. Resources from Understanding Evolution that support the basic evolutionary concepts of this problem space are linked throughout the workshop.
2008
Illuminating Biology: an Evolutionary Perspective
October 16, 2008
Educational Resources Workshop
October 17, 2008
Memphis, TN
Click here for the web based version of the Illuminating Biology: an Evolutionary Perspective CD
The 2008 symposium focused on the benefits of applying evolutionary theory in biological sub-disciplines where evolutionary concepts have not traditionally played a prominent role. The four speakers offered examples of successful evolutionary based research in biochemistry, molecular biology and neurobiology. Resources to help educators bring this message back to their students can be found on the CD. The presentations and additional resources may be found with the speaker bios on this page.
Speakers
Joram Piatigorsky - National Eye Institute, MD
Gene Sharing and Evolution: Surprising Lessons from Lens Crystallins
Among the most discussed mechanisms for change in protein functions are gene duplications, which provide new sources for making altered proteins by mutagenesis. We have developed the concept of “gene sharing” through our studies on lens crystallins. Lens crystallins are abundant water-soluble proteins of the transparent lens responsible for its optical, refractive properties required for focused vision. Gene sharing refers to the fact several functions can share the identical gene. In the case of crystallins, a major increase in the expression of the gene in the lens leads to a new function without loss of the original function. Paradoxically this means that functional specialization and diversification may occur simultaneously. Gene sharing shows that neither gene duplication nor change in protein structure is necessary for functional innovation and evolution. Gene sharing occurs widely and appears to be a fundamental principle of evolution.
(Download from iTunes U)
Additional resources for Dr. Piatigorsky's presentation:
- Piatigorsky, J. 2008. A Genetic Perspective on Eye Evolution: Gene Sharing, Convergence and Parallelism. Evolution:Education and Outreach Vol 1(4):403-414. DOI:10.1007/s12052-008-0077-0. (This article is open access and is found in the "Evolution of Eyes" edition of the journal.)
- Really weird eyes in a deep sea fish
Robert Blankenship - Washington University in St. Louis, MO
Evolutionary Relationships Among Phototrophic Bacteria Deduced from Whole Genome Comparisons
The invention and perfection of photosynthesis is without question one of the true milestones in the evolution of life on Earth. The development of the ability of some photosynthetic organisms to oxidize water to form molecular oxygen changed the redox balance of the Earth and provided the energetic basis for more advanced life to develop. This talk will discuss the complex nonlinear evolutionary path that has led to the modern process of photosynthesis.
(Download from iTunes U)
Trisha Wittkopp - University of Michigan, MI
Bringing an evolutionary perspective to developmental biology.
The genetic and molecular mechanisms controlling development are the product of evolution and can influence the way in which traits evolve. This talk will discuss the ways in which an appreciation of natural history and evolutionary processes can enhance our understanding of animal development.
(Download from iTunes U)
Additional resources for Dr. Wittkopp's presentation:
- References for the evolution of bat wings from paws:
- Cooper, K.L., and Tabin, C.J. 2008. Understanding of bat wing evolution takes flight. Genes Dev. Vol 22:121-124; doi:10.1101/gad.1639108
- Cretekos, C.J., Wang, Y., Green, E.D. 2008. Regulatory divergence modifies limb length between mammals. Genes Dev. Vol 22:141-151; doi:10.1101/gad.1620408
- References for the evolution of beak shape in Darwin's finches:
- Patel, N.P. 2006. Evolutionary biology: How to build a longer beak. Nature 442: 515 - 516, doi: 10.1038/442515a
- Abzhanov, A, Kuo, W.P., Hartmann, C., Grant, B.R., Grant, P.R., Tabin C.J. 2006. The calmodulin pathway and evolution of elongated beak morphology in Darwin's finches. Nature 442: 563 - 567, doi: 10.1038/nature04843
- References for morphological changes during corn domestication:
- Doebley, J.F., Gaut, B.S., Smith, B.D. 2006. The Molecular Genetics of Crop Domestication. Cell Vol 127(7):1309-1321. DOI 10.1016.j.cell.2006.12.006
- References for variation in human lactose intolerance:
- Wooding, S.P. 2005. Following the herd. Nature Genetics 39:7 - 8, doi: 10.1038/ng0107-7
- Tishkoff, S.S., Reed, F.A., Ranciaro, A., Voight, B.F., Babbitt, C.C., Silverman, J.S., Powell, K., Mortensen, H.M., Hirbo, J.B., Osman, M., Ibrahim, M., Omar, S.A., Lema, G., Nyambo, T.B., Ghori, J., Bumpstead, S., Pritchard, J.K., Wray, G.A., Deloukas, P. 2005. Convergent adaptation of human lactase persistence in Africa and Europe. Nature Genetics Vol 39: 31 - 40, doi: 10.1038/ng1946
- References for evolution of body aromor of the three-spine stickleback:
- Gibson, G. 2005. The synthesis and evolution of a supermodel. Science 307:1890-1891 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1109835]
- Colosimo, P.F., Hosemann, K.E., Balabhadra, S., Villarreal, G., Dickson, M., Grimwood, J., Schmutz, J., Myers, R.M., Schluter, D., Kingsley, D.M. 2005. Widespread Parallel Evolution in Sticklebacks by Repreated Fixation of Ectodysplasin Alleles. Science Vol 307: 1928-1933 [DOI: 10.1126/science.1107239]
- HHMI 2005 Holiday Lectures on Evolution
- Sean Carroll's resources for educators
Georg Striedter - UC Irvine, CA
Large and complex brains evolved repeatedly
Large and complex brains evolved not just in primates, but also in other taxonomic groups, including octopuses, manta rays, electric fishes, parrots, crows, dolphins, and elephants. Most of these species are highly social. Although the brains of different species share myriad similarities, they also differ in many respects. Dr. Striedter aims to understand how and why those species differences arose. To that end, he asks how the brains of different species diverge in their development. The aim of such questions is to determine what evolutionary changes in the cellular and molecular mechanisms of development underlie the species differences in adult brains.
(Download from iTunes U)
Additional resources for Dr. Streidter's presentation
- Videos of crow behaviour from the Oxford Behavioural Ecology Research Group, Dr. Alex Kacelnik
- Comparative Brain Collections
- Introduction to Brain Evolution
A podcast interview with Georg Streidter in the Brain Science series by Dr. Ginger Campbell.
- Check Dr. Striedter's section of the NABT CD
Evolution Symposium Education Resources Workshop
Friday, Oct. 17
The workshop provided resources and training to support bringing the symposium materials into the classroom. Presenters from Understanding Evolution, BioQUEST, and NESCent offered hands-on introductions to activities that demonstrate applications of evolution. Understanding Evolution staff lead an inquiry investigation in which students follow the steps of scientists Steve Palumbi and Scott Baker, using evolutionary theory and DNA data to investigate whether whales are being illegally hunted and sold as meat in foreign markets. Materials for this activity are available on the CD. BioQUEST and NESCent staff presented "Identifying Biocontrol Agents Through Applied Systematics," which includes information on generating and reading phylogenies.
Other 2008 NABT Annual Conference Events
Presenters: Jeffrey McKinnon and Robert Kuzoff
A hands-on workshop that illustrates and explains the use of free and intuitive software to explore exciting events in the history of life.
Sponsored by the Society for the Study of Evolution.
Biogeography Symposium
Presenters: Joel Cracraft, Kathryn Perez, Frank Fontanella
Biogeography is the study of the patterns and processes of organismal distribution across space and time, and as such is a key discipline within evolutionary biology and ecology. For example, understanding how populations become geographically isolated is fundamental for deciphering the history of species’ origins. The distributions of organisms are also closely linked to climatic and geological history (such as mountain building, continental drift, formation of island arcs), and a goal of biogeographic analysis is to reconstruct those linkages. This symposium brought together a group of professional biologists specializing in biogeography. The presenters provided basic information and examples about the many ways in which biogeography can inform the teaching of biology. Topics included biogeographic principles, mapping distributions using Google Earth and other tools, how the breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana shaped the distribution of today’s organisms, and the biogeography of the Hawaiian islands. Teaching materials and resources were provided.
Co-sponsored by NESCent and the National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology, American Museum of Natural History.
2007
EVOLUTION: Applications in Human Health and Populations
December 1, 2007
Atlanta, GA
Understanding how we have been shaped by evolution can help us understand the modern human condition. Evolutionary biology is making important contributions in the field of human health through studies of the human genome, physiology, lifestyle and interaction with the environment. This symposium focused on the emerging field of evolutionary medicine which brings together comparative genomics, epidemiology, anthropology and other fields to synthesize a comprehensive view of human health. Symposium speakers described how this new work is leading to many exciting medical applications. The symposium speakers also discussed ethical issues and more general implications of evolutionary research in society. Symposium presentations are posted here.
Speakers
Greg Wray - Duke University, NC
Genomic Perspectives on the Evolution of Human Health and Disease
Carlos Bustamante - Cornell University, NY
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign: Interpreting Evidence for Recent Natural Selection in the Human Genome
Marc Lipsitch - Harvard University, MA
Sex, Drugs and Natural Selection: Evolutionary Perspectives on Antibiotic Resistance
Sandra Romero-Steiner - CDC, GA
The Race Between Bacterial Adaptation and Protection of the Host
George Armelagos - Emory University, GA
The Road to the Viral Super Highway: Emerging Disease in the Time of Globalization
Sandra Soo-Jin Lee - Stanford University, CA
The Ethical Implications of Representing Evolution and Interpreting Difference
David Sloan Wilson - SUNY Binghamton, NY
Evolution for Everyone: How Darwin's Theory Can Change the Way We Think About Our Lives
Resources
2007 EVOLUTION: Applications in Human Health and Populations CD
2006
MACROEVOLUTION: Evolution above the Species Level
Click here for the web based version of the Macroevolution CD
How do new species and higher taxa originate? How do major innovations, such as sexual reproduction, flowers, and insect, bird, and bat wings, evolve? Basic mechanisms of microevolution (evolutionary change below the species level, among populations and within species) can produce macroevolutionary change (the evolution of novel traits, of species, and of lineages) if given enough time. Macroevolutionary studies explore the evolutionary forces and events that generate the characteristic features of new taxa, the radiations of lineages and their extinctions, and the evolutionary patterns produced by physical processes (e.g., continental drift) on living and extinct organisms.
Presentations in this symposium provided current information about macroevolutionary processes, the distinctions between and the interactions of micro- and macroevolution, the development and evolution of "key innovations" and major lineages of organisms, and the evidence for these processes.
Speakers
Philip Gingerich - The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Fossils and the Origin of Whales
Scott Hodges- University of California, Santa Barbara, CA
The Generation of Plant Biodiversity: Linking Historical Patterns with Evolutionary Processes
David Jablonski- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Evolutionary Role of Extinctions and Recoveries in the History of Life
Nicole King - University of California, Berkeley, CA
From Protozoa to Metazoa: the Origin of Animal Multicellularity
Jeff Levinton - State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY
The Cambrian Explosion and the Nature of Evidence.
Nipam Patel - University of California, Berkeley, CA
The Developmental Basis of Animal Diversity
Resources
A Pharyngula blog entry by P.Z. Meyers on a 2008 paper from Nicole King:
King N, Westbrook MJ, Young SL, Kuo A, Abedin M, Chapman J, Fairclough S, Hellsten U, Isogai Y, Letunic I, Marr M, Pincus D, Putnam N, Rokas A, Wright KJ, Zuzow R, Dirks W, Good M, Goodstein D, Lemons D, Li W, Lyons JB, Morris A, Nichols S, Richter DJ, Salamov A, Sequencing JG, Bork P, Lim WA, Manning G, Miller WT, McGinnis W, Shapiro H, Tjian R, Grigoriev IV, Rokhsar D. (2008) The genome of the choanoflagellate Monosiga brevicollis and the origin of metazoans. Nature 451(7180):783-788.
Levinton, J.S. 2008. The Cambrian Explosion: How Do We Use the Evidence? Bioscience Vol 58(9):855-864 doi: 10.1641/B580912
2005
Evolution and the Environment
The second evolution symposium highlighted the interface between evolution and ecology. Six prominent scientists presented their work on evolution and the environment, including flowering and crop plants, effects of climate, ecological, and environmental change. BSCS presented educational resources including the "Evolution - Why Bother" DVD. To access information, presentations, and teaching resources from this symposium, go to the AIBS web site.
Speakers
Pamela Soltis, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
The Diversification of Flowering Plants: Key Innovations and Radiations
Anthony D. Barnosky, University of California, Berkeley, CA
The Role of Climatic Change in the Evolution of Mammals
Barbara Schaal and Kenneth Olsen, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Evolution and Diversification in the Tropical Crop, Cassava
Andrew R. Blaustein, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR
Amphibian Population Declines and Some Misconceptions about Natural Selection
Jonathan B. Losos, Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Ecological Change Drives Evolutionary Diversification: A Case Study with Carribean Lizards
Losos, J.B. 2007. Detective Work in the West Indies: Integrating Historical and Experimental Approaches to Study Island Lizard Evolution. BioScience Vol 57(7):585-597 (DOI: 10.1641/B570712)
Stephen Palumbi, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA
When Humans Create Rapid Evolution by Changing the Environment
Resources
Presentations from AIBS
Teaching Resources from AIBS
2004
Evolutionary Science and Society: Educating a New Generation
The first symposium, in 2004, focused on evolution education and included a variety of speakers from evolutionary science, education research, and other relevant backgrounds. The four part series consisted of an Introduction to Evolutionary Thinking, The Tree of Life, How Evolution Works, Evolutionary Science: Advancing Societal Well-being. BSCS published "Evolutionary Science and Society: Educating a New Generation" a book of essays by the speakers and information about resources for teaching evolution. A DVD with interviews with various speakers was also produced, and a companion volume of curriculum for teachers was produced.
Resources
Overview of the Program from AIBS
Evolutionary Science and Society: Educating a New Generation
Edited by Joel Cracraft and Rodger Bybee. Proceedings of the two day Evolution Symposium hosted by AIBS and BSCS at the 2004 NABT convention. Available free online as a PDF, or as a hardcopy book for purchase from BSCS.
Evolutionary Science and Society: Activities for the Classroom
Edited by Rodger Bybee. A compilation of classroom activities that spans five general areas--introduction to evolutionary thinking; teaching the tree of life; teaching how evolution works; teaching evolution's importance for public health; and teaching evolution's importance for society. Includes a CD containing PDFs of activity copymasters, this publication, and Evolutionary Science and Society: Educating a New Generation.
"Evolution - Why Bother" DVD from BSCS
