Join the Science Cafe for a talk, Q&A, and live animal demonstration with Professor Mason Murphy at Grounds For Thought. This event is open to the public, so anyone is welcome to join! We will have free coffee and cakes (please contact tbmiles@bgsu.edu for any dietary concerns).

Talk summary:

Pt. 1. How do amphibians navigate their environment?  Movement is a key aspect of many organisms' life history, and understanding how the environment can influence individual movement behavior can help us learn about larger, broader patterns in species distribution and population connectivity. Here, we will explore the factors that influence movement in a few species of frogs and then talk briefly about the impacts these movements have on genetic diversity. 

Pt. 2: We explore the ecology and natural history of a few species of native and exotic reptiles. 

Autobiographical statement from Dr. Murphy:

I am a molecular ecologist interested in understanding the drivers and consequences of animal movement and how individual behavior scales up to influence landscape-level population genetic structure and gene flow. To do this, I use a combination of experiments and molecular techniques harnessing next generation sequence data to explore movement behavior, genetic diversity, and population connectivity, with a particular focus on amphibians. As the director of the Herpetology lab at BGSU, I am also heavily involved in public outreach, sharing knowledge and providing experiences with a variety of native and exotic herpetofauna.