SPEAKER: Professor Dominique G. Homberger, Dept. of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, USA
DATE: Tuesday, 23rd June 2015
LOCATION: Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds, room ka4.207
TIME: 12:00 noon
Seminar will also be video linked to the following campuses: Melbourne Campus at Burwood, room T3.05; and Warrnambool Campus, room J2.20

ABSTRACT: My research program in comparative, ecological and evolutionary morphology explores and analyzes complex systems and discovers new structures, constructional principles, and theoretical concepts.

I am interested in the integration of individual structures into mechanically coherent systems of interactive parts in order to understand how complex systems are able to evolve without having their functional integrity disrupted. In doing this, I reconstruct macroevolutionary changes as a result of individual variation and natural selection.

An example is my long-term study of the feeding and drinking behavior, ecology, and functional morphology and biomechanics, of cockatoos and parrots, which has also implications for the evolution of the Gondwanan avifauna in general.

BIO:

• Ph.D. in Biology, University of Zürich, Switzerland, with a minor in Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology
• Post-doc with Walter J. Bock, Columbia University and American Museum of Natural History in New York.
• Professor at LSU, Baton Rouge
• Author of textbooks in vertebrate morphology; research monographs, articles, and book chapters
• Secretary of the International Ornithologists’ Union since 1998

Appointments with guest speaker may be made via Natasha Kaukov

External visitors – wish to join us and connect to our seminars?
The following link details how to connect: link me to seminar (Seminar conference ID 36958). By entering the conference ID and clicking submit the page will generate the required information for external staff/visitors to dial in.

Please note that connection is only available while a seminar is taking place. See exact times at the top of this page.