SPEAKER: Professor Mark Elgar, Professor of Evolutionary Biology and Animal Behaviour, School of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne

DATE: Friday, 20th November 2015
LOCATION: Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds, Room ka5.303
TIME: 12:00 noon
Seminar will also be video linked to the following campuses: Melbourne Campus at Burwood T3.05; and Warrnambool Campus, Room J2.22

ABSTRACT: Chemical communication is the oldest and most widespread form of information transfer among animals. Research in my group investigates the role of chemical communication in a range of contexts, including foraging, mating and social behavior.

In this seminar I will cover some of the research we have undertaken to investigate the role of chemical signals in animal behavior, focusing on both the signal and receiver.

BIO: My first degree was completed in the School of Australian Environmental Studies, Griffith University, and my PhD at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Nick Davies.

My thesis research involved field experiments that evaluated the costs, benefits and role of communication among group foraging house sparrows. I was awarded an SERC Postdoctoral Fellowship to work on comparative studies at the University of Oxford with Paul Harvey, during which time I initiated research into the evolution of unusual mating behaviour in invertebrates.

I pursued this interest while holding a University Fellowship and then a QEII Fellowship at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. I joined the School of BioSciences (formerly Department of Zoology) at Melbourne in 1991 and was promoted to my current position in 2005.

I continue to be fascinated by animal behavior, and increasingly by the role of chemical communication in a range of contexts. One particular interest is the evolution of the diversity of the diverse morphology of insect antennae. Other activities include membership of the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council; Field Chief Editor of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; Section Chief Editor ofSocial Evolution | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution; Associate Editor of Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology; and member of the Editorial Board of Journal of Ethology.

Former activities include Editor-in-Chief of the journal Behavioral Ecology and of the Australian Journal of Zoology. I was Associate Dean (Graduate Programs) and Assistant Dean (Equity) of the Faculty of Science (University of Melbourne), and non-Professorial and Professorial Member of the University Council of the University of Melbourne.

Appointments with guest speaker may be made via Natasha Kaukov.

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