Biology Program Presents

Sensational Fungi: From Vision to Taste, how Fungi use Sensory Systems to Navigate the World

What do you and fungi have in common?

This talk focuses on how organisms perceive and adapt to their environment through the evolution of sensory systems like vision. In this seminar, we will explore the surprising sensory systems of early diverging fungi, the similarity of fungal and animal eyes, and the consequences of sensory system evolution on the global spread of the frog-killing pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Lastly, we will take a sneak peek into the future of sensory research in fungi led by students at Middlebury.

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Andrew Swafford is an evolutionary cell biologist who investigates how sensory and motor pathways originate, evolve, and create behavior across the tree of life. He earned his BA at Bowdoin College, his MA in bioinformatics and PhD in molecular evolution & phylogenetics from UC Santa Barbara, and completed an NSF postdoc at UMass Amherst. Now an assistant professor at Middlebury College, he is continuing his research into how sensory system evolution contributes to the virulence of fungal pathogens.

For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].

Time: 12:00 pm EDT/GMT-4

Location: Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium

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