Friday Philosophicals
New Term, New Students: Usually the titles of two seminars appear here.
Friday Philosophicals
A weekly seminar series run by the Ecology & Evolution group, allowing graduate students and others to present their research in a collegial environment. All talks are 10-30 minutes in length, followed by up to 5 minutes of questions, with open discussion from the floor. Typically, two speakers will present on a given day. The Friday Philosophicals is an excellent opportunity to learn the rough and tumble of giving scientific talks, gain feedback from faculty and peers – give feedback to your fellow presenters – and, above all, learn about science, biology and effective science communication.
Friday Philosophicals run most Fridays in Kresge Building K106 (check the schedule). Seminars start at 3:30 pm and are expected to end by 4:20 pm.
For incoming students, the Friday Phils provides an excellent forum to present your proposed research in the form of hypotheses, experimental design and intended use of a field, lab or analytical techniques. For outgoing students, the forum is ideal for summarizing your key findings and explaining their broader significance.
Attendance is required of graduate students in the E&E stream, and guests are welcome, including visitors to the department and aspiring undergraduates. The seminar series represents Part 2 (Communication) of BIO 9100y/9150y. Although occasional absences are expected, consistent absence is considered poor form and may result in a grade of ‘Unsatisfactory’ with implications for funding eligibility. Should you go? Yes! Your fellow grad students will appreciate your support – as you will theirs. Besides, it's just fun!
2024-2025 Organizer
| Date | Presentations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 22-Nov-24 | Holly Deighton PhD exit |
||
| 29-Nov-24 | João Martin MSc entry |
Chloe Stevenson MSc entry |
|
| 6-Dec-24 | Will VanHemessen MSc update |
Jude Dunukumara Udumullage MSc entry |
|
| 10-Jan-25 | Paige Ferguson MSc entry |
Evelyn Petro MSc entry |
Evan Michael Bennett MSc entry |
| 17-Jan-25 | AJ Randolph-Westerhof MSc entry |
Evan Gillis MSc entry |
Kiran Hazra MSc entry |
| 24-Jan-25 | Ada Jarosch MSc entry |
Laura Bax MSc entry |
Carson Mitchell MSc entry |
| 31-Jan-25 | Madison Robinson MSc entry |
Aastha Saini PhD proposal |
Tristan Ducharme PhD proposal |
| 7-Feb-25 | Maedeh Barzmehri PhD proposal |
Ben Souriol PhD proposal |
|
| 14-Feb-25 | Scout Thompson PhD proposal |
Parker Van Belleghem MSc update |
|
| 21-Feb-25 | Reading Week | ||
| 28-Feb-25 | Emelie Obi MSc update |
Amedeo Cortese MSc update |
|
| 7-Mar-25 | Alexander Niski MSc update |
Liam Carter MSc update |
|
| 14-Mar-25 | Natalie Tateishi MSc update |
Emad Hazboun MSc update |
|
| 21-Mar-25 | Kevin Adeli MSc update |
Tessa Fortnum MSc update |
|
| 28-Mar-25 | Julia Lacika MSc update |
Eva Visscher MSc update |
|
| 4-Apr-25 | Bruch Malloch PhD exit |
Scott Walters PhD exit |
|
Month Day, 2024
The name of the first student: Title of seminar
Supervisors: NamesAbstract.
The name of the second student: Title of seminar
Supervisors: NamesAbstract.
The Philosophicals:
As part of your degree, you are asked to give seminars on your research (this is the second part of Bio 9100y/9150y: Communications). Giving seminars is a good thing. The idea here is to get feedback from a wide range of people to help you along in your research, and to get you feeling comfortable with public speaking. The environment is friendly, thus this is the perfect place to practice that very important Proposal Assessment talk, or the talk you plan to give at an upcoming conference.
A brief outline of what is expected:
MSc students give one 10-20 minute talk in the first year of their degree, and a 20 minute talk in their second year. PhD students give one 20 minute talk during the second year of their degree and then a 30 minute talk near the end of their degree. A ‘before’ and ‘after’, if you will.
When it is your turn to present:
Please send thain@uwo.ca an e-mail by 5 pm of the Friday prior to your talk. Your email should include:
1. Your name
2. Your supervisor's name
3. Degree being sought
4. The title of your talk
5. A single-spaced abstract of up to 150 words.
6. One digital photo as a jpg file, for posting on the website.
Here is an example of a title and abstract for your seminar:
The identification of genes differentially expressed in sterile and reproductive honey bee workers (Apis mellifera)
A fundamental issue of sociobiology is to understand how social insect females regulate their individual reproduction to maximize inclusive fitness. In general, honey bee (Apis mellifera) workers remain sterile throughout their short lives, while they function as helpers to the queen, who is the sole egg-layer of the colony. The environmental cues controlling this behaviour are understood, but the underlying gene regulatory networks are not. In this study, we have manipulated the pheromonal cues that regulate reproduction and have analyzed the gene expression differences between sterile and reproductive workers using oligonucleotide microarrays. Preliminary analysis shows two distinct sets of co-regulated genes: one set associated with sterility, and a second set associated with egg-laying. I interpret these gene expression patterns in the context of social theory.
What to do before your talk:
Talks will be presented in Kresge Building 106. Please consult with the coordinator (thain@uwo.ca) one week in advance to discuss some presentation tips.
A Brief History of Friday Philosophicals
The origins of today’s Ecology-Evolution “Friday Philosophicals” stretch back at least to the early-mid 1970s; maybe there was something even before that, but nearly forty years is as far back as Jack Millar can remember.
Back then, there were two weekly Collip events, which have since become crunched into the one that now happens on Fridays. The Friday event (the “Philosophical”) was simply an end-of-week beer-in-the-fridge session; it originally took place in Collip 104 (since migrating to 208, then to 112 – where we also had a dart board!), with supply duties rotating weekly among the lab groups. Anyone wanting a beer and a chat on a Friday afternoon was welcome, and the custodians were among the regulars. Eventually, it had to become more secretive as the university tightened up its campus beer policy.
Then there were the “Wednesday-Niters”; these were sessions permitting the informal discussion of grad students’ research projects, and they took place in the homes of faculty, around the town. The grad-of-the-day arrived with notes, overheads, a stand-up screen and a two-four or two and made a presentation of their ideas, data, conclusions etc., as appropriate to their stage. The discussions were spirited and great fun, often lasting well into the night: presenters learned the rough & tumble business of presenting and defending their views on their feet, and the rest honed their thinking & questioning skills. All agreed they were a grand institution, and they formed a truly distinctive part of 深夜福利站’s E&E group experience. On top of being an excellent tool in professional and intellectual development, they comprised a very important piece of the group's social furniture, generating great esprit de corps. But eventually, faculty retired and/or moved out of town until by the later 80s-early 90s we had only 2 locations for most of the winter, early fall and late spring sessions being held at out of town locations.
Eventually it was suggested that the two weekly events be merged. Thus was born the modern Friday Phils format: seminars plus weekly brews in a single Collip location starting off in Collip 208, since migrating to 112, where the last sessions took place in spring 2010. Our swelling graduate ranks have since forced a move from the Collip spaces, so Fall 2010 sees the Friday Phils take their next steps. Let’s hope that its future unrolling will continue to generate a fruitful and fun experience for all.
