Colorado State University Hosts Antarctic Lecture Series in Fort Collins Starting Monday, Sept. 26

Scientists who have conducted significant research in Antarctica will share their experiences studying the polar environment during a free, three-part Antarctica Lecture Series starting Monday, Sept. 26.

The first lecture will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at Everyday Joe’s, 144 S. Mason St., Fort Collins. Professor Shane Kanatous will talk about his studies about physiological adaptation of diving mammals in extreme environments. He will share his experiences about lessons to be learned from an Antarctic predator, the Weddell seal.

Remaining lectures:

7 p.m. Oct. 27, Fort Collins Library, 201 Peterson St. – A graduate student in the ecology program at CSU, Zachary Sylvain will talk about working in University Distinguished Professor Diana Wall’s lab. The team studies how climate change affects soil animals as well as the role soil animals play in ecosystem processes, such as nutrient and carbon cycling. Sylvain will focus discussion on his past two field sessions in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctic and how long-term studies of soil organisms provide information about these extreme ecosystems.

7 p.m. Nov. 16, Everyday Joe’s – Professor Adrian Howkins will focus on the relationship between Great Britain and the United States in Antarctica during the 1940s and 1950s.

The Antarctica Lecture Series is sponsored by Colorado State University’s School of Global Environmental Sustainability, the Department of Biology, and the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory.

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