Seminar on Shells

Geerat Vermeij, UC Davis Professor. | Photo from UC Davis

The Oregon Institute of Marine Biology's Spring 2018 Seminar Series features Geerat Vermeij, a distinguished professor at UC Davis. His seminar is entitled, "Shells: an ecological and historical window on the marine world." This 7 p.m. public seminar in the Boathouse Auditorium serves as the annual McConnaughey Lecture (named for long-time OIMB biology professor and Oregon Shores board member Bayard McConnaughey).  The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Vermeij's fields are marine ecology and paleoecology. Some of his research subjects are the functional morphology of marine molluscs; the coevolutionary reactions between predators and prey, and their effects on morphology, ecology, and evolution; biogeography and climate, and their reconstruction from paleontological evidence; the marine Mesozoic revolution, and the paleobiogeography of the Arctic. Vermeij has more than 200 publications, including five published books as well as papers in such leading journals as Paleobiology, Science, American Naturalist, and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. His latest book, "Nature and Economic History," tackles the subject of economics and evolution. In it, Vermeij draws close comparisons between the principles of economics and the principles of evolution, and ties both to major trends in the history of life and the history of humanity.

Park on Boat Basin Road and walk past the Coast Guard housing to the OIMB Boathouse. Call (541) 888-2581 or email oimb@uoregon.edu for more information.