Splash Biography

What is a genome? How and why did the information in our DNA change over time and over the course of evolution? How can modern technology allow us to analyze and interpret differences in the information carried in cells by DNA, and why is understanding these differences so important in understanding how our bodies function and fight disease? How can genetic information help us learn more about animal species on the brink of extinction, or about nature here in the big city? And could we ever use DNA from an extinct species to bring it back to life, Jurassic Park-style? In this class we’ll answer these questions and more, through lecture, discussion, and some hands-on demonstrations and activities.

Where do birds go during the winter? The ancient Greeks explained the disappearance of certain kinds of birds during the winter by suggesting that they magically transformed into other kinds of birds. Today we know that’s not true–the strategies animals have evolved for escaping the changing of the seasons are, in some ways, far more unbelievable. From shorebirds that can fly nonstop for over 6,000 miles; to monarch butterflies and their yearly trips to the few, relatively tiny patches of fir trees in Mexico where they spend the winter months; to swarms of near-microscopic ocean-dwelling animals called zooplankton that swim a vertical distance of 3,000 feet each day to find food, animals are willing to go the distance against all odds in order to survive and pass on their genes. In this class we’ll learn all about amazing animal migrations, the risks and rewards of these long journeys, and how animals’ migrations are an important part of our global ecosystem.

All animals communicate or exchange information with each other in some way or another. But the ways in which they do may surprise you. From whales that sing to each other over hundred-mile distances, to birds and insects that attract attention from the opposite sex using colors outside of the visible light spectrum, to sponges and sea slugs that "talk" through nearly imperceptible chemical signals, animals have spent hundreds of millions of years of evolution perfecting unique ways of communicating effectively in their environment–often through means well beyond our own physical capabilities. In this class, we'll take a whirlwind tour of the strangest modes of animal communication and how they've evolved over time, and we'll learn about parallels between human and animal communication. And when the topic of bioluminescence and the glowing signals some fishes and invertebrates use comes up, we might even break out some glowsticks.