Our Speakers

Professor
Presentation Title: “TBD”
Dr. Paul Turner is the Rachel Carson Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University, and Microbiology faculty member at Yale School of Medicine. He obtained a BA in Biology (1988) from University of Rochester, a PhD in Microbial Evolution (1995) from Michigan State University, and did postdocs at National Institutes of Health, University of Valencia in Spain, and University of Maryland-College Park, before joining Yale in 2001. Dr. Turner studies evolutionary genetics of viruses, particularly phages that infect bacterial pathogens and RNA viruses transmitted by arthropods, and researches the use of phages to treat antibiotic-resistant bacterial diseases. He is very active in science-communication outreach to the general public, and is involved in programs where faculty collaborate with K-12 teachers to improve STEMM education in underserved public schools. Dr. Turner’s service includes the National Science Foundation’s Bio Advisory Committee, and his honors include Fellowship in the National Academy of Sciences, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and American Academy of Microbiology.
Keynote speaker on Saturday, February 10th, 2024.
https://turnerlab.yale.edu/
Professor
Presentation Title: “TBD”
Kyra is a Professor of Biology and Program Director for the Sustainability Program at Maryville University, and a Research Associate at Missouri Botanical Garden. Kyra is a St. Louis Biodiversity Fellow in the Living Earth Collaborative and a Plant Humanities Fellow with Dumbarton-Oaks. Kyra served for four years as elected chair of the Teaching Section of the Botanical Society of America. She was named Science Educator of the Year by the STL Academy of Science in 2016. She teaches courses in Ecology, Plants and People, Evolution, Conservation and Sustainability, and Botany. Her lab focuses on three main areas of research that emphasize the need to understand the dynamics of the natural world in a changing environment. First, she studies the evolution and ecology of plant reproduction, including plant-pollinator interactions and breeding systems. Second, she a co - PI for the USDA plant-pollinator project that is studying pollination in orchards across the urban landscape. Finally, she is co-PI on an historical ethnobotanical study that researches the plants of the last ruling Medici, Anna Maria Louisa, in recently translated 17th Century archived records. Kyra did both her undergraduate and Masters in Integrative Biology at Brigham Young University, where her thesis work focused on the impacts of invasive species on the pollination systems of several tropical plant species. She did her doctorate at Washington University focusing on the ecology and evolution of plant reproductive biology, using the Oenothera genus as a study system. She is a member of the Botanical Society for America, American Women in Science, and served as the co-director the Missouri state Junior Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium from 2012-2016. She has received funding from NSF, BSA, Sigma Xi, American Women in Science, National Geographic, and USDA. You can find her TEDx talk from 2015 under “Plants, People and Pollinators: A Love Story.”
Keynote speaker on Friday, February 9th, 2023.