Biology Seminar Series - Melissa H. Pespeni, Ph.D., University of Vermont

Using genomics to reveal the mechanisms of resilience: Studies of global change adaptation and sea star wasting disease.

In this talk, I will discuss how we integrate genomic approaches with the ecology and evolution of interesting, ecologically foundational marine organisms to understand if and how they respond to stressors such as ocean warming, ocean acidification, and pathogens. We use field sampling, common garden studies, and experimental evolution to shed light on the mechanisms of resilience in a rapidly changing world. 

Dr. Pespeni has been a member of the faculty at the University of Vermont since  2014 and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Biology. She earned her Ph.D. at Stanford University and carried out postdoctoral research at Stanford and Indiana University. As a first-generation scholar with multiple intersecting underrepresented identities, Dr. Pespeni works at many levels to change the culture and practices to increase belonging in STEM spaces.