麻豆传媒

Losos is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of evolutionary biology. In partnership with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the St. Louis Zoo, Losos leads the Living Earth Collaborative, an academic center dedicated to advancing the study of biodiversity. The Living Earth Collaborative serves as a hub to facilitate interdisciplinary research among plant and animal biologists and other scholars across a wide range of fields, bringing together the world鈥檚 leading scholars in the field of biodiversity to address the most pressing issue facing humankind today 鈥� the ability to sustain life on Earth. 

Sona’s lab is interested in understanding how plants sense changes in their environment, like light, temperature, humidity and even microbes. As humans, we can sense that it is too cold outside and walk indoors where it is more comfortable. Plants don’t have that ability, so they have to modify what they are going to do within the environment. “The question my lab is asking is how are plants sensing a change in their surroundings and then what are some of the first changes that take place to respond?” To do this, Sona’s lab specifically looks at the proteins involved in sensing environmental changes, called G proteins. Her lab studies the signaling mechanisms of G proteins , and how that ultimately affects plant growth and development. As our environment changes and the population continues to grow, Sona’s work is becoming even more critical to feeding the world. In order to understand how a plant responds to changing environmental conditions like high temperatures, drought, or low nutrient availability, we need to know what is happening within the plant. Once we understand that, then we can improve the plants to be able to respond better to stress. In the future, this could mean that we may be able to grow crops in conditions that were previously uninhabitable. Not only could Sona’s research help plants respond to stress, it could also result in improved yield under normal conditions. “Our goal will always be to make plants survive better with lower inputs and under stressful conditions, while still maintaining or improving yield,” explains Sona.

For the past 40 years, Donald C. Johanson has conducted field and laboratory research in paleoanthropology and has been an advocate for the public understanding of the science of evolution.

Johanson is the Founding Director of the Institute of Human Origins and discoverer of the 3.18 million-year-old fossil skeleton popularly known as "Lucy." 

He narrated the NOVA television series, In Search of Human Origins, and is a sought-after speaker and lecturer around the world. Johanson has written many books, including the widely read Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind. 

He also holds the Virginia M. Ullman Chair in Human Origins with the School of Human Evolution and Social Change and is an honorary member of The Explorers Club and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

Dr Longman鈥檚 research is primarily focussed on human adaptability. He has developed the use of contemporary sports to study the processes and mechanisms associated with human adaptability and evolution. He currently works with ultra-endurance athletes to enhance understanding of energy and resource allocation during periods of energetic stress.
Danny is an accomplished athlete, having competed nationally in track and field and rowing.
He currently competes in ultra-endurance events and has set numerous British and official World Records in open water swimming and ocean rowing respectively. When not studying or competing, Danny enjoys travelling and cycle touring.

Rowley earned his B.A. at the University of Warwick in England, which introduced him to the fascinating aspects of microbiology and biochemistry. After working in the food safety industry, he began a doctorate program studying the biology of bacterial viruses and the molecular mechanisms of the phiC31 integrase protein at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland.

Upon relocating to Texas, he studied the molecular mechanisms of a recombinase from a parasitic yeast plasmid and the replication of viruses that infect fungi and primates. He continued this work as a postdoc at the Biofrontiers Institute at Colorado University Boulder, CO. These projects gave  Rowley a broad base of expertise used techniques from molecular biology, biochemistry and evolution, that are applied in his current research projects.