POLLEN RESEARCH COORDINATION NETWORK SPEAKERS BUREAU
2010-2011 Academic Year
The Pollen RCN sponsors visits of Reproductive Plant Biologists to institutions serving students who are members of groups under-represented in the Plant Biology community, including African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. Our aim is to encourage young people to consider graduate school and careers in our research fields, as well as to build contacts and collaborations among faculty from diverse institutions. Together with the National Science Foundation, we believe increasing the participation of under-represented groups in Plant Biology Research and Teaching will increase the strength of this scientific workforce. In addition to delivering lectures on their research topics (accessible to an undergraduate audience), lecturers would welcome opportunities to meet informally with host faculty and students to share thoughts, knowledge and experiences.
REQUEST A SPEAKER
This Bureau lists Plant Biologists who have volunteered to speak on a variety of subjects related to their research fields. Please browse the list below. If you are interested in bringing one of the speakers to your institution, contact the speaker directly by phone or email to discuss convenient schedules. Travel expenses will be covered by the RCN, but all financial arrangements should be made with the RCN prior to the speaker's visit.
JOIN THE SPEAKERS BUREAU
The RCN updates this Bureau listing regularly, as additional volunteers step forward. If you would like to join this Bureau, please click here to provide information used to create a new speaker profile. If you have questions about the Speakers Bureau, please call Anna Edlund at 610-330-5465 or send an email to edlunda@lafayette.edu.
LIST OF SPEAKERS (We are looking for volunteers)
SPEAKER: Dr. Anna Edlund
AFFILIATION and CONTACT:
Biology Department
Lafayette College
Easton, PA 18042
PHONE: 610-330-5465
E-MAIL: edlunda@lafayette.edu
Anna Edlund is Assistant Professor of Developmental Biology at Lafayette College, a liberal arts college of 2500 students in North-Eastern Pennsylvania.
RESEARCH TOPIC
Pollen grain and stigma structures are irresistibly ornate and diverse across taxa. I am curious about intra- and inter-specific variations in both structure and function (architecture and cell behaviors). By comparing pollen germination across Arabidopsis thaliana ecotypes and other taxa in the Brassicaceae, our lab has found variations in the escape routes taken by pollen tubes, as they leave the pollen grain and enter the stigma. Some erupt directly through the grain wall, while others exit through openings or apertures. We now seek to:
1) characterize and quantify subtle structural and behavioral differences,
2) investigate their relevance for mating success,
3) reveal phylogenetic patterns in behaviors, to relate to those in structure.
POSSIBLE LECTURE TOPICS
1) Research: POLLEN TUBE ESCAPE: GERMINATION BEHAVIORS ACROSS THE BRASSICACEAE
2) Pedagogy: THE USE OF JOURNALS IN UNDERGRADUATE PLANT BIOLOGY COURSES
3) Art and Science: "THE ANTHER MY FRIEND" An hour-long performance piece including dance, sculpture, music, and science lecture on the subject of pollination and fertilization in flowering plants. Developed with Performance Company Lelavision, and performed 13 times in St. Paul, MN in 2009, for over 1200 school children.
