- Speaker
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Holly Moeller, Ph.D.Associate Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara
The 2025 lecture series in biology is “Mechanisms of Evolution.” Evolution drove the incredible diversity of life on our planet. In this series, scientists will explore the underlying mechanisms that drive evolutionary change. Topics will include evolutionary adaptation, speciation, the dynamics of host-microbe interactions and more. By examining a wide range of organisms, these lectures will provide insights into how evolutionary processes have produced the complex web of life we see today.
2025 Lecture Series Themes
Biology: Mechanisms of Evolution
Mathematics and Computer Science: Discovering Mathematics Through Computers
Presidential Lectures are a series of free public colloquia spotlighting groundbreaking research across four themes: neuroscience and autism science, physics, biology, and mathematics and computer science. These curated, high-level scientific talks feature leading scientists and mathematicians and are designed to foster discussion and drive discovery within the New York City research community. We invite those interested in these topics to join us for this weekly lecture series.
Biology textbooks teach us that metabolism is hardwired into our genetic code, specifying how our cells can use different forms of energy. Yet many organisms defy this expectation by “acquiring” metabolism from other species within their lifetimes. Sometimes this is done through friendly exchanges; other times, through cellular theft.
In this Presidential Lecture, Holly Moeller will explore how these biological rule-breakers have transformed their ecology and opened the door for evolutionary innovation. She’ll discuss how metabolic mutualisms with belowground fungi enable trees to wear different “metabolic hats” for every occasion and how chloroplast-stealing microbes harness the power of sunlight to produce red tides. Along the way, she will explain how these acquisitions have allowed metabolism to jump from branch to branch on the tree of life, shaping the course of evolution in the deep past and today.
About the Speaker
Moeller is an associate professor of ecology, evolution, and marine biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where her group works on acquired metabolism using a combination of mathematical modeling and laboratory experiments. Moeller is a New Jersey native whose interest in acquired metabolism was sparked at Rutgers University before she continued her graduate training at MIT, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Stanford University. Beyond her research lab, Moeller is also a “math evangelist” who teaches and writes about applications of mathematics in biology.