Join us for Café Scientifique

Frog calls aren’t just charming little noises that help make tropical forests magical. They carry information about the caller to anyone listening, whether that’s a female of the same species, a male of the same or a different species, or a nosy researcher trying to understand the ecological impacts of land use changes. In this talk, Dr. Sheridan will share results from a recent trip to Borneo, including details on how field work is conducted, some of her favorite calls recorded, what questions scientists address with call data, and animal sightings from the field.

About Jennifer Sheridan

Jennifer Sheridan is the Associate Curator for the Section of Amphibians and Reptiles at Carnegie Museum of Natural History and a tropical conservation ecologist. Her research interests are ecological responses to changes in both climate and habitat and land use. She utilizes frogs as study organisms, but with an eye for how they fit into the ecosystem as a whole. The main goals of her research are to understand and quantify threats to biodiversity in order to better focus conservation efforts and mitigate change. To those ends, Jennifer currently examines the effects of habitat alteration on amphibian communities and the effect of climate change on organism size.

Understanding how species are separated in ecological space and how species are affected by changes in their environment allow for better predictions of biodiversity losses and potential mitigation techniques. The majority of her research has been in Southeast Asia, (mainly Sabah, Malaysian Borneo), but Jennifer also examines impacts of climate change and land use change on amphibians in Pennsylvania utilizing CMNH collections along with field work at Powdermill Research Station.

Register for Café Sci

The event is FREE to attend, but preregistration is required ! Carnegie Science Center would like to continue to offer programs like Café Sci, Women in STEM, and others. Please consider making a donation when you register. Once you sign up, you’ll get an email confirmation. Have a question for Dr. Sheridan? You’ll be able to type your questions in the Q&A section during the presentation!

Amphibians are model organisms for understanding the impacts of environmental change on living things. Because they rely on temperature, they also provide excellent study systems for understanding the effects of climate change. This is particularly true in mountain environments, where climate change has been happening more quickly than the planet as a whole. In this presentation, Dr. Whiteman will detail his long-term research on tiger salamanders in Colorado, describe what these unique salamanders tell us about dealing with a changing climate, and share how we can use that information to help humanity navigate the future.

About Howard Whiteman

Dr. Howard Whiteman is Commonwealth Endowed Chair of Environmental Studies, Director of the Watershed Studies Institute, and Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Murray State University (Murray, Kentucky). Dr. Whiteman studies evolutionary ecology and conservation biology and has conducted field and experimental research for over three decades. A native of West Mifflin and graduate of Allegheny College, he writes a biweekly column about science and the environment for five newspapers, including Pittsburgh’s own Valley Mirror.

Register for Café Sci

The event is FREE to attend, but preregistration is required ! Carnegie Science Center would like to continue to offer programs like Café Sci, Women in STEM, and others. Please consider making a donation when you register. Once you sign up, you’ll get an email confirmation. Have a question for Dr. Whiteman? You’ll be able to type your questions in the Q&A section during the presentation!

We want to hear from you!

What impact has Café Sci had on you? Are you a scientist interested in speaking at Café Sci? Do you have a recommendation for a speaker or topic? Contact us at info@carnegiesciencecenter.org.

Virtual Café Sci Presentations