DANBURY, CONN. — Biologists from Western Connecticut State University, Yale University and Connecticut College will share their research findings on themes ranging from marine ecology and tropical diversity to mammal illnesses in a series of seven research seminars to be presented at WestConn during the 2006-07 academic year.

Dr. Mary Beth Decker, a research scientist in Yale’s department of ecology and evolutionary biology, will lead off the 2006-07 WestConn Biology Department Research Seminar Series on Wednesday, Sept. 27, with a talk on “Climate and Trophic Effects on the Formation of Jellyfish Blooms.” Decker’s marine ecology research, sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, combines field and modeling studies to predict how changes in climate and plankton may affect the abundance or scarcity of jellyfish blooms, which holds important implications for overall fish populations and the marine ecosystem in coastal waters.

Decker’s talk and other Wednesday seminars in the biology series will be at 4 p.m. in Room 219 of the Science Building on the university’s Midtown campus, 181 White St. in Danbury. Admission to all seminars will be free and the public is invited. Presentations will be followed by an informal tea in the Biology Conference Room of the Science Building. The series is sponsored by the WestConn department of biology and environmental sciences.

Dr. Aris Parmakelis, a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow pursuing studies in the Yale department of ecology and evolutionary biology, will present the second seminar in the series Oct. 25, on “An Integrative Approach to Access the Differentiation of an Animal Group.” Parmakelis previously worked as a graduate student with WestConn Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Theodora Pinou at the University of Crete, and currently is conducting research in collaboration with Yale geneticist Dr. Jeffrey Powell.

Future seminars in the biology series will be:

• Nov. 29: WestConn Assistant Professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences Dr. Patrice Boily, on “The Functional Significance of Cold-Induced Fever in Mammals”;
• Jan. 24: WildMetro Research Director Dr. Catherine Burns, on “Protecting Nature Where We Live: Small Mammals in the New York Metropolitan Area”;
• Feb. 28: WestConn Professor of Biology Dr. Frank Dye, on “Bioassays, ECM and Student Research Opportunities”;
• March 28: Connecticut State University and WestConn Professor of Biology Dr. Thomas Philbrick, on “Polluted Streams, Dammed Rivers, Extinct Populations and Riverweeds: The Reduction of Tropical Diversity and Conservation?”; and
• April 25: WestConn Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Edwin Wong, on a topic to be announced.

For more information about the research seminar series, call Pinou at (203) 837-8793.