The School of Science and Department of Biology at TCNJ are honored to host Dr. Nyree Zerega for our Spring 2017 Colloquium Series on Tuesday, February 28, 2017.
Dr. Zerega is a botanist and evolutionary biologist at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Her research programs focuses on the advancement of sustainable agriculture, crop improvement, and conservation of plant genetic resources.
Professor Zerega’s visit to TCNJ is linked to our campus-wide, science-themed lunch event titled “Tasting the Tree of Life: Exploring Biodiversity through Cuisine.” This unique event—a collaboration of the School of Science, Department of Biology, Dining Services, and Sodexo—will be held in the Atrium at Eickhoff from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. A focus of Dr. Zerega’s research on jackfruit will be featured in one of nine special meals, and she will highlight the broader importance of biodiversity as the Keynote speaker for the event.
The Keynote Lecture, titled “Evolving Food: Exploring Food Biodiversity Across the Tree of Life,” will be held on Tuesday, February 28, 2017 from 12:30 – 1:30 pm in the Mayo Concert Hall, Music Building.
Lecture – “Evolving Food: Exploring Food Biodiversity Across the Tree of Life”
- Tuesday, February 28, 2017
- 12:30 – 1:30 pm
- Mayo Concert Hall, Music Building
Presentation Overview
There is little in life that is more fundamental to our survival than food. Throughout human history, we have and continue to spend much of our time and resources producing, buying, preparing, transporting, consuming, or simply thinking about food. While food has always touched our lives in many ways (biologically, socially, environmentally, politically, and economically), since the advent of agriculture over 10,000 years ago much has changed with regard to what we eat and how we interact with our food. Exploring agriculture and the domestication process of plants and animals is one of the best ways to understand that change and to observe and understand evolution. Zerega will take us on a brief tour of the history of foods we eat around the world and the role humans have played in their evolution. Through examples, she will emphasize the role of biodiversity in our food system and untapped resources that may help us better feed the world.
About Dr. Nyree Zerega
Nyree Zerega is a botanist who studies plant evolution with a particular interest in food crops and pollination. She earned her PhD in Biology and Plant Resources from New York University as part of a partnership with The New York Botanical Garden. She is currently the director of the Graduate Program in Plant Biology and Conservation, a collaboration between Northwestern University and The Chicago Botanic Garden. Her research employs a variety of research tools—ranging from genomic data to experimental field studies—in order to advance understanding of crop domestication and underutilized crops. She is especially interested in applying findings to 1) facilitate sustainable agriculture, crop improvement, and conservation of plant genetic resources, and 2) understand the diversity, origins, and human-mediated dispersal of cultivated plants around the world. Current projects focus on tropical tree crops and their wild relatives in Southeast Asia and the Indo-Pacific Islands, including breadfruit and jackfruit.
Special Campus-wide Meal Event – “Tasting the Tree of Life: Exploring Biodiversity through Cuisine”
- Tuesday, February 28, 2017
- 11:00 am – 3:00 pm; join the speaker for lunch between 11:00 am –12:15 pm
- The Atrium at Eickhoff
About the Event
At this one-of-kind event, balance your diet in a new way! Sample a savory BBQ jackfruit sandwich! Try crunching a cricket! Or sink your teeth into alligator bites at our Tasting Bar!
These foods stretch across distant branches of The Tree of Life. The Tree of Life organizes living things, including many that you eat, using branches to show relationships. It’s like a family tree; scientists use the tree to trace the history of species living today back through time. By moving along the branches of the tree, we can visualize and describe the relatedness of all living and fossil organisms.
For instance, the healthy bacteria in your kombucha and the chicken in your pot-stickers may seem like unlikely relatives, but they both evolved from an ancestor that dates back over a billion years! As you sample flavors of the day, look for the tree symbol at each station to see how the diversity of your meal changes branch by branch.
Join us for Tasting the Tree of Life where you will have the opportunity to sample some new tastes alongside familiar favorites while learning about biodiversity and relatedness of your food!
For More Information: