KLI Colloquia are invited research talks of about an hour followed by 30 min discussion. The talks are held in English, open to the public, and offered in hybrid format.
Fall-Winter 2025-2026 KLI Colloquium Series
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
25 Sept 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
A Dynamic Canvas Model of Butterfly and Moth Color Patterns
Richard Gawne (Nevada State Museum)
14 Oct 2025 (Tues) 3-4:30 PM CET
Vienna, the Laboratory of Modernity
Richard Cockett (The Economist)
23 Oct 2025 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
How Darwinian is Darwinian Enough? The Case of Evolution and the Origins of Life
Ludo Schoenmakers (KLI)
6 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Common Knowledge Considered as Cause and Effect of Behavioral Modernity
Ronald Planer (University of Wollongong)
20 Nov (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Rates of Evolution, Time Scaling, and the Decoupling of Micro- and Macroevolution
Thomas Hansen (University of Oslo)
RESCHEDULED: 18 Dec (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Chance, Necessity, and the Evolution of Evolvability
Cristina Villegas (KLI)
8 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Embodied Rationality: Normative and Evolutionary Foundations
Enrico Petracca (KLI)
15 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
On Experimental Models of Developmental Plasticity and Evolutionary Novelty
Patricia Beldade (Lisbon University)
29 Jan 2026 (Thurs) 3-4:30 PM CET
Jan Baedke (Ruhr University Bochum)
Event Details
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5881861923?omn=85945744831
Meeting ID: 588 186 1923
Topic description / abstract:
Eco-Evo-Devo combines concepts and approaches from different disciplines towards a better understanding of the patterns and processes accounting for inter-individual variation and inter-species divergence. Development translates genotype into phenotype and produces the phenotypic variants that are the raw material for evolutionary change. Both of these processes, which operate at different time scales, are very dependent on external environmental conditions. My work uses insect experimental models to study the genetic and environmental basis of variation in body pigmentation, a diversified and ecologically significant phenotype which illustrates key eco-evo-devo topics including evolutionary novelty and developmental plasticity. I will discuss some of our work on these topics and challenges it faces.
Biographical note:
I have a university degree in Biology from Lisbon University (PT), a PhD in Evolutionary and Developmental Biology from Leiden University (NL), and post-doc research experience in Evolutionary Genomics at the University of California at Irvine (USA). I have held independent faculty / PI positions at Leiden University (NL), Gulbenkian Institute of Science (PT), and CNRS (FR). Currently, I am an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sciences of Lisbon University (PT) and the PI of the “Eco-Evo-Devo” research group at its R&D unit, cE3c (Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes). My research combines concepts and approaches from evolutionary and developmental biology, as well as ecology, to explore the proximate and ultimate mechanisms shaping intra-specific variation and inter-species diversity in various complex traits in experimental insect models.
