Northern Michigan University will host a virtual Climate@Noon presentation titled “The Color of Bunny” from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6. Assistant Biology Professor Diana Lafferty will present about how a mismatch in seasonal coat color provides a visual metaphor for how climate change may affect Earth's biodiversity.
Lafferty will talk about how the snowshoe hare serves as an ecological model for investigating the genetic basis for seasonal coat color change and for examining the morphological, physiological and behavioral responses of a seasonal coat color changing species to ongoing climate change.
As the director of NMU's Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Science Lab, Lafferty synergizes her research, mentoring, teaching and extension efforts to maximize participation by diverse people in authentic science. She aims to advance the understanding of how wildlife populations and their associated communities and ecosystems respond to human-mediated global change. Lafferty's research is taxonomically and geographically diverse.
Lafferty integrates macro and micro-ecological perspectives using a mix of natural history observations, field-based monitoring, myriad laboratory techniques, statistical modeling and bioinformatics analyses to answer ecological questions for the purpose of contributing to meaningful conservation outcomes.
The Zoom meeting ID for the event is 912 9849 5024. Learn more at https://nmu.edu/events/climatenoon-color-bunny.