Patty Brennan, Ph.D.
Assistant professor
Department of Biological Sciences, Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA, USA
Friday, May 15th, 11am PST.
Talk via Zoom. RSVP here to receive the link to join.
Talk title: Time to step up! Defending “oddball” science
ABSTRACT: Despite general agreement on the importance of science as a whole, public trust in science is eroding and political attacks on science continue. Many attacks are directed towards research that seems strange and not geared towards solving particular societal problems, what we might call “oddball” science. These attacks reflect a deep lack of understanding and support for basic science that has devastating consequences to innovation and discovery. Dr. Brennan will discuss the experience of having her basic research on duck genitalia being attacked for political gain, and what she learned about science misperceptions in society. She will offer examples that highlight why we need to support more basic science, and how we can all participate in this process. She will make the case that in the post-COVID 19 era we will have a great opportunity to raise awareness in the public and lobby the government for more support if we all act.
Dr. Brennan obtained her undergraduate degree in Marine Biology in her native Colombia. After graduating she joined the R/V Odyssey, a vessel investigating marine mammal populations around the Galapagos Islands. She came to the USA to pursue a PhD., and graduated from the department of Neurobiology and Behavior at Cornell University, where she switched from working on marine mammals, to working with birds. She studied the elusive Great Tinamou, and discovered many unique aspects of their reproductive biology. She developed a strong interest in sexual selection and mating system evolution during this time. She witnessed tinamou mating in the field, and saw her first bird penis… Since she was not even aware that birds had penises, she decided to investigate this further for her post-doctoral project at Yale University and University of Sheffield working with Richard Prum and Tim Birkhead. From her discovery that genital morphology in waterfowl evolves from an evolutionary arms race resulting from sexual conflict, she now studies genital evolution in diverse vertebrates including dolphins, sharks, snakes and bats in her lab at Mount Holyoke College where she is now an Assistant Professor of Biology. Dr. Brennan’s research has received much attention from the press, and has been featured in countless newspapers, blogs, tv and radio shows, and internet videos. After her research was attacked by right-wing media, she developed an outreach program to highlight the importance of basic science, and the need for stable, politics-free, science funding.
See more of Patty’s research, press coverage, and teaching here.