(Posted November 30, 2006)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Doug Glazier, professor of biology at Juniata College, will give a lecture on the unique species of plants and animals on the island of Tasmania in his talk \"Adventures in Tasmania\" at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 12, in Neff Lecture Hall in the von Liebig Center for Science on the Juniata campus. The lecture is free and open to the public. The talk is part of the Bookend Seminar Lecture Series, which features afternoon lectures each month by Juniata faculty. Glazier, whose research focuses on evolutionary biology, recently returned from a semester-long sabbatical at the University of Tasmania. Tasmania is an island state located off the eastern coast of Australia. On his sabbatical, Glazier studied how small shrimp-like crustaceans called amphipods colonized land in Tasmania over time. \"Tasmania is a showcase for evolution, as it harbors many strange creatures that could be called living fossils,\" Glazier says. After an initial history and overview of Tasmania, Glazier will describe some of the beautiful habitats of the island as well as some of the unique plants and animals found on the island. Glazier will reveal during his lecture that Tasmania is home to the tallest flowering tree species in the world, that uncommonly tall ferns grow there, that Tasmania ants are particularly vicious, and he will characterize the behavior of Tasmanian Devils. Glazier came to Juniata in 1980. His research interests include the functional biology and life-history evolution of mammals and crustaceans, the animal ecology of soils and freshwater springs, and the ecology of land invasions by formerly aquatic species. Glazier has published more than two dozen articles and almost two dozen abstracts, and is also writing a book on ecology and evolution. He received the Beachley Distinguished Academic Service Award in 2000, and has been a visiting researcher at the Wells Reserve (Maine), Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (South Carolina), University of Sheffield (England) and University of Lecce (Italy). Glazier is a member of 15 professional societies, a manuscript reviewer for 14 biological research journals, and a grant proposal reviewer for the National Science Foundation. He is a member of the Huntingdon County Chapter of Pennsylvania CleanWays and numerous other environmental organizations.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.