Join us for the new inaugural Eco-Evo-Devo Summit, an exciting examination of how biological systems adapt to the fast changing environment.  Hear keynotes, Stanford experts, and poster findings from new scientists, by the beautiful Pacific ocean. Breakfast and lunch served, and refreshments during the  poster session.

When:  Friday April 10th, 9am to 5:00pm

Where: Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove

Who? We will hear from Dr.’s David Epel, Ayelet Voskoboynik, Amro Hamdoun, Daniel Jarosz, a panel discussion with Irving Weissman, Vanessa Barone, Chris Lowe, Dmitri Petrov, and keynotes from Dr. Philip Cleves, and Dr. Scott Gilbert, and comments from many other leaders and learners in this area. 

What is eco-evo-devo?:   This new field integrates Ecology, Evolution, and Developmental Biology to study how an organism's environment, its developmental processes, and evolutionary pressures interact to shape its traits and biodiversity. This leads to important mechanisms such as  developmental plasticity, genetic assimilation, developmental symbiosis, and epigenetic inheritance. 

Why a summit now? The field of eco-evo-devo biology must be elevated in this time of rapid change.  David Epel, Professor Emeritus, an early pioneer in this field, is supporting this summit with plans to garner support for pilot grants in this area in the future.  The embryo has two major challenges. The first are  adaptations  to survive during its anticipated environment while an embryo. Many of these adaptations are  unique to the embryonic phases and are distinctly different from those used by the adult. The second challenge is for the embryo to find ways to handle novel alterations in gene regulatory networks that change the adult phenotype and that might have adaptive value to changing environments seen in the adult phase. These include more than just mutations in major structural  genes but also alterations in transcription factors or enhancers of transcription factors or yet unappreciated ways of effected change. Given both slow and rapid changes to our environment, this field is more important than ever.