Echoes of Evolution

Did you know baby birds start learning their songs even before they can sing? Just like human infants babbling to mimic speech, nestlings of the pied flycatcher—a small migratory songbird—pay close attention to their father’s tunes. But can they actually recognize their dad’s voice among other males? In this talk, we’ll explore how these tiny birds discriminate between songs, why genetic bonds matter, and what this tells us about the origins of culture in animals. Join us to uncover how nature and nurture shape the soundscape of bird communication—one chirp at a time!

Understanding how key tree species in boreal forests responded to past climate changes can help us predict how they might adapt to today’s rapidly warming world. In this study, we analyzed ancient DNA from sediments—some as old as 2 million years—collected from Arctic sites. By examining both published and newly studied DNA data, we aim to uncover how tree populations were structured in the past and how they shifted over time. This is still ongoing work but I hope to also get some insights into the resilience and adaptability of these important species in the face of changing environments. I will keep you updated at the talk!

Butterflies are amazing in many ways, one of which is being able to switch between having a generation time of 1 month or 8 months. Like many insects at our latitudes, they make this decision between having a fast or long life using daylength. How do they do this and why? To get deep insights into these questions, my lab has recently started using the genomes of diverse species across the tree of life. Come to my talk if you want to learn about how some of the latest advances in biology are being used in Stockholm to reveal the mysteries of the butterflies in our backyards.