"Musings from a Museum: Snails as marvelous subjects of collections-based research."

Snails, as natural history specimens, are one of the largest components of many biodiversity museums’ collections. Their diversity, fossil record, form, and distribution make them excellent candidates for scientific inquiry by systematics, evolutionary biologists, paleontologists, and others. In this talk Dr. Vendetti will present snails as harbingers of habitat change, world travelers, evidence of undetected speciation, and more. She will also highlight the unique role of a natural history museum in engaging the public to document gastropod biodiversity, and the important consequences of these records for science and society.

Jann Vendetti is Associate Curator of Malacology (Mollusks) and NHM’s Twila Bratcher Chair in Malacological Research. She is a founding member of the Urban Nature Research Center. She is interested in the natural history, evolution, systematics, and conservation of marine and terrestrial snails­­­­

11:50 am- Snacks & Socializing
noon- Talk Begins