A lecture by, Josh Drew, Postdoctoral Research Scientist, Field Museum

The reefs of the Pacific are the most vibrant and biodiverse in the world, yet face numerous threats from unsustainable fishing practices to global climate change. Understanding how this diversity arose can help us better understand where to focus our conservation efforts. The epicenter of tropical marine diversity is centered in the “coral triangle” of Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia. While this pattern has been known for over a century it is only recently that we can start to answer the question “why are there so many fish in the sea?” This talk will present some cutting edge science that allows us to understand the architecture of how species are made, and the role that natural history museums can play in protecting those species. Sponsored by the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology