Kolshorn Lecture: Diversity (Evolution) and Connection (Ecology) in Science, and Beyond
with Dr. JC Buckner
Thursday | October 10, 2024 | 5:00 pm
FREE, register with Eventbrite
Recommended ages: 14+
Each year, the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota invites a distinguished scientist or conservationist to campus to give the Kolshorn Lecture. The Kolshorn lecture series was established in 1982 to honor Otto W. Kolshorn. Otto Kolshorn was a farmer, teacher, school board member, and Justice-of-the Peace from Goodhue County, Minnesota, who served 5 terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
This year’s lecture by Dr. JC Buckner, “Diversity (Evolution) and Connection (Ecology) in Science, and Beyond,” will be held in person at the Bell Museum.
Doors open at 5:00 pm.
Light refreshments will be served at 5:15 and participants will have the opportunity to visit the temporary exhibitions In Search of Earth’s Secrets and Beyond Famous Fossils: Secrets of the Green River Formation.
The lecture will begin at 6:00 pm.
This lecture is free and open to all. To participate, register on Eventbrite. This is an in-person event at the Bell Museum. Please visit their site to register at:
This free, in person event is hosted by the Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology in partnership with the Bell Museum.
About the Speaker
Dr. JC Buckner is an evolutionary zoologist and assistant professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Texas at Arlington and a research associate at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. She serves as the principal investigator of the IDER lab which studies the macroevolution of vertebrates with particular interest in biodiversity dynamics, adaptive genetics, and trait evolution.
Buckner received her BS in Zoology from SUNY Oswego where she participated in the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program. She earned her PhD. from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at UCLA. During that time, she completed part of her dissertation in Brazil through a Fulbright US program research award. Buckner completed her NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology in the Iowa State University Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology followed by a postdoctoral research position at the LSU Museum of Natural Science.
Buckner is also devoted to creating inclusive spaces in academia to welcome curious scientists of all backgrounds to pursue their passions. In that capacity, she serves as the faculty co-advisor for the UTA SACNAS chapter, on the council for the Society of Systematic Biologists and on the board for the non-profit Black in Natural History Museums, with the hope of improving the experiences of underrepresented scientists, celebrating their contributions, and facilitating their collaborations.