“Over 15,000 LAS students have opportunities to learn in the classroom from these faculty members,” said Feng Sheng Hu, the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS, in opening remarks about the new lecture series. “But we want to provide ample opportunity for everyone to hear from these outstanding scholars. The College of LAS created this new lecture series to make sure that our campus community has the opportunity to hear from our leading experts about the work they and their students are pursuing to address important questions, and improve the society and the world.” Gene Robinson, left, and Feng Sheng Hu From left: Gene Robinson, professor of entomology and director of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, left, and Feng Sheng Hu, Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of LAS. (Photo by Melissa Kuhl.)

Robinson, a Swanlund Chair with an appointment at the Center for Advanced Study, is former director of the Neuroscience Program and has pioneered the application of genomics to the study of social behavior.

He spoke about the Earth BioGenome Project, an international consortium of scientists aspiring to sequence the DNA of all known eukaryotic species, which are defined as organisms whose cells have a nucleus that houses their chromosomal DNA. They include animals, insects, plants, fungi, protozoa, and numerous other species, most of which are single-cell organisms.