PLENARY SPEAKERS
ICVM 2023, Cairns Australia
Friday, 28 July
Natalie Warburton, Murdoch University, Australia
Musculoskeletal adaptations in macropodoids – convergence and functional analogues
Associate Professor Natalie Warburton has been working in the area of comparative anatomy and functional morphology of marsupials for the last 20 years. From the enigmatic subterranean marsupial moles to tree-climbing kangaroos, jaw muscles to tarsal bones, she has developed our understanding of marsupial anatomy and evolution through her contributions to the literature in collaboration with national and international co-workers and students.
Saturday, 29 July
Stephen Gatesy, Brown University, USA
Taking a step back: 3-D kinematic studies spark new perspectives on skeletal and footprint form
Steve is a paleontologist and comparative morphologist interested in the evolution of locomotion. He uses 3-D tools to animate and quantify skeletal motion in extant taxa (birds, crocodilians, humans) and apply those insights to the fossil record (bones, footprints).
Sunday, 30 July
Sharlene Santana, University of Washington, USA
Uncovering the mechanisms of bat diversification through integrative morphology research
Sharlene is a Professor in the Department of Biology and the Curator of Mammals at the Burke Museum at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on understanding why some groups of mammals –particularly bats– are more diverse than others, by combining expertise from multiple fields, including evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, comparative anatomy, and biomechanics.
Monday, 31 July
Anjali Goswami, University College London and Natural History Museum London, UK
From Development to Deep Time: Reconstructing the Evolution of Tetrapod Diversity with a Phenomic Approach
Anjali is a Research Leader in Palaeobiology and Dean of Postgraduate Education at the Natural History Museum, London, and President of the Linnean Society of London. She is interested in topics starting with M, including Mammals, Morphometrics, Macroevolution, and Modularity.
Tuesday, 1 August
Virginia Abdala, National University of Tucuman, Argentina
Life and movement: The unbreakable bond
Virginia is a comparative morphologist intrigued by the effects that movement can have on the biological systems, considering different levels of the structural organization of vertebrates. She uses the most classical tools of comparative anatomy, to obtain data and analyze them in the context of broad biological questions such as the relationship between form and function.