BIO

Sean O'Donnell is a Professor of Biodiversity Earth & Environmental Science at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA). His research focuses on how variation in climate, especially temperature variation, shapes the evolution and development of animal thermal tolerances. He focuses most on complex animal societies, and he is particularly fascinated by the army ants that roam tropical forests. He conducts field research and teaches field courses in Central and South America (Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru), as well as in the Negev Desert in Israel. Dr. Sean O'Donnell is a Professor of Biodiversity Earth & Environmental Science at Drexel University (Philadelphia, USA). His research focuses on how variation in climate, especially temperature variation, shapes the evolution and development of animal thermal tolerances. He focuses most on complex animal societies, and he is particularly fascinated by the army ants that roam tropical forests. He conducts field research and teaches field courses in Central and South America (Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru), as well as in the Negev Desert in Israel.

​

How has climate variation shaped animals’ behavior and physiology? Answering this question is important to predicting and understanding how directional climate change (global warming) will impact natural ecosystems. In this talk, Sean O’Donnell will take a multidimensional journey across continents and into the underworld, pass from day into night, and explore the importance of individual differences in social contexts. The subjects - ants of different species - are windows into the effects of extreme and changing climates. Because ants are ubiquitous and sensitive to their temperature environments, they offer great potential to increase our understanding of directional change and its effects. His lab has analyzed how ants on two continents (Central America and the Middle East) are impacted by temperature variation. He will explain how habitat use, the timing of activity, and body size determine temperature effects on ants. His findings show that thermal environments have driven evolutionary adaptations to thermal extremes and suggest that rising temperatures will challenge different ant species in ways that may alter ecosystem function.