Eco Evo Devo Bio .org

The Ecological Developmental Biology Summit

April 10, 2026
Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University
Pacific Grove, California

These six talks examined interactions of environment, evolution and development.

Hamdoun describes new genetic lines that make the sea urchin embryo a lab model along with methods to cryostore gametes and embryos. Voskoboynik focuses on colonial tunicates where fusion of colonies provides a natural chimerism yielding renewal and longer lifespan. Keynote speaker Cleve uses a model sea anemone to understand symbiosis of coral dinoflagellates and the cellular basis of coral bleaching. Gilbert's keynote talk looks at lessons learned from major life transitions such as metamorphosis and childbirth, where embryos precipitously become adults. Jarosz's talk centers on the provocative finding that mutations can result in widespread protein folding and protein solvent changes indicating unappreciated mechanisms in the cellular milieu for rapid evolutionary change. An added "emerging research" talk by Benyamin Rosental shows that stem cells from temperature-resistant corals can rescue heat-sensitive corals.

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Program

  1. Welcome Remarks — Fio Micheli
  2. Welcome Remarks — David Epel
  3. Session 1 Introduction — Brooke Weigel, session chair
  4. Genetic lines of sea urchins and their application in ecological developmental biology — Amro Hamdoun, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
  5. Survival Benefits Outweigh Germline Competition Costs in Kin Chimeras — Ayelet Voskoboynik, Stanford / Hopkins Marine Station
  6. Keynote #1: Molecular and cellular bases of cnidarian-dinoflagellate symbiosis and its breakdown — Philip Cleves, Carnegie / UC Berkeley
  7. Session 2 Introduction — George Somero, session chair
  8. Keynote #2: A Deeper Understanding of Biological Principles: The Integrative Lens of EcoEvoDevo — Scott Gilbert
  9. Remarks on David Epel — Vic Vacquier
  10. Session 3 Introduction — Barbara Block, session chair
  11. Resilience in ecological context: Lessons from microbes and a uniquely human trait — Daniel Jarosz, Stanford University
  12. Panel Discussion: Where Does the Field Go From Here? — Irving Weissman, Vanessa Barone, Chris Lowe, Dmitri Petrov
  13. Poster Session & Reception