Wonderful call with Dr. Amato, American Museum of Natural History

We just had a wonderful call with Dr. Amato, Director of the Center for Conservation Genetics at the American Museum of Natural History. 

If you missed it, then you must listen to this audio recording, follow this web-based powerpoint and check out the experiment on Twitter:

1. Audio

Download DrAmato-6-10-09-AMNH-Genetics

2. Web-based Powerpoint (to follow along while listening - not necessary but adds to it)

http://borrowabook.org/amnh/virtualtour.ppt.htm

3. Twitter

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=readingodyssey

Note: Only a few listeners contributed to the "live tweet", but the comments are definitely interesting and worthwhile checking out.

Dr. Amato inspired us with his passion for evolutionary biology, with his virtual tour of his 80+ person genetics/genomics lab that sites behind-the-scenes at the American Museum of Natural History and surprised us with how he and his team use genetics to make important contributions to the preservation of endangered species (among other things).

Dr. Amato is a true friend of the Reading Odyssey and deserves our thanks!

Phil 

P.S. Thanks to HiDefConferencing, a division of Citrix Online, and Constant Contact for sponsoring tonight's call (through donating phone lines and services).

Comments

[Denise Henry]

Phil ~ Thank you SO much for putting together tonight's webinar! Like you, I didn't discover the joys of science until adulthood and I came away from this event with so much excitement my daughter was saying, "Mom, slow down and breath". She listened attentively to what I was telling her and, I don't know, Phil, we may have awakened another one....

[John Brownell, PhD]

Thanks for arranging this, Phil, and thank you, Dr. Amato, for an interesting presentation.

[Quinn O'Neill]

Great presentation. It was a real privilege to get a behind-the-scenes look at the Sackler Institute, and to learn about some of the cutting edge research being done there. Thank you, Dr. Amato!

[Patsye Peebles]

Dr. Amato - it was a very interesting tour and so generous of you to take the time to share all of that with us. You gave us an enlightening look at what goes on behind the scenes, and the very important work of the conservation program.

Thanks!

Patsye Peebles

[Nancy England]

A word of thanks to Dr. Amato - Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and insight with us. I certainly gained a mind-boggling amount of new background, including a better understanding of what the Museum, as well as you, offer the world. You are appreciated for your time and effort.

[Stephen Stout]

Thanks to Dr. Amato!

Perhaps because of my business (the theatre) I have always liked "backstage tours" of anywhere. It was fun to see that there is so much science being done behind the scenes at the Museum of Natural History. Poop. Who knew?

[Helen Moriarty]

Dear Dr. Amato,

I appreciate your taking your time to give us guidance through the back areas of the American Museum of Natural History and the many facets of the DNA Research program going on. It was a very interesting trip!

I really appreciate this opportunity to expand my own learning experience. My own mother used to complain that the LA City schools weren't giving us the core education that we needed but I didn't realize any of this until I was teaching in those same schools.

I think I am the other listeners are getting more out of this now and appreciating it more than we would have many years ago as students. I am very excited to hear how everyone appreciates these things - especially those, like me, who probably didn't have an opportunity either or weren't interested at the time!

[Gioconda Perez-Snyder]

Dr. Amato: Thank you for a wonderful presentation about the research in Genetics & Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History!

It was really remarkable!

[CJ Dennett]

Our family enjoyed listening and learning about the Sackler Institute. It is amazing how technology has unlocked so many new aspects of understanding the earth - and ultimately to help preserve it. Thank you to Dr. Amato for taking the time to share with us this fascinating topic!

[Stephan Roche]

I joined the call and enjoyed it immensely! As you stated at the end of the call, I'm not a scientist by training, but I have made it a point to educate myself as an adult. Which is kind of funny because I actually entered Princeton with the expectation that I would major in Biology. Regrettably, I just didn't have the discipline back in those days to stick with the program.

I also regret not inviting my children to join for last night's call with Dr. Amato. As a west coast resident, it's a bit more difficult to pull that off with a 5pm start. But, I know my kids would have enjoyed the call live. Instead, I plan to have them listen to the recorded version. It was very cool to hear the 10 year old's question.