海外招聘研究者によるセミナー開催のお知らせ

GCOEの海外研究者招聘事業で招聘しておりますColin Favret博士 （AphidNet, LLC, USA）のセミナーを以下の要領で開催いたします。
本セミナーでは、Favret博士が「アミノ酸」と「網野さん」とを間違えた 経緯を引き合いに出して、アブラムシ類の昆虫の分類学について お話していただきます。
ご興味のある方はぜひお越しください。 皆さまのご来聴を歓迎いたします。

講演者: Colin Favret (AphidNet, LLC, USA)
演題: Who is Mr. Amino-san? Communication, taxonomy, and the species problem

日時: 7月8日（木）　16:00-17:30　（予定）
会場: 農学研究院S12室　（農学部南棟1階）

要旨:
Taxonomy is more than the science of naming species, it is a tool for communication and a tool for organizing data. A name is a key to unlock the stored knowledge of a species, accumulated over hundreds of years. How can we know what an insect eats and how an insect eats if we do not know what it is? Likewise, how do two people know they are talking about the same insect unless they have agreed to use the same words? Good taxonomy is therefore critical to any biological context, from medicine, to agriculture, to international trade. Unfortunately, the semantic necessity of good taxonomy is complicated by biological reality: we do not have an objective method for defining what a species is. How can we use a name for an entity that may or may not even exist? The seminar will introduce these philosophical concepts and discuss modern techniques for species discovery, delimitation, and recognition.