Episode 6: WTF Biologist, Richard Dawkins with Dr. Tom Whitham

Richard Dawkins' contributions to evolutionary biology (and pop culture) revolutionized the field of study. He is an emeritus fellow of New College Oxford and was the first University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science. He is also my science crush. Dawkins has authored several books, but this episode focuses on his first two, The Selfish Gene (1976) and The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene (1982). While Dawkins is known for voicing his strong opinion about religion, this episode focuses only on the science of this important evolutionary biologist.  I am joined by Dr. Tom Whitham, who provided some of the earliest hard data to support the extended phenotype. Tom Whitham is Regents’ Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Northern Arizona University and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2011, Whitham received the prestigious Eminent Ecologist Award by the Ecological Society of America—the group’s highest honor—for his outstanding body of work and his training of a new generation of scientists. Whitham served as the primary scientific advisor of an award-winning PBS documentary, A Thousand Invisible Cords: Connecting Genes to Ecosystems, which I highly recommend. This video is what convinced me to apply to graduate school. Whitham has authored or co-authored more than 220 papers in scientific journals, including Science and Nature. Music this week is "Crystal Clear" by Ron Deckert. Find him on SoundCloud. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok @wtf_biology in all those places.  

Topics covered: group selection, common gardens, foundation species, beavers, cottonwoods, aphids, Ogden Nature Center