A public talk by Professor Mike Steel from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.
Ever since the publication of Origin of the Species, biologists have aimed to uncover the evolutionary history of the species that inhabit (or once inhabited) the Earth – this project has come to be known as the Tree of Life. One way to think of it is as a giant family-tree linking all living things. It turns out that clues to what this Tree of Life looks like are contained in the DNA sequences shared by plants, animals and bacteria. However, understanding these clues requires some fun mathematics as well as evolutionary biology. Drawing on his experience in applying tools from mathematics and statistics to problems in evolutionary biology, Professor Mike Steel will discuss some of the fascinating mathematical issues that arise in trying to find the Tree of Life.
Link: http://mathsofplanetearth.org.au/events/mathematical-challenges-in-finding-the-tree-of-life/
This event is funded by AMSI as part of the Mathematics of Planet Earth program.