Alex Werth

Meal Time: Lessons from Whales about the Evolutionary Past and Technological Future

About the Speaker

Alex is a biology professor at a small liberal arts college in Virginia, Hampden-Sydney College, where he teaches anatomy, physiology, and evolution. His research focuses on the morphology, biomechanics, and ecology of feeding in toothed and baleen whales, and especially on the physical processes of filtration in baleen. He earned his BS from Duke University and PhD from Harvard University and has studied whales in every ocean of the world and all over Alaska, including work on bowhead whales in Barrow, but Sitka is one of his favorite places. He spoke at WhaleFest in 2005 and was a scientist in residence at the Sitka Sound Science Center in 2014. He frequently writes on issues in science education and loves to discuss science and nature with all people of all ages.