For a long time, hibernation was thought to be restricted to environments with cold temperatures. Recently research has shown the number of mammal species found to hibernate has increased dramatically and we now know that hibernation (or its shorter form, torpor) can happen from anywhere from the tropics to the poles. Learn how these processes help mammals to save energy, water, and avoid predators, all things that likely helped ancestral mammals survive the mass extinction event that took out the dinosaurs. Join Versant Power Astronomy Center in a journey through time and across the globe as we explore the diversity of torpor and hibernation use by modern mammals, what might happen as climate changes, and how hibernation might help us get to Mars.
Dr. Danielle Levesque is an Assistant Professor of Mammalogy and Mammalian Health in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine. She studies the evolution and ecology of temperature regulation and energy use in mammals. Dr Levesque and her students use both field and laboratory techniques to understand how rigidity or flexibility in metabolism and body temperature regulation affects the energy and water use of mammals, how their evolutionary history has shaped these patterns, and how they might respond to climate change.
The Science Lecture Series at Versant Power Astronomy Center will take place on the second Thursday of each month and is a partnership project with the Maine Science Festival and will feature research from a variety of science disciplines from around our state and use the digital planetarium to visualize these discoveries in a new dramatic and immersive way.
Tickets for planetarium programs are $7 for Adults, $6 for UMaine Students/Veterans/Senior Citizens, and $5 for children under 12. Click here to view the Versant Power Astronomy Center calendar.
Tickets are available online at http://astro.umaine.edu, by calling 581-1341, or at the Versant Power Astronomy Center box office.
