Convocation Connects Environmental Conservation and Health
Biologist and herpetologist Tyrone Hayes will present a convocation address entitled “From Silent Spring to Silent Night: A Tale of Toads and Men” on Friday, February 13 at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. Hayes’ primary research focuses on the role of environmental factors on growth and development in amphibians. His studies have revealed how synthetic chemicals (such as the pesticide atrazine, which is frequently used in Minnesota) interact with hormones in a variety of ways to alter developmental responses. Hayes findings reveal a crucial new link between conservation and health. This event is free and open to the public.
Biologist and herpetologist Tyrone Hayes will present a convocation address entitled “From Silent Spring to Silent Night: A Tale of Toads and Men” on Friday, February 13 at 10:50 a.m. in the Skinner Memorial Chapel. Hayes’ primary research focuses on the role of environmental factors on growth and development in amphibians. His studies have revealed how synthetic chemicals (such as the pesticide atrazine, which is frequently used in Minnesota) interact with hormones in a variety of ways to alter developmental responses. Hayes findings reveal a crucial new link between conservation and health. This event is free and open to the public.
Hayes’ interest in frog hormones, specifically those of a tiny reed frog commonly found in Ethiopia and Uganda, sparked interest in his current fieldwork, which often consists of wading in a wet, muddy, and knee-deep African swamp at 2 a.m. when the frogs come out. During one night in the boggy African Bush, Hayes discovered that several members of the reed frog genus had changed color. Seeking to understand why, Hayes theorized that during the metamorphosis from tadpole to adult, frogs are very sensitive to changes in their environment, including chemicals in the water or in their food supply. The change in coloration indicated that the frogs’ extremely thin, sensitive skin was reading to contaminants in the water.
Hayes notes, “This is the same contaminated water that people cook and bathe with. We’ve found developmental changes in tadpoles when water contains contaminants 50 times lower than what’s allowed in U.S. drinking water. If
chemicals in such low concentrations can impact amphibians, mammals may also be affected.”
Indeed, the discovery that frog hormones are surprisingly similar, and in some cases identical, to human hormones allowed him to predict effects in other wildlife and humans. Hayes realized that simple observations could have practical applications: reed frogs could become a low-cost way to test for water pollution in developing countries. Local residents would only need to raise the frogs in questionable water sources and observe their color as adults to check for contaminants.
His current research focuses on the role of steroid hormones in amphibian development, conducting laboratory and field studies in both the United States and Africa. Hayes strives to synthesize ecological/evolutionary, organismal/physiological, and biochemical/molecular studies to learn how an animal translates changes in its external environment to internal changes and the animal’s ability to adapt to these changes at the molecular level.
Hayes earned his undergraduate degree in organism and evolutionary biology from Harvard University. He received his PhD in integrative biology from the University of California, Berkeley, where he is now an associate professor of integrative biology.
For more information, including disability accommodations, contact the Carleton College Relations Office at (507) 222-4308.