The Friends of San Pedro Valley Park are pleased to welcome Dr. Alejandro Velez Melendez from San Francisco State University as our December speaker on Tuesday, December 7th at 7 pm. The topic will be communication amongst animals, specifically Pacific chorus frogs. We communicate and so do they, so join us to discover what they are saying and how. It should prove to be a fascinating lecture. Don’t miss it.

Register in advance for this webinar by clicking here

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About the talk: A common sound of California’s spring nights is the iconic “ribbit, ribbit” of Pacific chorus frogs. In this talk, we will first introduce how frogs use sounds to communicate and the importance of communication in their social lives. We will then talk about several research projects about Pacific chorus frog communication presently being conducted in our lab. These projects include (i) how infection by a fungal parasite affects communication and mating behavior, (ii) how human-generated noise in the San Francisco Bay Area may be affecting frog calls and hearing, and (iii) how differences in the calls across California may be related to the formation of new species.

About the speaker: Alejandro joined San Francisco State University as an Assistant Professor of Biology in 2017. He holds a BS in Biology and a MS in Physiology and Behavior from Universidad de Los Andes in Bogota, Colombia. Alejandro obtained his PhD in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Minnesota and conducted postdoctoral work on Sensory Ecology at Purdue University and on Evolutionary Neuroscience at Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to his work on North American frogs, he has studied communication and sensory perception in songbirds, electric fishes, and tropical poison dart frogs. Alejandro is also a SCUBA dive instructor and enjoys exploring California’s natural wonders.