Come join us as Jim Karagatzides, Professor in the School of Environmental Studies, Georgian College, tells us about the world of plants that "bite" back.
Carnivorous plants have “turned the tables” on animals through the evolution of elaborate traps to catch and process prey. This presentation will describe the costs to build snap-traps, sticky pads and pitfall traps. However, as Seinfeld’s father taught us about the business world, it’s about your margins – the difference between your costs and benefits. We will therefore calculate the benefit obtained by carnivorous plants through the consumption of prey and then determine the amortization time to pay back the investment in elaborate traps – just as many of us have done for a mortgage.
Jim received a B.A. in Geography & Biology from York University and a M.Sc. in Geography from Simon Fraser University. He then worked as a research technician for 4 years in the Botany department at the University of Toronto and 7 years in the Environmental Studies and Biology departments at Trent University before returning to school to obtain a Ph.D. in Geography from Queen's University. He received a Postdoctoral Fellowship from the federal government which he used to learn about carnivorous plants at the Harvard Forest. Jim then returned to his home town of Toronto and landed at Georgian College in 2010 as a Professor in the School of Environmental Studies.Jim’s research experience has been in a variety of environments ranging from the high Arctic to Belize and west to Clayoquot Sound. This research has focused largely on pollution concerns such as the effects of acid rain on sugar maple forests or on the growth of carnivorous plants. Recent research focuses on contaminants in First Nations communities - for example, the effects of spent lead shot-shell on the environment and human health in the Fort Albany First Nation of James Bay. On the teaching side, Jim and his colleagues are keen to develop Georgian’s 40 acres adjacent to the Minesing Wetlands (near the Snow Valley Ski Resort) into an outdoor classroom and field station.
