Leslie Rissler, Ph.D., associate professor of biological sciences and curator of amphibians and reptiles at the University of Alabama, will address the topic, "Why Animals Live Where," when she delivers the 2013 Darwin Day Lecture at Cedar Crest College, 4 p.m. Feb. 9, Samuels Theatre, Tompkins College Center.

The talk is free and open to the public.

Rissler's research, which integrates ecology, evolution, biogeography and conservation, focuses on the factors that influence species' ranges and biodiversity conservation. Her research on amphibian distributions in Alabama was featured in the April 2009 issue of Bioscience.

Cedar Crest College Professor of Biological Sciences Richard Kliman, who is organizing the 2013 Darwin Day Lecture, said, "Dr. Rissler is really an ideal speaker for a Darwin Day event. Her research shows how understanding evolution allows us to better understand why species live where they do, and how their distributions in the future could be affected by changing climate."

Rissler is involved with CAARE (Conserving Alabama's Amphibians and Reptiles through Education) for elementary, middle and high schools, which calls attention to biodiversity and conservation in Alabama.

She is program director in the Division of Environmental Biology, Evolutionary Processes cluster, at the National Science Foundation.

Rissler received a doctorate from the University of Virginia, and carried out postdoctoral research at the University of California at Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology.

Information: 610-740-3791.