By Steven Scarpa
The Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies (YIBS) and Yale Planetary Solutions held Biodiversity Day on April 28, an event dedicated to highlighting and celebrating the breadth and depth of biodiversity-themed research across the University.
Over 100 scholars from a variety of disciplines gathered at the Greenberg Conference Center to listen to short talks by Yale faculty showcasing cutting-edge research. The Yale Peabody Museum's Board of Curators was well represented during the day's offerings. Curators Casey Dunn (Invertebrate Zoology), Erika Edwards (Botany), Martha Muñoz (Vertebrate Zoology), Pincelli Hull (Invertebrate Paleontology), Thomas Near (Vertebrate Zoology), Richard Prum (Vertebrate Zoology, Ornithology), and Lidya Tarhan (Invertebrate Paleontology) spoke on different dimensions of biodiversity science.
“This is a wonderful chance to connect with colleagues who are passionate about understanding and protecting Earth's biological diversity,” said Eric Sargis, director of the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies, professor of anthropology, and Peabody Museum curator.
In their introduction to the day’s proceedings, Peabody curators Thomas Near, professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, and Martha Muñoz, associate professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, made the argument that understanding biodiversity is imperative to the continued well-being of our planet.
“When people think of biodiversity one of the first things you might conjure is a tally or a count. How many species are there? How many are endangered? How species will be protected in this reserve versus that reserve?” Muñoz said.
She said that over two million species have been described, and there are likely millions more that have yet to be named. “Those numbers certainly matter, but biodiversity is more than just a tally,” Muñoz said.
It is a living record of how life has adapted to environmental challenges, which is integral to the systems on which many human societies depend. Yet, biodiversity is often treated as something to protect after real decisions are made, Near said.
“(It) belongs in any serious conversation about planetary solutions, climate resilience, food security, disease dynamics, water quality, forest recovery, fisheries, and the ability of ecosystems to absorb disturbance and rebuild afterwards,” Near said. “They are not separate from biodiversity. They are intertwined with it.”
Therefore, the ignorance of this topic is a profound blind spot, Muñoz pointed out. “I personally wouldn’t want a physician making a medical diagnosis based on a CT scan with only half the image,” she said.
She pointed to the humble mosquito as an example.
What was previously thought to be a single species turned out to be many, each with different ecologies and capacities to spread disease. One problem turned out to be many. “This is what revealing hidden biodiversity can do,” Muñoz said. “It can change what solutions look like.”
Over the course of three sessions, Yale scientists demonstrated how understanding biodiversity contributes to our overall understanding of the world around us. The first session explored the ways in which biodiversity is still being discovered. “It’s a reminder that we have to know what life is there,” Near said.
The second session explored how species interaction shapes biodiversity. “Species do not exist in a vacuum. They exist with partners, enemies, parasites, predators, and prey. All those interactions matter for the generation and structure of biodiversity,” Muñoz said. “Biodiversity is a network of living dependencies,” Near added.
The final session of the day dealt with a deceptively simple question – how do organisms experience environmental change? “They don’t experience it as a global average, but through heat on a forest edge, through a city street at night, through the pace of environmental disturbance,” Muñoz said.
By continuing the process of discovery and comparing model ecosystems with those of the distant past, scientists can better interpret the current risks to our world by showing what normal natural turnover is, and what might be a crisis. “Biodiversity is not downstream of planetary challenges – it runs through them,” Near said.
To see the full lineup of speakers and topics, visit https://luma.com/yalebiodiversityday2026.