August 8, 2018
Lisagor Award 2018
CBC affiliate and evolutionary biologist, Marcus Kronforst, UChicago, recognized with a Lisagor Award for his educational work on Chicago PBS series, ‘Urban Nature’
Congratulations to Marcus Kronforst, UChicago, for winning this year’s Pete Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club. The award was given for a digital web series, titled ‘Urban Nature,’ that was produced for the Chicago PBS member station WTTW. Kronforst, an expert in the field of origin and maintenance of biological diversity, is featured on the series both as an explorer and an educator. In his research, Kronforst focuses on diversification of species in tropical butterflies. In 2014, together with a postdoc in his lab, Erica Westerman, Kronforst received a CBC Postdoctoral Research Award for the project: ‘Characterizing the genetic link between mate preference and wing pattern in butterflies.’
Web series featuring UChicago’s Marcus Kronforst wins Lisagor Award
UChicago Medicine, The Forefront | by Matt Wood | July 26, 2018
Marcus Kronforst, UChicago
Urban Nature, a web series from Chicago PBS member station WTTW featuring UChicago evolutionary biologist Marcus Kronforst, PhD, has received a Pete Lisagor Award from the Chicago Headline Club.
Written and produced by Dan Protess, Urban Nature is the first digital series from WTTW to win an award of any kind. In the first season, Kronforst explored overlooked urban ecosystems and wildlife over 16 episodes, including everything from birds, butterflies and coyotes in Chicago to sea lions in San Francisco and a deserted island hospital just a mile from Manhattan.
“As a biologist, of course I knew that there was nature around us in the city,” said Kronforst, who is an associate professor of ecology and evolution at UChicago. “But I had no appreciation for just how much ecology is happening out there, and how important cities actually are in driving some natural systems.”
The first season is now posted in its entirety on wttw.com/urbannature. Season two just started filming, with new episodes planned for Chicago, Austin and Miami.
The Chicago Headline Club created the awards in honor of Peter Lisagor (1915-1976), the award-winning Chicago Daily News Washington bureau chief, who showed skill and wit as a print reporter and broadcast news analyst.
Marcus Kronforst, UChicago
About Marcus Kronforst, PhD
Marcus Kronforst, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolution at UChicago. His research seeks to explain the origin and maintenance of biological diversity, from individual genes to entire communities. As a tool to understand the dynamics of biological diversity, much of this work focuses on diversification of species in tropical butterflies.
Source:
Adapted (with modifications) from the UChicago Medicine, The Forefront, by Matt Wood, published on July 26, 2018.
Featured scientist(s) with ties to cbc:
Marcus Kronforst, UChicago
- CBC Postdoctoral Research Award (2014):
▸ Characterizing the genetic link between mate preference and wing pattern in butterflies
PIs: Erica Westerman (postdoc) and Marcus Kronforst (UChicago)