February 18, 2008
Lyon College News Bureau
Controversial biologist Tyrone Hayes
to speak at Lyon College March 10
The "Frog Man" is coming to Lyon College.
Biologist Dr. Tyrone Hayes, dubbed "Frog Man" because of his research involving frogs, will be the guest speaker at a convocation at 7:30 p.m. March 10 in Sanders Lecture Hall in the Derby Center.
The program is sponsored by the College's Convocations Committee. It is open to the public and admission is free.
Hayes is a researcher who studies the effects of steroid hormones on sexual development and behavior in different frog species.
In 2002, Hayes' research highlighted the deleterious effects of agricultural pesticides on the sexual development of frogs and possibly other organisms. A controversial turn of events emerged when the same company that hired Hayes to study the effects of atrazine, the most widely used herbicide in the U.S. and the world, purportedly tried to undermine and stall the publication of his findings.
Hayes' work, published in many prominent journals, has received repeated criticisms from pesticide companies and others, including the Kansas Corn Growers Association.
Hayes is an associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California at Berkeley.
Hayes received his bachelor's degree from Harvard and his doctorate from Berkeley. An internationally recognized researcher, he is noteworthy for the large number of undergraduate students who work in his laboratories, co-author papers, and present at professional societies.
