Join Dr. Sam James as he uncovers the fascinating world of earthworms, nature’s ecosystem engineers. Learn how these remarkable creatures aerate soil, recycle nutrients, and support sustainable agriculture. Discover groundbreaking research on their biodiversity, ecological importance, and the challenges they face. Travel the globe with Dr. James as he shares stories of weird and wonderful earthworms and the adventures behind his research expeditions, from local landscapes to far-flung corners of the world. Don’t miss this captivating look at the hidden heroes beneath our feet!

About our Speaker, Dr. Sam James: I am a specialist in the diversity of earthworms, their classification and their evolutionary history.  My interest in nature, ecology and other natural sciences began at an early age, and was maintained in spite of exposure to many other areas of learning, all interesting but none with the appeal of being in the natural world looking and finding.  Now I am 71 years old and still happier in the forest than in the lab.  My three children have gone in other directions but they all got to see what their father does by coming along on expeditions to tropical forests and other places.  Presently I am retired from university duties   I have discovered and described (often with collaborators) hundreds of new species of earthworms, and continue to add to the list.  There are thousands more out there, and hundreds more in my collections.  I have also worked on figuring out the evolutionary history of earthworms using DNA and other molecular data.