Massey University 2011 Professorial Lecture Series

Professor David Raubenheimer - Geometry and the nature of nutrition.

Nutrition is a complex process of matching multiple and dynamic nutrient needs to variable, changing and sometimes hostile foods. And yet animals have evolved highly effective regulatory strategies for dealing with this complexity. For biologists, however, the challenge remains of how to understand – and, in many cases to manage (e.g. animal husbandry, conservation biology and human nutrition) – these complex processes. Professor Raubenheimer will show how simple geometry can be used for this.

He introduces the basic concepts of a geometric framework for nutrition, with current examples from his research demonstrating how this framework has been applied. Examples span a range of species (from insects to monkeys, gorillas and humans), research contexts (from laboratory studies to the free-ranging animals in the wild) and research questions. Among the findings he will present his new evidence that challenges the long-standing belief that restricting energy intake prolongs lifespan, and the results of experiments that provide new insights into the dietary causes of human obesity.

RSVP email: Professorial-Lectures@massey.ac.nz
Phone: (09) 414 0800 ext 9555

This event is proudly supported by North Shore Times.

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