{"id":42,"date":"2025-11-18T19:31:42","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T19:31:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/animalphysiologylabmanual\/chapter\/__unknown__\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T20:17:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T20:17:31","slug":"__unknown__","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/press.wpunj.edu\/animalphysiologylabmanual\/chapter\/__unknown__\/","title":{"raw":"Comparative Physiology Oral Presentations","rendered":"Comparative Physiology Oral Presentations"},"content":{"raw":"
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Background<\/h2>\r\n

Comparative physiology is\u00a0a field within animal physiology that examines the similarities and differences in how living organisms function and have adapted to various environments, often focusing on how physiological systems have been altered in extreme environments. Understanding these adaptations from different model organisms leads to a better understanding of not only fundamental biological processes, but how they might be altered in a diseased state.\u00a0Therefore, comparative physiology can result in significant medical breakthroughs to improve human quality of life.<\/p>\r\n

Comparative physiology compares and contrasts biological systems that are required to sustain life, like the circulatory, nervous, respiratory, and endocrine systems, across different species. Comparative physiologists investigate how these systems have evolved and diversified in response to different environments and lifestyles. Typically, investigations explore how animals adapt to various environmental challenges like desiccation, temperature, salinity, and oxygen availability. Comparative physiology utilizes diverse organisms as models to understand human physiology and disease, as some species physiology in a given environment may be more similar to humans than traditional lab animals like mice. The field is known as being integrative, meaning that to fully understand the physiology, an understanding of multiple levels of biological organization is needed, this includes knowledge of molecules and cells to tissues, organs, and whole organisms.<\/p>\r\n

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Assignment<\/h2>\r\n

The goal of the assignment is to educate the class and gain additional exposure of different examples of how the physiological systems evolved across three different organisms adapting to a specific environment for survival as well as implications of this understanding for the benefit of humans, in a 15-minute oral presentation. First, however you will give a 2-minute elevator talk to the class describing the significance of your research that is geared towards a general audience (the mainstream public). See below for details on what is expected for the elevator talk and 15-minute oral presentation. Tips are given for giving an excellent oral presentation as well as a grading rubric at the end so that expectations are clear for the oral presentation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

How to make an excellent<\/em> scientific oral presentation<\/h3>\r\n

When being graded on your oral presentation, you will be graded on the following two aspects: the content of the presentation and the delivery of the presentation. Although the content of the presentation will be more heavily weighted for grading purposes, the delivery of the presentation should not be overlooked as this can impede the understanding of the content of your presentation. In this lab you will have an opportunity to work on your oral presentation which you will present the next week.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Content of presentation<\/h3>\r\n

The following main areas must be covered in your presentation in this same following order, this is a standard convention when presenting scientific talks at conferences\u2026<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Elevator Talk<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

This is a 1-2 minute summary of what you did and what you found described in a way such that someone from the general public could understand what you are talking about. Include the importance of your analysis and why the general public should care about it. A very useful skill to have as a scientist, sounds easy but it actually takes some practice! You will give these before your oral presentation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Oral Presentation<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

-<\/em> Introduction\r\n<\/em>Starts off broad and then gets more specific. Attempts to capture the audience\u2019s attention. Contains general background information about the three organisms chosen for the comparative physiology analysis and a justification for picking them.<\/p>\r\n

-<\/em> In<\/em>-<\/em>depth <\/em>biological <\/em>details<\/em> of the physiological system you are comparing<\/em><\/p>\r\n

-<\/em> A discussion on how the physiological system is adapted for survival of the organism in a particular environment<\/em><\/p>\r\n

-<\/em> A comparison of the physiological system across the three species chosen<\/em><\/p>\r\n

-<\/em> Relevance for biological research and implications for humans of understanding how these physiological systems evolved in <\/em>the different<\/em> environments<\/em><\/p>\r\n\r\n

Delivery of presentation<\/h3>\r\n

\"image\"www.elsevier.com<\/strong>\/connect\/how-to-give-a-dynamic-scientific-presentation<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n

Convey your ideas and enthusiasm \u2013 and avoid the pitfalls that put audiences to sleep<\/p>\r\n

By Marilynn Larkin \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Posted on 4 August 2015<\/p>\r\n

Share story:<\/p>\r\n

Giving presentations is an important part of sharing your work and achieving recognition in the larger medical and scientific communities. The ability to do so effectively can contribute to career success.<\/p>\r\n

However, instead of engaging audiences and conveying enthusiasm, many presentations fall flat. Pitfalls include overly complicated content, monotone delivery and focusing on what\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0want to say rather than what the audience is interested in hearing.<\/p>\r\n

Effective presentations appeal to a wide range of audiences \u2014 those who work in your area of interest or in related fields, as well as potential funders, the media and others who may find your work interesting or useful.<\/p>\r\n

There are two major facets to a presentation: the content and how you present it. Let\u2019s face it, no matter how great the content, no one will get it if they stop paying attention. Here are some pointers on how to create clear, concise content for scientific presentations \u2013 and how to deliver your message in a dynamic way.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n

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Presentation pointers: content<\/h3>\r\n

Here are five tips for developing effective content for your presentation:<\/p>\r\n

1. Know your audience.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Gear your presentation to the knowledge level and needs of the audience members. Are they colleagues? Researchers in a related field? Consumers who want to understand the value of your work for the clinic (for example, stem cell research that could open up a new avenue to treat a neurological disease)?<\/p>\r\n

2. Tell audience members up front why they should care and what\u2019s in it for them.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>What problem will your work help solve? Is it a diagnostic test strategy that reduces false positives? A new technology that will help them to do their own work faster, better and less expensively? Will it help them get a new job or bring new skills to their present job?<\/p>\r\n

3. Convey your excitement.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Tell a brief anecdote or describe the \u201caha\u201d moment that convinced you to get involved in your field of expertise. For example,\u00a0Dr. Marius Stan<\/span><\/a>, a physicist and chemist known to the wider world as the carwash owner on\u00a0Breaking Bad<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/em>explained that\u00a0mathematics has always been his passion<\/span><\/a>, and the \u201cexplosion\u201d of computer hardware and software early in his career drove his interest to computational science, which involves the use of mathematical models to solve scientific problems. Personalizing makes your work come alive and helps audience members relate to it on an emotional level.<\/p>\r\n

4. Tell your story.<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>A presentation is\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0story. It needs a beginning, a middle and an end. For example, you could begin with the problem you set out to solve. What did you discover by serendipity? What gap did you think your work could fill? For the middle, you could describe what you did, succinctly and logically, and ideally building to your most recent results. And the end could focus on where you are today and where you hope to go.<\/p>\r\n\r\n