Molluscs are familiar invertebrates, from the humble garden slug, to the colorful shells picked up on the beach, to the mercurial shell-less octopus. Being one of the largest, most diverse, and beautiful groups of marine animals, molluscs have been cultivated by humans for centuries for the valuable materials they make (think pearls) and for the nutritious food they provide (menu items such as pulpo, escargot, moules).

Complex biological systems can be described by any one of a number of features, including the tools used to deconstruct interactions between the parcels, actors, and forces that compose these systems. In addition, they are defined by a growing understanding of how context shapes these interactions, and by extension, the behavior of biological systems. In this seminar, I will highlight these aspects of complex biological systems using several different model problems: protein evolution, genomic prediction, and the interaction between pandemics and the criminal legal system.