Competition vs. Cooperation: What Ants Reveal About Our Contradictory Nature
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
DINNER & LECTURE | 6:00 p.m.
The USF College of Arts and Sciences warmly invites you to a private evening at the University Club in downtown Tampa, celebrating our valued supporters and community partners.
Join Dean Elizabeth Spiller and featured faculty member Dr. Deby Cassill for a memorable gathering filled with culture, conversation and inspiration. Enjoy an engaging program and a delicious dinner in the company of fellow donors, alumni and friends who share your commitment to advancing education in the arts and sciences.
We are grateful for your continued support—and we look forward to hosting you.
Kindly register to attend by October 22, 2025. Seating is limited. Please register
early.
*In the event you may need to cancel your reservation, please provide 48 hours notice
to Dylan Garcia or CAS RSVP.
DRESS CODE
The University Club has a dress code. Men must wear a sport coat. Denim, shorts, t-shirts and sneakers are not permitted.
ABOUT THIS EVENT
A growing body of evidence has advanced understanding of animal emotions—pleasure, love, lust, fear, aggression, and depression. The chemicals that regulate emotional and behavioral reactions to the social environment—cortisol, melatonin, serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine, dopamine, oxytocin, glutamate, testosterone and estrogen—have been characterized in worms, insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Understanding how ants react to each other during social interactions will enrich the way we think about the nature of our social behaviors.
Featured CAS Faculty SPEAKER
Deby Cassill, PhD
On the USF St. Petersburg campus, Dr. Deby Cassill, campus associate chair and associate professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, is affectionately known as the “ant whisperer.” In her quest to understand the evolution of social behavior, she has studied ants as surrogates for human behavior. How is food shared? How is labor structured? How do ants survive floods, famine, and territorial battles? Cassill has more than 50 publications in premier science journals in biology and economics and is working on a book, “Survival of the Misfits” and two video series, “Females on Top and Males Rising.”
EVENT LOCATION
University Club
Suite 3800 – 38TH Floor
201 N Franklin Street
Tampa, FL 33602
PARKING Tips
Use the address of the parking garage for your GPS: 107 N. Franklin Street. Make sure
you use the Whiting Street entrance for the hourly parking spaces.
Once in the parking garage, park on Level 3 where there will be a crosswalk that connects
to the building. The University Club is on the 38th floor. Once you get into the building,
there is a bank of elevators straight ahead and on the right. Select the elevators
that will take you to the 38th floor. You must pre-select the 38th floor when selecting
the elevator. A number will display to let you know which elevator will take you to
the 38th floor.
There is a fee for parking and the garage accepts cash or credit cards upon exit.
DIRECTIONS
From I-275 North or South
Take 275 N/S to the Ashley Street Exit (exit 44). Follow Ashley to Whiting (two stop lights past Kennedy). Turn left (east) and go up two blocks to the Old Fort Brooke Garage (107 Franklin Street)
From South Tampa
Take Bayshore Blvd. to the Platt Street Bridge. Go underneath the Convention Center. Turn left at the second light (Florida Street). Go two blocks to Whiting and turn left to park in the Old Fort Brooke Garage.
From I-75 and Crosstown
Take exit #7 Downtown West. The 2nd stoplight is Franklin Street. Turn right onto Franklin Street. Go two blocks to Whiting Street. Turn left on Whiting. Turn immediately right and enter the Old Fort Brooke Garage.
ADA ACCOMMODATIONS
For reasonable accommodations or other questions, please contact CAS RSVP.