Take a walk on the wild side of nature as Professor Maydianne Andrade (University of Toronto Scarborough) weaves together the thrilling world of deadly spiders, the intrigue of sexual cannibalism and the daring heights of the Rocky Mountains in her fascinating public lecture at the University of Sydney.

Professor Maydianne Andrade has the world’s largest captive population of black widow spiders in her lab at the University of Toronto. Maydianne will discuss her unexpected career path, and how it all started with the puzzle of sexual cannibalism in redback spiders. Find out about the surprising link between redbacks and her work as host, cast and concept creator for nature documentaries, including one that saw her perched in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, chipping fossils out of the Burgess Shale, and another that took a tongue-in-cheek look at 'Bug Sex'. The presentation will be followed by a Q&A.