Prof Amaury Lambert is a mathematician, leading a research group called SMILE (Stochastic Models for Inference of Life Evolution) at the Collège de France in Paris. He is also a Professor at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. 

In this conversation, we discuss

• Mathematical definition of species
• Modelling the birth and death of species
• Using DNA sequences to infer common ancestors and species history
• Contingency in evolution
• Beauty in mathematics vs biology

SMILE webpage: https://smile.cnrs.fr

SMILE webpage at the Collège de France : https://www.college-de-france.fr/site/en-cirb/lambert.htm