Spring 2018 STEMinar Schedule
Spring 2018
¶Ù²¹³Ù±ð:ÌýThursday January 25th
Location:ÌýDuaneÌý11th Floor Commons Room
Speaker:ÌýMary Bastawrous
¶Ù±ð±è²¹°ù³Ù³¾±ð²Ô³Ù:ÌýAerospace Engineering
°Õ¾±³Ù±ô±ð:ÌýWaves: what happens when they travel through periodic materials?
Abstract:ÌýIn this talk, I will give an introduction about traveling waves and how they interact with periodicity in materials including some interesting phenomena that occur as a result. Then, I will go through some applications that utilize such interaction, e.g., sound isolation or flow control.Ìý
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¶Ù²¹³Ù±ð:ÌýThursday February 8th
Location:ÌýDuaneÌý11th Floor Commons Room
Speaker:ÌýLeoÌýHerr
Department:ÌýMathematics
°Õ¾±³Ù±ô±ð:ÌýAddition Labyrinths and Ariadne's Thread : Geometry and Algebra for those out of the loop
Abstract:ÌýÌýWhat is shape, what can we say about it, and how do we work with it? Math will develop ever finer, subtler tools for encountering shapes and their peculiarities ad infinitum. The talk concerns a few of these, explained through metaphor and down-to-earth example. My hope is to portray the dialectic between local and global in a vaguely faithful fashion, and perhaps to give philosophical examples of why we care.Ìý
¶Ù²¹³Ù±ð:ÌýTuesday February 27th
Location:ÌýDuaneÌý11th Floor ReadingÌýRoom
Speaker:ÌýAroob Abdelhamid
Department:ÌýAtmospheric ChemistryÌý
Title:ÌýColors of the Sky
Abstract:ÌýWhy is the sky blue? What is a rainbow? Have you ever wondered where all the different colors you see in the sky come from? Join an atmospheric chemist as she walks you through the basics of light interactions in a dynamic atmosphere!
Date:ÌýThursday March 8th
Location:ÌýJSCBB (Biotech) B331Ìý
Speaker: Kelsie Anson
¶Ù±ð±è²¹°ù³Ù³¾±ð²Ô³Ù:ÌýBiochemistry
°Õ¾±³Ù±ô±ð:ÌýTaking a cellular look at an essential metal
Abstract:ÌýZinc deficiency is a huge health concern in developing countries, with symptoms including developmental delays and the inability to fight off diseases. As a biochemist, I want to understand why zinc is so important and how it interacts with proteins and signaling pathways in cells. I am particularly interested in pockets in the brain that release zinc and how that impacts cell behavior. My project spans molecular biology, biochemistry, and biological engineering to ask how large changes in zinc can act as cell signals and to build tools to study these signals in a way that tries to disturb the cell as little as possible.
Speaker:ÌýTobin Hammer
Departments:ÌýEcology and Evolutionary Biology,ÌýCIRES
Title:ÌýDo all animals need microbes?ÌýThe case of caterpillars
Abstract:ÌýBiology is undergoing a paradigm shift. Microbes residing in and on animals--the microbiome--are now recognized to play critical and often surprising roles in animal development, behavior, and physiology. Most microbiome studies are conducted on groups like humans, mice, cows, and termites, but are these systems generalizable to all animals? I will discuss my dissertation research into the unique nature of the caterpillar microbiome, and what caterpillars can tell us about the evolution of host-microbe interactions.
Date:ÌýTuesday March 20th
Location:ÌýDuane 11th Floor Reading Room
Speaker:ÌýLoren Matilsky
Department:ÌýAstrophysics and Planetary Sciences
Title: Cycles on the Sun: the Mystery of the Sun's Magnetic Field
Abstract: Though it may not seem like it, the Sun goes through a 22-year cycle which involves its magnetic field. How does this solar cycle arise and what effects does it have for life on Earth? After years of research by many experts in the field, there are still fundamental unanswered questions surrounding the solar magnetic field. I will describe some ongoing effortsÌý by the solar physics community (including my own) to understand the Sun's variation over time, and hopefully draw some connections between the magnetic cycles on stars in general and the search for Life in the Universe.
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Date:ÌýThursday April 5th
Location:ÌýDuane G126
Speaker:ÌýOmkar Supekar
¶Ù±ð±è²¹°ù³Ù³¾±ð²Ô³Ù:ÌýMechanical Engineering
Title:ÌýElectrowetting Adaptive Optics for High-Resolution Microscopy
Abstract:ÌýFluorescence (confocal and 2-photon) microscopes have become powerful tools for neuronal imaging and expanding our understanding of the brain. Laser scanners are an important component of these microscopes. A laser beam can be manipulated (focus/defocus, and laterally moved) using the principle of electrowetting, which governs the wetting properties of a liquid droplet on a surface under an applied electric field. I will talk about advances in electrowetting based liquid adaptive optics and their potential for high-resolution microscopy, especially for neuronal imaging of live freely behaving animals. I will also share some of our recent results of electrowetting based laser scanners for 2-photon excitation (2PE) microscopy.
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¶Ù²¹³Ù±ð:ÌýTuesday April 17th
Location:ÌýDuane 11th Floor Reading Room
Speaker:ÌýAngela Boag
¶Ù±ð±è²¹°ù³Ù³¾±ð²Ô³Ù:ÌýEnvironmental Studies
°Õ¾±³Ù±ô±ð:ÌýDoes life find a way?: Forest regeneration in the era of megafires
Abstract:ÌýIncreasingly frequent large wildfires raise questions about forest recovery, particularly as the climate warms. Field research in eastern Oregon adds to a growing understanding of when and where forests regenerate following wildfire.
Date:ÌýThursday May 3rd
Location:ÌýDuane 11th Floor Commons Room
Speaker:ÌýM. C. Flux
¶Ù±ð±è²¹°ù³Ù³¾±ð²Ô³Ù:ÌýClinical Psychology
Title:ÌýThe Immune System Blues
Abstract:ÌýAs our understanding of mental illness grows, it becomes increasingly clear how little we know about their etiology. Though depression affect more that 16.1 million Americans in a given year, we are only just beginning ot understand that it may be a much more heterogeneous condition that once thought. Immune-related depression appears to underly the etiology for a subset of depressed people, but how does that work, and what implicaitons does it have for treatment? Take a tour of the mind and body, from the past to the future to gain insights into the molecular, cellular, and behavioral mechanisms underlying immune-related mood changes.Ìý