2015 Recorded Q & A Sessions
September 30
Discover Exoplanets with Debra Fischer
Distinguished Lecturer: Debra Fischer
Professor of Astronomy, Yale University
Topics: How Debra Fischer discovered exoplanets; history of searching for exoplanets
October 7
Can Your iPhone Tell You What's In Your Food?
Distinguished Lecturer: Omowunmi Sadik
Professor of Chemistry and Director, Center for Advanced Sensors & Environmental Systems, State University of New York at Binghamton
Topics: Biosensors and food pathogens
October 15
How the Sun Changes Pollution Particles in the Air and Water
Distinguished Lecturer: Krishna L. Foster
Professor of Chemistry, California State University, Los Angeles
Topics: Effects of sunlight on pollutants in air and water; role of aged particulate matter on air quality
October 29
Overcoming Barriers to Diversity in Science
Distinguished Lecturer: Sandra Hanson
Professor of Sociology, Catholic University
Topics: Barriers to diversity in science; solutions that are successfully promoting diversity; what barriers remain to be addressed
November 6
Scents and Insect Brains
Distinguished Lecturer: John Hildebrand
Regents Professor, University of Arizona
Topics: Insect nervous systems, particularly the neurobiology of the olfactory system, its roles in behavior, and related areas of chemical ecology and biology of disease vectors
November 16
The Science of Innovation and Deep Learning
Distinguished Lecturer: Karen Oates
Professor of Biochemistry and the Dean of Arts & Sciences, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Topics: Defining innovation; how innovation may be achieved; how professors/educators may foster atmospheres of deep learning so that students can be more innovative
December 2
The Arctic's Melting Ice
Distinguished Lecturer: Mark Serreze
Research Professor of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder; Director, National Snow and Ice Data Center
Topics: Environmental effects of a changing climate in the Arctic; implications of the loss of Arctic sea ice and how they might be addressed
December 15
Double-edged Nanoparticles: DNA Disrupters and Cancer Fighters
Distinguished Lecturer: Bryant C. Nelson
Staff Research Chemist, National Institute of Standards and Technology
Topics: Fundamental interactions of engineered nanoparticles and nanomaterials with DNA; development of techniques to identify and quantify how such nanomaterials interact with genetic material.