Graduate Student Speaker Series: Noon in Moon
The Graduate Student Speaker Series provides the opportunity for graduate students to present their research on campus, gaining valuable experience and feedback. This series is open to all members of the ESF and SU communities.
November 11th: Katie D'Amico
"A greenhouse bioassay method for assessing ectomycorrhizal associations of a transgenic American chestnut (Castanea dentata)"
December 13th: Ben Ballerstein
"Collective Footprints: Sustainability in Cooperative Housing"
January 27th: Michael Amadori
"From Food Waste to Fresh Food: Using Aquaponics in a Closed Loop System for Campus Sustainability"
February 10th: Sara Hansen
"Howling outside the box: Estimating abundance of an elusive Northeast carnivore"
March 2nd: Anna Stewart
"Social and ecological drivers of vector-borne diseases in Latin America"
March 30th: Anand Chaudhary
"The South Asian Vulture Crisis and Conservation Effort"
April 13th: Will Helenbrook
"A tale of anthropogenic disturbance: how forest degradation and human proximity to mantled howler monkey populations influence parasitism"
April 27th: Meghan Holtan and Lindsay Perez
"The Art and Science Behind the Syracuse Bike Plan"
November 11th: Katie D'Amico
"A greenhouse bioassay method for assessing ectomycorrhizal associations of a transgenic American chestnut (Castanea dentata)"
December 13th: Ben Ballerstein
"Collective Footprints: Sustainability in Cooperative Housing"
January 27th: Michael Amadori
"From Food Waste to Fresh Food: Using Aquaponics in a Closed Loop System for Campus Sustainability"
February 10th: Sara Hansen
"Howling outside the box: Estimating abundance of an elusive Northeast carnivore"
March 2nd: Anna Stewart
"Social and ecological drivers of vector-borne diseases in Latin America"
March 30th: Anand Chaudhary
"The South Asian Vulture Crisis and Conservation Effort"
April 13th: Will Helenbrook
"A tale of anthropogenic disturbance: how forest degradation and human proximity to mantled howler monkey populations influence parasitism"
April 27th: Meghan Holtan and Lindsay Perez
"The Art and Science Behind the Syracuse Bike Plan"
Shifting Paradigms Speakers Series
This GSA series focuses on individuals fundamentally changing the ways we think about science and society. Note: We will be hosting two events for this series in the coming weeks.
Gavin McIntyre, Co-founder, Ecovative Design
Tuesday, April 10th, 5pm. Nifkin Lounge (Reception to follow)
"Nature's Materials: Growing Plastic Replacements from Mushrooms"
Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre were fascinated by mushrooms growing on wood chips, and observing how the fungal mycelium strongly bonded the wood chips together. This inspired them to think of new ways of using mycelium as a resin. They formulated a new process for binding together insulating particles, creating some remarkable materials that could replace Styrofoam™. Rather than just decreasing the environmental impact of conventional polystyrene foams, this invention created a whole new paradigm where composite materials are literally grown, harnessing the incredible efficiency of nature. Their company has won numerous awards and has grown to 35 full-time employees.
Ecovative Designs has also appeared on TED talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/eben_bayer_are_mushrooms_the_new_plastic.html
Dr. Peter Reich, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and F.B. Hubachek, Sr. Chair in Forest Ecology and Tree Physiology; Resident Fellow, Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota
Wednesday, April 25th, 5pm. Illick 5 (Reception to follow)
"Global environmental change & the terrestrial biosphere: linking plant traits with community and ecosystem dynamics"
Dr. Reich's research focuses on the impacts of global environmental change on terrestrial ecosystems. This includes effects of climate change, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, other air pollutants, land use/management, fire and biotic invasion on health, biodiversity, and sustainability of forest and grassland ecosystems both in Minnesota and globally. His work simultaneously attempts to bridge the fields of physiological, community, ecosystem, landscape, and global ecology.
Gavin McIntyre, Co-founder, Ecovative Design
Tuesday, April 10th, 5pm. Nifkin Lounge (Reception to follow)
"Nature's Materials: Growing Plastic Replacements from Mushrooms"
Eben Bayer and Gavin McIntyre were fascinated by mushrooms growing on wood chips, and observing how the fungal mycelium strongly bonded the wood chips together. This inspired them to think of new ways of using mycelium as a resin. They formulated a new process for binding together insulating particles, creating some remarkable materials that could replace Styrofoam™. Rather than just decreasing the environmental impact of conventional polystyrene foams, this invention created a whole new paradigm where composite materials are literally grown, harnessing the incredible efficiency of nature. Their company has won numerous awards and has grown to 35 full-time employees.
Ecovative Designs has also appeared on TED talks: http://www.ted.com/talks/eben_bayer_are_mushrooms_the_new_plastic.html
Dr. Peter Reich, Distinguished McKnight University Professor and F.B. Hubachek, Sr. Chair in Forest Ecology and Tree Physiology; Resident Fellow, Institute on the Environment (IonE), University of Minnesota
Wednesday, April 25th, 5pm. Illick 5 (Reception to follow)
"Global environmental change & the terrestrial biosphere: linking plant traits with community and ecosystem dynamics"
Dr. Reich's research focuses on the impacts of global environmental change on terrestrial ecosystems. This includes effects of climate change, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide, other air pollutants, land use/management, fire and biotic invasion on health, biodiversity, and sustainability of forest and grassland ecosystems both in Minnesota and globally. His work simultaneously attempts to bridge the fields of physiological, community, ecosystem, landscape, and global ecology.
Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
This GSA series focuses on young researchers who are conducting outstanding research that has broad relevance and has demonstrated leadership in the field.
Dr. Benjamin Walther, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Science, University of Texas - Austin.
Thursday, March 29th, 4 - 5pm. Illick 5. (Reception to follow)
"From fish to floods: reconstructing animal migrations and climate variation with chemical proxies"
Biogenic carbonates such as fish ear stones (otoliths), bivalve shells and coral skeletons contain valuable chemical information that can be used to answer pressing ecological questions. The natal origins and migrations of highly mobile species such as diadromous fishes can be deduced using trace element and isotopic signatures in otoliths. Conversely, proxies recorded in stationary organisms can inform reconstructions of historical variation in environmental conditions, including floods, droughts and upwelling. Together, these approaches provide novel insight into variation in habitat residency patterns of migratory species as well as fluctuations in habitat quality. This talk focuses on case studies of quantifying fish migration patterns and environmental parameters in North America and Australia to illustrate the versatility of chemical proxies in biogenic carbonates.
Dr. Benjamin Walther, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Science, University of Texas - Austin.
Thursday, March 29th, 4 - 5pm. Illick 5. (Reception to follow)
"From fish to floods: reconstructing animal migrations and climate variation with chemical proxies"
Biogenic carbonates such as fish ear stones (otoliths), bivalve shells and coral skeletons contain valuable chemical information that can be used to answer pressing ecological questions. The natal origins and migrations of highly mobile species such as diadromous fishes can be deduced using trace element and isotopic signatures in otoliths. Conversely, proxies recorded in stationary organisms can inform reconstructions of historical variation in environmental conditions, including floods, droughts and upwelling. Together, these approaches provide novel insight into variation in habitat residency patterns of migratory species as well as fluctuations in habitat quality. This talk focuses on case studies of quantifying fish migration patterns and environmental parameters in North America and Australia to illustrate the versatility of chemical proxies in biogenic carbonates.
Other GSA Sponsored Speaking Events
(Co-sponsoring with the ESF Women's Caucus, EFB Department)
Dr. Lilian Na'ia Alessa, Professor of Biology and Director, Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage
Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 4-5 pm, Nifkin Lounge or Marshall Auditorium, Marshall Hall
"Water, Technology and Sustainability: Are we engineering vulnerability?"
Water resources continue to challenge societies around the world. As part of the solution, water technologies ranging from reclamation, to storage to household level conservation hardware have been implemented. In this talk we explore the role of technology in achieving water sustainability and question the increasing effort to 'engineer' water efficiency. We will challenge the dominant belief that with better technology we will be able to achieve resilience and demonstrate the need to approach water issues from a human hydrological perspective.
Dr. Lilian Na'ia Alessa, Professor of Biology and Director, Resilience and Adaptive Management Group, University of Alaska Anchorage
Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 4-5 pm, Nifkin Lounge or Marshall Auditorium, Marshall Hall
"Water, Technology and Sustainability: Are we engineering vulnerability?"
Water resources continue to challenge societies around the world. As part of the solution, water technologies ranging from reclamation, to storage to household level conservation hardware have been implemented. In this talk we explore the role of technology in achieving water sustainability and question the increasing effort to 'engineer' water efficiency. We will challenge the dominant belief that with better technology we will be able to achieve resilience and demonstrate the need to approach water issues from a human hydrological perspective.
Past GSA Speakers
2011 - (SOTSOG) Bernardo Aguilar-Gonzalez, an ecological economist, environmental lawyer, and the Director of Fundacion Neotropica. Mr. Aguilar-Gonzalez specializes in ecologically responsible development in Latin American. This event was co-sponsored by the department of Environmental Studies.
2011 - (SP) Dr. Joan Roughgarden, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences from Stanford University. Dr. Roughgarden's research challenges a major tenet of accepted evolutionary theory: sexual-selection. This event is co-sponsored by the department of Environmental and Forest Biology.
2010 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Meredith Gore, Specialization: community-based wildlife management, human-wildlife conflict, intervention evaluation, wildlife-related risk perception, international biodiversity conservation, environmental communication.
2010 - (SP) Dr. Robert Costanza is currently Professor and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS) at Portland State University. He is the Founding Director of the Gund Institute and the former Gund Professor of Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont.
2009 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Ben Zuckerburg, UW-Madison, focuses on how modern climate change and habitat loss drive changes in the wildlife behavior, abundance, and distribution.
2009 - (SP) Dr. Ariel Lugo, is a scientist, ecologist and Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) within the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, based in Puerto Rico. He is a founding Member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Member-at-Large of the Board of the Ecological Society of America
2008 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Bridget Bergquist, University of Toronto, research focus is to increase our understanding of the biogeochemical cycles that are important for life on Earth and how these cycles have evolved over time through the use of trace metal and stable isotope geochemistry.
2008 - (SP) Dr. David Pimentel, Professor emeritus at Cornell University, ecologist and author of a series of projections of impacts of human population growth on global carrying capacity.
2011 - (SP) Dr. Joan Roughgarden, a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences from Stanford University. Dr. Roughgarden's research challenges a major tenet of accepted evolutionary theory: sexual-selection. This event is co-sponsored by the department of Environmental and Forest Biology.
2010 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Meredith Gore, Specialization: community-based wildlife management, human-wildlife conflict, intervention evaluation, wildlife-related risk perception, international biodiversity conservation, environmental communication.
2010 - (SP) Dr. Robert Costanza is currently Professor and Director of the Institute for Sustainable Solutions (ISS) at Portland State University. He is the Founding Director of the Gund Institute and the former Gund Professor of Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont.
2009 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Ben Zuckerburg, UW-Madison, focuses on how modern climate change and habitat loss drive changes in the wildlife behavior, abundance, and distribution.
2009 - (SP) Dr. Ariel Lugo, is a scientist, ecologist and Director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) within the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service, based in Puerto Rico. He is a founding Member of the Society for Ecological Restoration and Member-at-Large of the Board of the Ecological Society of America
2008 - (SOTSOG) Dr. Bridget Bergquist, University of Toronto, research focus is to increase our understanding of the biogeochemical cycles that are important for life on Earth and how these cycles have evolved over time through the use of trace metal and stable isotope geochemistry.
2008 - (SP) Dr. David Pimentel, Professor emeritus at Cornell University, ecologist and author of a series of projections of impacts of human population growth on global carrying capacity.
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