Seminar Series
Spring 2012
Candidate for Environmental Biology position
Gaston Small, Ph.D., Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Seminar title: "Microbial processing of nitrogen in Lake Superior: Why the world's largest lake doesn't follow Redfield's Rules."
Seminar will be on Friday, 10 February at 3:15 PM in OWS 257.
Fall 2011
Our department will be hiring two tenure-track faculty this semester, an environmental biologist and a neurobiologist. The finalists and their seminar times are listed below. Please join us in welcoming them to UST and find out more about their research.
Candidates for Environmental Biology position
Elizabeth Wolkovich, Ph.D., Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Ecology, Behavior and Evolution, University of California, San Diego
Seminar title: “Community assembly and dis-assembly under global change”
Seminar will be on Tuesday, 11 November at noon in OWS 257Steve Raciti, Ph.D., Department of Geography and Environment, Boston University
Seminar title: "Human-dominated ecosystems: Do natural processes matter?"
Seminar will be on Friday, 18 November at 3:15 PM in OWS 257Bruce Robertson, Ph.D., Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Migratory Bird Center, National Zoological Park
Seminar title: "Wildlife conservation and management in novel behavioral landscapes"
Seminar will be on Tuesday, 22 November at noon in OWS 257
Candidates for the Neurobiology position
Megan Hagenauer, Ph.D., Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan,
Seminar will be on Tuesday, 29 November at noon in OWS 257Sarah Heimovics, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of British Columbia
Seminar title: "Seasonal plasticity in the neuroendocrine regulation of social behavior in songbirds"
Seminar will be on Friday, 2 December at 3:15 PM in OWS 257Sarita Lagarwal, Ph.D., Institute for Translational Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Seminar title: "Exploring the neurobiology of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1: The hunt for a potential therapeutic"
Seminar will be on Tuesday, 6 December at noon in OWS 257Lara LaDage, Ph.D., Department of Biology, University of Nevada, Reno
Seminar will be on Friday, 9 December at 3:15 PM in OWS 257
21 Oct: Harry Orr, Institute of Human Genetics, University of Minnesota
Title: "Understanding the Biology of Neurodengeration - The SCA1 Story"
Location: OWS 257 at 3:15 PM; Join us for a social following the seminar!7 Oct: Mark Davis, Department of Biology, Macalester College
Title: The Changing Landscape of Invasion Biology
Location: OWS 257 at 3:15 PM; Join us for a social following the seminar!
Spring 2011
11 Feb: Amy Verhoeven, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
25 Feb: John Sheehan, Institute on the Environment, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Biofuels and their sustainability as a future energy source11 Mar: Daniel Voytas, Director of Center for Genome Engineering, Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Plant genome engineering through homologous recombination; retrotransposable elements and genome organization1 Apr: George Weiblen, Department of Plant Biology; Assistant Curator of Vascular Plants Bell Museum of Natural History, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Community disassembly: dissecting a plant-insect food web in New Guinea"15 Apr: Eric Cole, Department of Biology, St. Olaf College
Research interests: Developmental biology, particularly pattern formation in ciliates29 Apr: Randall Singer, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Infectious disease epidemiology6 May: Amy Toth, Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Research interests: Social behavior of bees and wasps; physiological and molecular basis of behavior; comparative evolutionary genomics
Fall 2010
1 Oct: Dr. Stephen Polasky, Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Environmental and resource economics, ecology and economics, conservation biology, game theory
15 Oct: Mike Simone-Finstrom, Department of Entomology, University of Minnesota
Topic: Social immunity and behavioral mechanisms of resin collection by honey bees
22 Oct: Dr. Michael Osterholm,Center for Infectious Disease Research, University of Minnesota
Dr. Osterholm is director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), director of the NIH-supported Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance within CIDRAP, a professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, University of Minnesota.
Room change to JRC 126
12 Nov: Dr. Stan Harpole, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University
Topic: "Multiple Resource Limitation and Biodiversity"
Research interests: Mechanisms that control species diversity as a way to predict the consequences of global change to diversity
19 Nov: Dr. Jennifer Cruise , Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Title: "Who’s in control here? Bioinformatics meets cell biology, in the identification of a human gene promoter."
Research interests: Establishing a role for the Rap1 genes in cell proliferation and survival, and locating and characterizing the DNA sequences that turn their expression on and off in the genomes of humans and other mammals.
3 Dec: Dr. Mark Thomas, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Topic: Experience-Driven Synaptic and Intrinsic Plasticity in the Neural Circuits for Reward
Spring 2010
5 Feb: Dr. Kristi Curry Rogers, Departments of Geology & Biology, Macalester College
Topic: "From Madagascar to Microscopes: Breathing Life into Dinosaurs"
19 Feb: Dr. Teresa Nick, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Of Song and Sugar: Control of Vocal Learning in the Zebra Finch"
5 Mar: Dr. Rebecca Montgomery, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Understanding the mechanisms of response to environmental change
19 Mar: Dr. Glenn Sherer, Department of Biology, Unversity of St. Thomas
Research interests: Origin of hepatic endothelium in birds
9 April: Dr. Mike Vanni, Department of Zoology, Miami University
Topic: "Nutrient cycling by animals in freshwater ecosystems"
23 April: Dr. Paul R. Bohjanen, Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
Translational Research, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Cryptococcal Meningitis in Ugandan AIDS Patients "
7 May: Dr. William Karasov, Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin
Topic: "Digestive physiology: A view from molecules to ecosystem"
5 Feb: Dr. Kristi Curry Rogers, Departments of Geology & Biology, Macalester College
Topic: "From Madagascar to Microscopes: Breathing Life into Dinosaurs"
19 Feb: Dr. Teresa Nick, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Of Song and Sugar: Control of Vocal Learning in the Zebra Finch"
5 Mar: Dr. Rebecca Montgomery, Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota
Research interests: Understanding the mechanisms of response to environmental change
19 Mar: Dr. Glenn Sherer, Department of Biology, Unversity of St. Thomas
Research interests: Origin of hepatic endothelium in birds
9 April: Dr. Mike Vanni, Department of Zoology, Miami University
Topic: "Nutrient cycling by animals in freshwater ecosystems"
23 April: Dr. Paul R. Bohjanen, Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology
Translational Research, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Cryptococcal Meningitis in Ugandan AIDS Patients "
7 May: Dr. William Karasov, Department of Forest & Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin
Topic: "Digestive physiology: A view from molecules to ecosystem"
Fall 2009
18 Sept: Dr. Will Hobbs, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Topic: “Biogeochemical responses of lake ecosystems to nutrient subsidies and climate change”2 Oct: Dr. Stephen Ekker, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Mayo Clinic
Topic: “Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart and the Genetics of Nicotine Dependency”16 Oct: Dr. Jayna Ditty and Beth Rhein, UST Biology Department
Topic: "A Journey Through Space and Time: Chemotaxis and Circadian Clocks in Cyanobacteria"23 Oct: Dr. Jennifer Powers, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Litter Decomposition in Tropical Forests: Patterns and Processes Across Sites and Species"13 Nov: Dr. Michael Wilson, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota
Topic: "Intergroup dynamics and the ecology of SIVcpz infection among the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park, Tanzania."20 Nov: Dr. Thomas Bouchard, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota
Prof. Bouchard is Director of the Minnesota Center for Twin and Adoption Research. The primary research project being carried out under the auspices of the center was the Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart (MISTRA).
Topic: "Genetic influence on human psychological characteristics: How much?"4 Dec: Dr. Matthew Etterson, Environmental Protection Agency, Duluth
Topic: “Which came first, the MCnest or the MCnugget? A broad survey of Markov chain applications in avian ecology, population biology and chemical risk assessment.”
Spring 2009
3 April: Dr. Bill Engeland, Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Topic: Neuroendocrinology of stress17 April: Dr. Adam Kay, UST Biology Department
Topic: Ecological Stoichiometry1 May: Dr. Dan Villeneuve, US EPA Mid-Continent Ecology Division
Topic: Aquatic Ecotoxicology8 May (sponsored by Tri-Beta): Dr. Carol Vleck, Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Organismal Biology Iowa State University
Topic: Effects of Hormones and Condition on Breeding of Adélie Penguins in Antarctica
