Seminar Series 

Spring 2013

All seminars will be held in JRC 126 at 3:15 pm.  There will be a social after the seminar in the JRC greenhouse.

22 February
Dr. Dalma Martinović-Weigelt, Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Seminar title:  Developing exposure indicators and predictive models for endocrine disrupting chemicals (and few unintended excursions into basic biology and military matters)

1 March
Dr. Mark Bee, Department of Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior, University of Minnesota
Seminar title:  Finding your mate at a cocktail party:  the sensory ecology of vocal communication in frogs

5 April
Dr. John Pastor, Department of Biology, University of Minnesota-Duluth
Seminar title:  Nitrogen cycling and population oscillations in wild rice ecosystems

12 April
Dr. Mike Kaspari, Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma
Research interests:  "Our lab explores the biogeography of brown food webs—the microbes and invertebrates that use detritus as both home and food, and, in the process, shape the earth’s nutrient cycles."

19 April
Dr. David Masopust, Department of Microbiology, Center for Immunology, University of Minnesota
Seminar title:  Memory CD8 T cells:  issues of quantity, quality, and location

1 and 3 May:  Chemistry Seminar
Dr. Jay Keasling, Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Click here for more information.
 

Fall 2012

21 September:  David Redish, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience, University of Minnesota
Seminar title:  The neurophysiology of decision-making

5 October:  Kurt Illig, Ph.D., Department of Biology, University of St. Thomas
Seminar Title:  Sex, Drugs, and Risky Behavior:  How Adolescence Contributes to Evolutionary Success

19 October: Jonathan Foley, Ph.D., Director, Institute on the Environment, University of MN
Seminar Title:  Can We Feed a Growing World and Sustain the Planet?

2 November:  Joe Fargione, Ph.D., The Nature Conservancy
Seminar Title:  Energy Sprawl:  Threats and Opportunities for Biodiversity Conservation

16 November:  David Largaespada, Ph.D., Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development and Pediatrics Masonic Cancer Center, University of MN
Research focus: Identifying the mutations and other changes that drive the development of cancer as a precursor to developing molecularly targeted therapeutics

30 November:  Heiko Schoenfuss, Ph.D, Department of Biology, St. Cloud State University
Seminar Title: Scaling Mountains:  Performance & Adaptation in Waterfall Climbing Hawaiian Fishes

Spring 2012

19 April: Heather Zwickey, Dean of Research at the National College of Natural Medicine
Seminar title:  Integrative Medicine Research:  Nutrition, Herbal Medicine, and Beyond
Location:  OWS 257 11:45; Luch will be provided.  Sponsered by Tri-Beta

13 April:  James W. Curtsinger, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota
Seminar title:  "The Old Fly: Biodemography, Aging, and the Evolution of Senescence"
Location:  OWS 257 at 3:15 PM; Join us for a social following the seminar!

 

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 257

Steve 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 257

Bruce 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 257

Sarah 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 257

Sarita 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 257

Lara 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 source    

11 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 organization 

1 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 ciliates    

29 Apr:  Randall Singer, Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Minnesota
Research interests:  Infectious disease epidemiology  

6 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