Talks

Click here for 2019- 2020 Season Schedule

Upcoming Talk

Why sharks matter: the ecological importance of sharks, the threats they face, and how you can help

https://www.facebook.com/events/198548258230123

David Shiffman, Ph.D. is an interdisciplinary marine conservation biologist, and his research focuses on the ecology and conservation of chondrichthyan fishes. His research uses cutting-edge interdisciplinary methods to answer policy-relevant questions about threatened species of public concern, while providing many opportunities for collaboration, student research, and public outreach.

Previous Talks

Atoms at Work: Quantum Mechanics, Qubits, and Quool Tools for Research and Technology

https://www.facebook.com/events/608986936338419/

Charlie Doret is a physics professor at Williams College who is interested in applications of simple atomic systems. His laboratory uses lasers and electric fields to control the quantum states of individual trapped atomic ions which can be used both to test our understanding of the laws of physics and to emulate the behavior of more complicated physical systems which are difficult to manipulate in their native form. SciTech Cafe events are open all those with curious minds regardless age and background. Our events, prizes and snack are free, but donations are appreciated.

Canceled: Life Stories of the Shiest Galaxies: The Quiet Lives of Quiet Galaxies

https://www.facebook.com/events/504837193781964/

Galaxies come in many shapes and sizes, but what causes this variety? We’ll discuss the different life stories, including some of the faintest galaxies which defy most currently explanations. Current research suggests that these faint galaxies may hold clues to the nature of dark matter, the elusive substance that makes up 90% of the matter in our Universe.

Jason Young is a visiting professor at Mount Holyoke College, his research focuses on star formation in a wide variety of galaxies, ranging from active quasar host galaxies to quiet low surface brightness galaxies. He’s also taught a variety of astronomy and physics courses at Mount Holyoke, Amherst College, and Penn State.

He received a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Physics at the University of Arizona in 2005, and a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Pennsylvania State University in 2012.

“Oddball science”: Why do scientists study weird things?

https://www.facebook.com/events/531729137425302/

Prof. Patricia Brennan is interested in the morphological evolution of genital morphology in vertebrates, and the mechanisms that drive genital diversification, sexual conflict in particular. She has a BSc in Marine Biology from her native Colombia, where she studied cardiac physiology of marine mammals. She went on to work in the Galapagos Islands aboard a research vessel (R/V Odyssey). Brennan completed her Ph.D. dissertation at Cornell University, where she studied the breeding biology and reproductive system of the Great Tinamou (Tinamus major), a basal bird from South America related to the ostrich. During this time she developed an interest on post-copulatory selection in birds, and went on to do her post-doctoral work on genital and sperm traits in ducks. Her current interests have expanded to understanding genital evolution in vertebrates, in particular examining female genital morphology and coevolution. She worked as a research professor at Umass Amherst before joining the faculty at Mount Holyoke College.

Summer Star Gazing

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/events/275131887230508/

He received a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy and Physics at the University of Arizona in 2005, and a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Pennsylvania State University in 2012.

“Forming Impressions of Others in the Era of Fake News, Social Media, and Gossip”

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2019/11/01/or-at-least-thats-the-rumor/

https://www.facebook.com/events/591597478046434/

Prof. Jeremy Cone received his Ph.D in Social Psychology from Cornell University in 2012. He spent a year as a visiting assistant professor at Williams in 2012-201, followed by a post-doc in the Human Cooperation Lab at Yale University from 2013-2015. He rejoined the faculty at Williams as an assistant professor in 2015. His research focuses on understanding the nature and operation of implicit processes, including especially implicit attitude change.

Prof. Jeremy Cone’s lab studies the science of first impressions — how quickly you develop an opinion about someone and how easily that opinion can be changed as you learn new things about them. We study, in particular, a type of impression that we call “implicit” — ones that are spontaneous, unintentional, and they happen really, really fast (literally the blink of an eye). Importantly, they’re often quite different from how you consciously feel about someone — what you say when I ask you whether you like or dislike someone. You can consciously like someone and yet have a strong implicit negative reaction to them, and you can also consciously dislike someone and yet still feel implicitly positively towards them. We try to understand where those automatic gut-level reactions come from, what kinds of information can shape them after they’ve become well-established, and how they differ from conscious impressions.

…jumps through the ceiling, and pops out of the floor.

“The Shape of Space.”

Patrica Cahn is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Smith College. Before coming to Smith, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, and a Hans Rademacher Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research is in geometric and low-dimensional topology. She will be answering questions such as: How do mathematicians classify shapes? How is a donut the same as a coffee cup? How can we describe different three-dimensional worlds, including, but not limited to, the one we live in? What about four-dimensional worlds?

https://wordpress.com/view/scitechcafe.wordpress.com

…I’ll have a light beer. I want to fit into my skinny genes.

“Imprinting, X-inactivation, and Epigenetics – how your DNA remembers history.”

Prof. Jesse Mager performed his doctoral work at UNC Chapel Hill graduating with a PhD in Genetics. He then continued with short postdoctoral training stints at MIT and UPenn before starting his own research group at the University of Massachusetts in 2004, where he has recently been promoted to full professor. Prof. Mager’s research interests lie in understanding epigenetic regulation of mammalian genomes using the earliest stages of mouse development as a model to understand humans.

“What is limestone good for?: Scientific significance and cultural history of this important natural resource”

Bosiljka Glumac is a professor in the Department of Geosciences at Smith College. She is sedimentary geologist whose research focuses on carbonate rocks such as limestone. She is not only interested in how limestone forms and what can we learn from it about landscapes, sea level, climate and life in the past, but also in how humans have been using this stone throughout history. Her research has taken her along the Appalachians from Tennessee to Vermont, the coast of Texas, to the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Micronesia, Italy, as well as back to her home country of Croatia.

Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat

We are in the midst of an unprecedented era of rapid scientific and technological advances that are transforming the way our foods are produced and consumed. Professor Julian McClements will be discussing how food architecture is being used to construct healthier, tastier, and more sustainable foods. Functional foods are being created to combat chronic diseases such as obesity, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease.

These foods are fortified with nutraceuticals or probiotics to improve our mood, performance, and health. The dissimulation of foods inside our guts and assimilation by our bodies is being controlled to increase their healthiness. Precision nutrition is being used to tailor diets to person’s unique genetic profile, microbiome, and metabolism. Gene editing, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence are being used to address challenges such as feeding the growing global population, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving sustainability. This presentation highlights some of the interesting scientific advances being made in the food area and the role of structural design to create a better food future.

What Does Physics Tell Us About Time?

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2019/02/04/just-in-time-for-the-happy-hour/

Situated at the intersection of physics and philosophy, Dr. Kaća Bradonjić’s research is focused on foundational questions of the physical interpretation of the mathematical formulations of gauge theories of gravity, and particularly on the role of conformal and projective structures. Kaća’s artistic work explores the use of metaphor as means of understanding the relations among physical, intellectual, and emotional spaces. A project of note is Projections, a series of paintings based on impressions of academic talks. She received her B.S. in philosophy and physics from Northeastern University and her Ph.D. in physics from Boston University. Prior to coming to Hampshire College, she taught at Wellesley College and Boston University.

How the Universe Ends

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/and/

Dr Katherine (Katie) Mack is a theoretical astrophysicist who studies a range of questions in cosmology, the study of the universe from beginning to end. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor of Physics at North Carolina State University, where she is also a member of the Leadership in Public Science Cluster. Throughout her career she has studied dark matter, the early universe, galaxy formation, black holes, cosmic strings, and the ultimate fate of the cosmos. Alongside her academic research, she is an active science communicator and has been published in a number of popular publications such as Scientific American, Slate, Sky & Telescope, Time.com, and Cosmos Magazine, where she is a columnist. You can find her on Twitter as @AstroKatie.

Turning unwanted guests into powerful research tools: Modeling human disease in the fruit fly.

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2019/01/08/and/

Ken Colodner is an assistant professor of Neuroscience and Behavior at Mount Holyoke College. His research has focused on understanding how communication between the two major cell types in the brain, neuronal and glial cells, is disrupted in neurodegenerative diseases. He is particularly interested in understanding the disease process of Alzheimer’s disease and related tauopathies, a class of diseases characterized by the pathological buildup of the protein, tau.

Cosmic Mergers and Acquisitions: How Galaxy Mergers and Supermassive Black Holes Shape Galaxy Growth

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/bumps-her-head-and-sees-the-stars/

Jenny Greene is an assistant professor of astrophysics at Princeton University. Her research focuses on supermassive black holes and the galaxies that they live in. She also teaches algebra in NJ state prisons through the Prison Teaching Initiative.

Dawkins walks into a madrassa: How evolution is used in promoting ‘clash of civilizations’ narrative

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2018/03/28/and-decides-to-bring-up-a-politically-charged-topic/

Salman Hameed, aka “Mr. Universe” on Monte Belmonte’s WRIS radio program, is Charles Taylor Chair and associate professor of integrated science & humanities in the school of Cognitive Science at Hampshire College. His primary research interest focuses on understanding the reception of science in the Muslim world and how Muslims view the relationship between science & religion.

Shining Light on and in the Brain: Using Lasers and Viruses to Understand Brain Circuits in Songbirds

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2018/01/23/and-orders-a-light-beer/

Luke Remage-Healey is a professor of psychological and brain sciences at UMass. Research in the Healey lab is focused on the neural basis of natural behavior. They study songbirds as their research model for understanding vocal learning and brain plasticity.

Do Be So Sensitive: Stretchy Sensors for Wearable Devices and Soft Robotics

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/12/12/and-orders-a-soft-drink/

Kristen Dorsey, Assistant Professor of Engineering at Smith College, focuses on the fabrication and characterization of micro-scale sensors and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). She likes to understand “why things go wrong” by investigating device reliability and stability. Her current and previous work has had applications in actuation, gas chemical sensing, and inertial sensing.

What a mouse can tell us about Autism and other brain-immune links

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/09/26/braintree/

Jared Schwartzer, Assistant Professor of Psychology and Education, and Neuroscience and Behavior at Mount Holyoke College, is a behavioral neuroscientist studying preclinical models of neurodevelopmental disorders including Autism Spectrum Disorders. He is particularly interested in understanding how genetic and environmental interactions alter the development of the brain to produce behavioral and cognitive deficits.

How a virus builds itself

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/09/07/atmospheric_pressure/

Vinothan Manoharan is a Wagner Family Professor of Chemical Engineering and Professor of Physics at Harvard. In his lab, he and his team use light scattering, optical microscopy, spectroscopy, synthesis and other experimental techniques to understand the physics of self-organization. For most of these experiments they use colloids, suspensions of particles typically about a micrometer in size.

Engineering Reverse Innovations: Using Emerging Markets’ Constraints to Drive the Creation of High-Performance, Low-Cost, Global Technologies

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/04/06/engineering-reverse-innovations/

Amos G. Winter is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and the director of the Global Engineering and Research Lab. Join us as he shares his work in engineering science, where his lab is leveraging science and research to solve applied problems, and how engineering reverse innovations led to disruptive insights in Prof. Winter’s research on drip irrigation and water purification.

A Quantum Mechanic’s Approach to Next Generation Electronics

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/03/02/superconductor-with-no-ice/

Joseph Checkelsky is an assistant professor of physics at MIT. His research aims to uncover new physical phenomena that expand the boundaries of understanding of quantum mechanical condensed matter systems and also to open doorways to new technologies by realizing emergent electronic and magnetic functionalities

You’re never too old to play in the sandbox: The physics of soft materials

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2017/01/25/foam/

Kerstin Nordstrom is a Clare Booth Luce assistant professor of physics at Mount Holyoke College where she researches complex fluid flows. Such fluids are commonplace in both nature and industry, yet are still poorly understood, sometimes exhibiting bizarre behavior. Her lab studies a variety of such systems, including avalanching sand, flowing colloids in microfluidic devices, and suspensions of algae.

“Where am I?” and other fundamental questions robots think long and hard to answer

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2016/12/09/and-runs-multiple-simulations-to-plan-the-optimal-route-to-the-drinks/

Joydeep Biswas is an assistant professor of information and computer science at UMass, Amherst. His ultimate research goal is to have self-sufficient autonomous mobile robots working in human environments, performing tasks accurately and robustly.

Remote Sensing: A Tool for Ecological Management

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2016/11/03/movement/

Thomas Millette is a professor of geography at Mount Holyoke College. His research has included using satellite and GIS data to study the causes, nature, and impact of land-cover change and forest degradation in the Middle Mountains of the Nepalese Himalayas, in the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans of northeast India, and on the Lake Champlain Basin of Vermont, New York, and Southern Quebec.

Benford’s Law: Why the IRS cares about Algebra and Number Theory (and why you should too!)

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2016/08/23/benford/

Steven J. Miller is an associate professor of mathematics at Williams College. His research is in number theory and probability, especially some problems on the boundary of math and physics. Some of his current projects with undergraduates include a collaboration with the San Diego Padres and working with the IRS to detect tax fraud, as well as some problems in number theory and dynamical systems.

Engineering plant defenses to fight cancer

https://scitechcafe.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/and-taps-a-plant-to-make-drugs/

Professor Susan Roberts is the chemical engineering department head at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where her research focuses on understanding the fundamental complexities in specialized metabolism and development of renewable, engineered plant cell culture systems to synthesize valuable clinical and industrial molecules.

Videos

Physicists Fold Under Pressure

Prof. Chris Santangelo, and Prof. Ryan Hayward at UMass, together withProf. Thomas Hull from Western New England University and research teams from Cornell, have been creating soft, micro-scale polymer gels that can fold into remarkably complex origami shapes which could have applications in bio-medical engineering. In this presentation you’ll see the wizardry of origami and how its mysteries are being unlocked and harnessed by researchers in the Pioneer Valley. June 9, 2014

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“The Shape of Space.”

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“Imprinting, X-inactivation, and Epigenetics – how your DNA remembers history.”

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Physicists Fold Under Pressure

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Exploring Alien Worlds

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