Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturers, 2000-2001
Each lecturer has designated his or her topic(s) for three different types of audiences. Where more than one level is shown, the lecture can be adjusted to the needs of the audience:
- P (Public)
Aimed at presenting scientific issues of general concern to a public audience. - G (General)
Intended for a normal Sigma Xi audience of both scientists and other scholars representing a broad range of disciplines. - S (Specialized)
Aimed at scientists and students in fields that are closely related to that of the lecturer.
Colin Adams
Department of Mathematics
Bronfman Science Center
Williams College
Williamstown, MA 01267
413- 597-3300
FAX: 413-597-4061
E-mail: Colin.Adams@williams.edu
Web: http://www.williams.edu/Mathematics/cadams
Why Knot? (P,G)
Mel Slugbate's "Real Estate in Hyperbolic Space" (P,G)
Mel Slugbate's "Bus Tours of the Universe and Beyond" (P,G)
Colin Adams is the Francis Oakley Third Century Professor of Mathematics at Williams College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He is particularly interested in the mathematical theory of knots, their applications and their connections with hyperbolic geometry. He is the author of The Knot Book, an elementary introduction to the mathematical theory of knots, and co-author of How to Ace Calculus: The Streetwise Guide (which has had as high as #62 rating at amazon.com). Dr. Adams is the author of numerous research articles on knot theory and hyperbolic 3-manifolds and receives research grants from the National Science Foundation. He is also known for giving mathematical lectures in the guise of Mel Slugbate, a sleazy real estate agent. A recipient of the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Distinguished Teaching Award from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) in 1998, he is also the Polya Lecturer for the MAA for 1998-2000.
Gibor Basri
Astronomy Department, MC 3411
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3411
510-642-8198
FAX: 510-642-3411
E-mail: basri@soleil.berkeley.edu
Web: http://astro.berkeley.edu:80/~basri
Limited availability during Spring
The Birth of Stars and Planets (P,G)
The Hunt for Brown Dwarfs (G)
ET: Is There Anyone Out There? (P)
Gibor Basri is a professor in the Astronomy Department of the University of California at Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. in astrophysics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His main research interests are in stellar activity, solar and low mass stars and brown dwarfs, and star formation. He is a regular user of the Lick and Keck Observatories, and space-borne telescopes such as IUE and the Hubbell Space Telescope. Dr. Basri recently held a Miller Research Professorship at Berkeley. He is a member of the American Astronomical Society, the National Society of Black Physicists, the International Astronomical Union, and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific.
Paul Billings
Gene Sage & Company
589 Howard Street
3rd Floor
San Francisco CA 94105
Phone: 415-371-9500
Email: pbillings@genesage.com
The Promise and Pitfalls of the Genetics Revolution (P,G,S)
Life in the Age of Genetics (P,G,S)
Biotechnology and Public Policy: Lessons Learned (P,G,S)
Paul Billings received his M.D. and Ph.D. in immunology from Harvard. Dr. Billings completed his clinical training in internal medicine and medical genetics at the University of Washington in Seattle.Currently he is the Deputy Network Director and Chief Medical Officer of the Heart of Texas Veterans Health Care System.His interests are the impact of genetic information and biotechnology on society; and molecular biology and immunogenetics, the relationship to cellular differentiation and its application to clinical genetics.In 1995, Dr. Billings became President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Cord Blood Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to hematopoietic stem cell research, education and clinical applications. He now serves that organization as Medical Consultant and member of the Board of Directors.Dr. Billings is a Founding Fellow of the American College of Medical Genetics as well as a member of several other medical and scientific professional societies. He has published numerous scholarly articles and book chapters in addition to his book, DNA on Trial: Genetic Identification and Criminal Justice.
Elizabeth M. Brumfiel
Department of Anthropology and Sociology
Albion College
Albion, MI 49224
517-629-0432
FAX: 517-629-0509
E-mail: ebrumfiel@albion.edu
Aztec Heart and Minds: Aztec Ideology in the Archaeological Record (P,G)
Wealth Production and Resource Use at Aztec Xaltocan (P,G)
Gender and the State at Ancient Teotihuacan (P,G)
Elizabeth Brumfiel received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has carried out archaeological research at numerous Aztec sites in central Mexico. Currently she is the John S. Ludington Trustee's Professor at Albion College and she chairs their Anthropology and Sociology Department. Her work explored the dynamics of gender, class, and factional politics in ancient Mexico and the changes in resource exploitation that accompanied Aztec expansion. Her current research includes gauging the impact of Aztec warfare-centered religion upon rural communities in the Aztec empire. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and the H. John Heinz III Charitable Trust. Dr. Brumfiel presented the Distinguished Lecture in Archaeology for the Archaeology division of the American Anthropological Association in 1991 and the David L. Clarke Memorial Lecture at the University of Cambridge in 1997. A long-time Sigma Xi member, Dr. Brumfiel has edited four books and is the author of numerous journal articles.
Bernard Chasan
Physics Department
Boston University
590 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
617-353-2608
FAX: 617-353-9393
E-mail: bc@buphyc.bu.edu
Web: http://buphy.bu.edu/chasan.html
Does God Play Dice ? ( G,P)
Maxwell's Demon: Still Here After 120 Years (G)
Life and Entropy: An Unlikely Partnership (G)
Bernard Chasan is professor of physics at Boston University. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he received his undergraduate and graduate education at Columbia and Cornell respectively. Professor Chasan's research interests were initially in experimental nuclear and particle physics. He conducted research at the MIT Bates Linear Accelerator, and served as Chair of the Outside Users' Group. In 1978 he spent a sabbatical year in the Biophysics Laboratory of A .K. Solomon at Harvard Medical School, marking a shift in research interests. In recent years his interests are the structure of the important protein actin, and its study via atomic force microscopy and via far infrared spectroscopy at the National Synchrotron Light Source, Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Diane Z. Chase
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL 32816
407-823-2227
FAX: 407-823-3026
E-mail: chase@ucf.edu
Web: http://www.caracol.org
Unavailable: January 15–April 15
Visions of Empire: The Archaeology of Caracol, Belize (P,G,S)
Finding Unwoven Threads: Before and After the Classic Maya Collapse (P,G,S)
Diane Chase is a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Central Florida and the co-director for the Caracol Archaeological Project in Belize. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research encompasses: Mesoamerican, anthropological, and forensic archaeology; osteology, mortuary analysis, ethnohistory, and hermeneutics. Dr. Chase is a member of the American Anthropological Association, Sigma Xi, the Sociedad Espa–ola de Estudios Mayas, and the Society for American Archaeology. She has authored and edited many publications, including the books Mesoamerican Elites: An Archaeological Assessment and Maya Archaeology: Reconstructing an Ancient Civilization (in preparation).
Charles S. Craik
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
University of California
513 Parnassus Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94143-0446
415-476-8146
FAX: 415-502-8298
E-mail: craik@cgl.ucsf.edu
Web: http://www.sacs.ucsf.edu/home/CraikLab/
Limited availability: April–June
The World of Proteolytic Enzymes and their Inhibitors: From Life to Death (G)
Protein Engineering—After the Cloning is Over (G)
Science Strikes Back—Structure-based Drug Design (G)
Charles S. Craik is a professor in the departments of Pharmaceutical Chemistry; Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology; and Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California at San Francisco. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Columbia University. His research efforts focus primarily on the structure-function analysis of enzymes using genetic and biochemical methods. Specifically, these methods are revealing general strategies for protein and inhibitor design which in turn provides valuable reagents for addressing the role of these essential proteins in both normal and dysfunctional biological processes. He has served on the National Science Foundation Molecular Biochemistry Advisory Panel and is a member of the editorial boards of BioTechniques and DNA. He is also an editor of the journal Protein Engineering. Dr. Craik is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society of Biological Chemists, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
James H. Curry
Department of Applied Mathematics
University of Colorado, CB 526
Boulder, CO 80309-0526
303-492-6901 or 303-492-4668 (Staff)
FAX: 303-492-4066
E-mail: curry@newton.colorado.edu
Relaxing Chaos: The Chaotic Dynamics of Newton's Method (P,G)
Factoring Polynomials Iteratively: A Study in Chaotic Dynamics (P,G)
James H. Curry received his Ph.D. under the direction of Oscar E. Lanford, III from the University of California at Berkeley. After teaching for one year at Howard University he was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship with the Advanced Study Program of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He subsequently held postdoctoral appointments at MIT, the IHES in France and University of Minnesota. His thesis work involved a generalization of a three-variable convection ordinary-differential equation model first studied by Professor E. N. Lorenz of MIT. Dr. Curry is a professor and associate chair of the Department of Applied Mathematics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research has focused on the application of qualitative methods in low order atmospheric models and on iterative methods for solving nonlinear equations. His point of view has been that most numerical methods can be viewed as dynamic systems.
Ron J. Doyle
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Health Sciences Center
University of Louisville
Louisville, KY 40292
502-852-5350, FAX: 852-7531
E-mail: rjdoyle@louisville.edu
Epidemics, Emigration, and Immigration (G)
History, Misery, and Microbes (G)
Plagues and Painters (G)
Ron Doyle is professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. at Louisville and studied at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute, the Argonne National Laboratory, the Weizmann Institute of Science, and the University of Vermont. His research interests are centered on the regulation of bacterial autolysins and microbial adhesion mechanisms. He is the recipient of several teaching and research awards, as well as grants from the NSF, NIH, U.S. Army R&D Command, the American Heart Association, the U.S.-Israeli Science Foundation, and the U.S.-Mexican Science Foundation. He has served as an American Society for Microbiology Foundation Lecturer and is a current lecturer for the Kentucky Humanities Council. Dr. Doyle is an amateur historian, and focuses on the role of infectious agents in shaping human institutions.
Sylvester J. Gates, Jr.
Physics Department, Rm. 4125
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-4111
301-405-6025
E-mail: gatess@wam.umd.edu
Web: http://www.aps.org/praw/bouchet/94winner.html
Superstrings: Why Einstein Would Love Spaghetti in Fundamental Physics (P,G)
The University May Possess "Funny" Directions: An Introduction to Supersymmetry (P,G)
The Mathematics of Supersymmetry and Superfields (S)
Sylvester Gates is the first John S. Toll Professor of Physics at the University of Maryland at College Park. He received his Ph.D. from MIT for his studies of elementary particle physics and quantum field theory. Previously he served as physics professor and departmental chair at Howard University (while on leave from the University of Maryland). He is a member and Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Dr. Gates was the first recipient of the APS Bouchet Award and he was bestowed the Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award from MIT in 1997. His work was highlighted in several television programs on PBS and in a simulcast with C-Span and Internet cybercast of the Second Millennium Lecture by Prof. Stephen Hawking from the East Room of the White House.
Andrea M. Ghez
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1562
310-206-0420
FAX: 310-206-2096
E-mail: ghez@astro.ucla.edu
Web: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/faculty/ghez.htm
Observing the Fastest Moving Stars in Our Galaxy: Evidence for a Massive Central Black Hole (P,G,S)
Bringing the Galaxy into Focus with the Largest Telescopes in the World (P,G)
The Effects of Young Companion Stars on the Potential for Planetary Formation (G,S)
Andrea M. Ghez received her Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology and is associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of California at Los Angeles. She was a Hubble postdoctoral research fellow at the Steward Observatory of the University of Arizona, and a Visiting Research Scholar of the Institute of Astronomy at the University of Cambridge, England. Her other honors and awards include the Amelia Earhart Award, NSF Young Investigator Award, a Sloan Fellowship, a Packard Foundation Fellowship, and the Pierce Prize from the American Astronomical Society. Most recently she received the Maria Goeppert-Mayer Award from the American Physical Society. Currently she is involved in intensive research on black holes at the center of our galaxy and the origin and early life of stars using the Keck Telescope. With the ability to carry out diffraction-limited imaging at Keck, Dr. Ghez has mapped the galactic center with unprecedented angular resolution.
Lovell Allan Jones
Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Box 304
M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
University of Texas
1515 Holcombe Boulevard
Houston, TX 77030
713-792-3316, FAX: 713-792-3575
E-mail: lajones@notes.mdacc.tmc.edu
Web: http://www.icc.bcm.tmc.edu
Diet, Hormones, Ethnicity, and Breast Cancer (G)
Estrogens and Breast Cancer (P)
Endocrine Disrupter and Cancer: Mechanism of Action (G,S)
Lovell Jones is a professor in the Departments of Gynecologic Oncology, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Since 1988 he has served as Director of Experimental Gynecology/ Endocrinology. Dr. Jones has conducted extensive research into the relationship between hormones, diet, and endocrine responsive tumors. His current work involves determining the mechanism by which natural and environmental estrogenic agents may initiate cancers in hormonally responsive tissue. He is the editor of the text Minorities and Cancer and has chaired/co-chaired several major events addressing the underserved and cancer. Dr. Jones is a co-author of the Congressional Resolution, drafted by former U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen and former Congressman Mervyn Dymally designating the third week in April as National Minority Cancer Awareness Week.
Susan Landau
Computer Science Department
University of Massachusetts
Amherst, MA 01003
413-259-2018
FAX: 413-545-1249
E-mail: landau@cs.umass.edu
Cryptology, Technology, and Politics (P,G)
Primes, Codes, and the NSA (G)
Elegant Algorithms; Factoring and Radical Simplification (S)
Susan Landau is a research associate professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She received her Ph.D. from MIT. Dr. Landau has done extensive work in symbolic computation and algebraic algorithms. She is associate editor of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society; and a member of the Association for Computing Machinery, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She co-authored with Whitfield Diffie the book Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption. Dr. Landau is also the primary author of the 1994 Association for Computing Machinery report, "Codes, Keys, and Conflicts: Issues in U.S. Crypto Policy." This report was funded by the NSF and the participating panel consisted of senior members of the cryptography and security communities, including members of the government, industry, and academia.
Bruce Latimer
Department of Physical Anthropology
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Wade Oval, University Circle
Cleveland, OH 44106-1767
216-231-4600, ext. 242
FAX: 216-231-5919
E-mail: blatimer@cmnh.org
Web: http://www.cmnh.org
Unavailable: December
A Small Step or a Giant Leap: The Origins of Bipedality (P,G,S)
The Perils of being Bipedal (P,G,S)
Another Link in the Chain (P,G,S)
Bruce Latimer is Assistant Director for Science, and Curator and Head of the Department of Physical Anthropology at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. He also serves as the Director of the Biological Program in the Department of Anatomy at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from Kent State University in biomedical sciences. His research focuses on various aspects of human evolution, especially the evolutionary development of bipedal locomotion. His interests also include exploring the relationships between modern clinical orthopedic conditions and human musculoskeletal adaptations. Most of his fieldwork takes place in Ethiopia where recent fossil discoveries have resulted in the naming of two new species of human ancestors. He also worked in Tanzania on the 3.5 million-year-old Laetoli hominid footprint trails. Dr. Latimer is a consultant for Explorer Magazine and the National Geographic Society.
Marcy F. Lawton
Department of Biological Sciences
Wilson Hall
University of Alabama at Huntsville
Huntsville, AL 35899
256-539-2906 or 256-890-6388
FAX: 256-536-2228
E-mail: mlawton@ro.com
Unavailable: June–August
The Mask of Theory and the Face of Nature: The Effects of Popular Culture on Biological Science (P)
Dame Kynd and the Bacon Boys: The Personification of Nature and the Birth of Sociobiology (G)
Baby-faced Birds: Neoteny and the Evolution of Sociality (G)
Marcy Lawton earned her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago's interdisciplinary Committee on the Conceptual Foundations of Science. She has spent over 20 years pursuing interdisciplinary studies into the evolution of social behavior and ideas about the evolution of learning. Her pioneering work on neoteny in birds revealed the relationship between having a "baby face," receiving care, and learning from adults. Currently engaged in research into teacher-learning styles, Dr. Lawton is a member of the faculties of the University of Alabama at Huntsville, the Union Institute of Cincinnati, and the Monteverde Institute in Costa Rica. She and her family spend several months every year in Monteverde, Costa Rica.
Cynthia R. McIntyre
Department of Physics and Astronomy
George Mason University
Room 303, Bldg., ST 1
4400 University Drive, M/S 3F3
Fairfax, VA 22030-4444
703-993-1286
FAX: 703-993-1296
E-mail: cynthia@physics.gmu.edu
Low Dimensional Semiconductors: Physics and Applications (P,G,S)
Materials of Sports (P,G,S)
Electron-Phonon Interactions in Semiconductor Quantum Wells (P,G,S)
Cynthia R. McIntyre was awarded her Ph.D. in physics from MIT. She is an assistant professor of physics at George Mason University. Her research focuses on the electronic and optical properties of semiconductor hetero structures. Previously, she was awarded the National Research Council Research Associateship to conduct research on low-dimensional semiconductor systems at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California at San Diego, she studied the electronic properties of semiconductor quantum wires. Dr. McIntyre serves as a general councilor on the governing board of the American Physical Society. In addition, she serves on the Advisory Com mittee of the Research Associateship Program of the National Research Council. She is the national coordinator and one of the original founders of the National Conference of Black Physics Students.
Ronald E. Mickens
Box 172 – Physics Department
Clark Atlanta University
Atlanta, GA 30314-4391
404-880-6923
FAX: 404-880-6258
E-mail: rohrs@math.gatech.edu or RMICK23756@aol.com
The Level Structure of Matter (G)
Bouchet and Imes: First African American Physicists (P,G)
Models of Periodic Diseases: A "Big Bang" Vaccination Strategy (G,S)
Ronald Mickens is the Distinguished Fuller E. Callaway Professor of Physics at Clark Atlanta University. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Vanderbilt University and has held postdoctoral positions at the Massachusetts of Technology, The Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, and Vanderbilt University. His current research interests include non-linear oscillations, difference equations, numerical integration of differential equations, mathematical models of periodic diseases, and the history/sociology of African Americans in science. He has written more than 170 research publications, five books, and edited volumes. Professor Mickens serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Difference Equations and Applications. He is a member of AAAS, the American Mathematical Society, the American Physical Society, and the Society for Mathematical Biology.
J. Bruce Overmier
Department of Psychology
Elliott Hall
University of Minnesota
75 East River Road
Minneapolis, MN 55455-0344
612-625-1835
FAX: 612-626-2079
E-mail: psyjbo@tc.umn.edu
Advances to Human Health through Psychological Research with Animals (P,G,S)
Thinking about Memory and being of Two Minds (P,G,S)
New Animal Model of Memorial Function and its Application (P,G,S)
Bruce Overmier is professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota and member of the graduate faculties of Psychology, Cognitive Science, Neuroscience, and Psycho neuroimmunology and was a licensed psychologist for nearly 20 years. He has systematically promoted recognition of the mutual interdependence between basic and applied psychology and between the laboratory and clinic. Bruce has authored 150+ articles and chapters in his specialties of learning, memory, stress, gastric ulcer, and their biological substrates; these are based upon his research carried out with a range of animal models and human clients with specific dysfunction—often in international collaborations. He is a fellow of many of psychology's major national and international organizations, and has also served as a board member, officer and journal editor.
Kevin Padian
Department of Integrative Biology
and Museum of Paleontology
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3140
510-642-7434
FAX: 510-642-1822
E-mail: kpadian@socrates.berkeley.edu
Web: http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/people/padian/webintro.html
How Did Birds Evolve from Dinosaurs (and How do We Know)? (P, G)
The Paleobiology of Dinosaurs (P, G)
The Evolution of Flight in Vertebrates (S, G)
Kevin Padian is professor of integrative biology and a curator in the Museum of Paleontology, University of California, Berkeley. He received his Ph.D. from Yale and is President of the National Center for Science Education and a Fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on various aspects of macroevolution and paleobiology, particularly of vertebrates. He is mainly interested in the origins of major adaptations, or how "great ideas" in evolution get started. He has studied and published extensively on the origins of vertebrate flight. His other interests include large transitions in vertebrate history, especially the Triassic-Jurassic boundary, when dinosaurs and other animals took over the terrestrial faunas. Dr. Padian is an editor and an author of The Beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs and the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs. Most of his field work is in the southwest U.S. He has also done work on fossil footprints and on the history of evolution and paleontology, particularly in the early Victorian Era.
Robert T. Pennock
Lyman Briggs School
E-30 Holmes Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48825-1107
517-432-7701
FAX: 512-432-2758
E-mail: pennock5@msu.edu
Evolution and Neocreationism (P,G)
The Virtues of the Scientist (P,G)
Ethical Challenges of Emerging Biotechnology (P,G)
Robert T. Pennock received his Ph.D. in the history and philosophy of science from the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on epistemic and ethical values in science. He is the author of Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism. He is the recipient of the Templeton Prize for the Exemplary Paper in Theology and the Natural Sciences, and the National Endowment for the Humanities/National Science Foundation fellowship on Scientific, Ethical, and Social Challengers of Contemporary Genetic Technology. He has also received support the Mellon Foundation and Obirin University (Japan). In 1997, he co-directed an NSF Chautauqua Workshop on the "Ethical Implications of the Human Genome Project." Dr. Pennock has served as President of the University of Texas at Austin chapter of Sigma Xi, and is a member of the American Philosophical Association, Philosophy of Science Association, Sigma Xi, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Roger A. Pielke, Jr.
American Meteorological Society-Sigma Xi Lecturer
Environmental and Societal Impacts Group
National Center for Atmospheric Research
3450 Mitchell Lane
Boulder, CO 80301
303-497-8111
FAX: 303-497-8125
E-mail: rogerp@ucar.edu
The Future of United States Science Policy (P, G)
Disasters, Death, and Destruction: Are Weather and Climate Impacts Increasing? (P, G)
The Use and Misuse of Earth Sciences Predictions in Policy Making (G, S)
Beyond Global Warming: Yes or No? (P, G)
Roger A. Pielke, Jr. is a scientist in the Environmental and Societal Impacts Group at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. He also holds an affiliate professorship in the Department of Political Science at the University of Colorado. His current areas of research are: societal responses to extreme weather events, domestic and international policy responses to climate change, and United States science policy. He chairs the American Meteorological Society's Committee on Societal Impacts, and serves on the Science Steering Committees of the U.S. Weather Research Program's and the World Meteorological Organization's World Weather Research Programme. He is the co-author (with his father) of Hurricanes: Their Nature and Impacts on Society and is currently finalizing (with Daniel Sarewitz and Radford Byerly) Predictions: Decision-making and the Future of Nature.
Orrin H. Pilkey
James B. Duke Professor of Geology
Division of Earth and Ocean Sciences (NSOE)
Duke University, Box 90228
Durham, NC 27708
919-684-4238
FAX: 919-684-5833
E-mail: opilkey@geo.duke.edu
Shifting Shores and Rising Seas (P)
Evolution of Barrier Islands: A Global View (G,P)
On the Predictability of Beach Behavior (and Other Earth Surface Processes) for Practical Purposes (G)
Orrin H. Pilkey is the James B. Duke professor of geology and the director of the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines at Duke University. His program focuses on the study of shoreface sedimentary processes, beach nourishment, the impact of seawalls, and the validity of modeling of beach behavior. Over the years he has studied barrier islands on four continents. He is the recipient of the Shepard Medal for excellence in marine geology and is the co-editor and sometimes co-author of the 23-volume Living with the Shore books series. His recent books include Living by the Rules of the Sea and The Corps and the Shore. Dr. Pilkey has received numerous awards including the Francis Shepard Medal for excellence in marine geology, the American Geological Institute award for outstanding public communication, and was named the North Carolina Wildlife Federation Conservation educator of the year.
J. David Rogers
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
476 Davis Hall
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-1710
925-682-7601
FAX: 925-682-7605
E-mail: jdrogers@geolith.com
Reassessment of the St. Francis Dam Failure (P)
Development and Use of the First Atomic Bombs (P)
Sinking of the R.M.S. Titanic (P)
J. David Rogers is a geological engineer specializing in the analysis of failures involving earth systems. He returned to his alma mater in an adjunct capacity in 1994. An avid lecturer, teaching is his third career, following service as a naval intelligence officer and expert witness specializing in forensic evaluations. He has traveled worldwide and has written numerous articles which include the areas of: geotechnical engineering, seismicity, hydrology, engineering identification and mitigation techniques. He has received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Geological Survey, and the Federal Highway Administration. Dr. Rogers is a recipient of the Rock Mechanics Award of the National Research Council/National Academy of Engineering, Burwell Award of the Geological Society of America, and the Jahns Distinguished Lectureship of the Association of Engineering Geologists and Geological Society of America.
Henry P. Schwarcz
School of Geography and Geology
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON, Canada L8S 4M1
905-525-9140, ext. 24186
FAX: 905-522-3141
E-mail: schwarcz@mcmaster.ca
Web: http://www.science.mcmaster.ca/geo/faculty/schwarcz.html
Unavailable: Sept. 30, Oct. 9, 15-16, 21-22, 2000; April 8-9, 14-15 and May 28-29, 2001
How Old are We? New Methods for Dating Human Evolution (P,G)
You are What You Eat: Decoding the Diets of Ancient Peoples (P, G)
The Clock in the Cave: Stalagmites as Records of the Life and Climate of the Past (G, S)
Henry Schwarcz is University Professor of Geology Emeritus at McMaster University. He received his Ph.D. in Geology from Cal Tech. His work has taken him to Africa, Europe, and Israel and he has collaborated with many archaeologists and paleoanthropologists in the study of human origins through the use of uranium-series and electron-spin resonance dating. Dr. Schwarcz has also used stable isotopes of oxygen, carbon and hydrogen as recorders of climate in cave deposits, corals, and fish otoliths. He has measured stable isotopes in bones and teeth as records of diet. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, held an Izaak Walton Killam Fellowship of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and has received the Archaeological Geology Award of the Geological Society of America, and the Roald Fryxell Award of the Society for American Archaeology.
Robin L. B. Selinger
Department of Physics
Catholic University
Hannan Hall, Room 200
Washington, DC 20064
202-319-6740
FAX: 202-319-4448
E-mail: selinger@cua.edu
Web: http://www.campus.cua.edu/~selinger/home.htm
How Things Bend and Break: Materials Science at the Molecular Scale (G,S)
Modeling Smectic Liquid Crystals from the Nanoscale to the Macroscale (G,S)
Robin Selinger received her bachelors and Ph.D. degrees in physics at Harvard University. After postdoctoral work at the University of California at Los Angeles, the University of Maryland and NIST, she joined the physics faculty of Catholic University in Washington, DC. Her research involves applications of statistical physics in computational materials science (fracture, plasticity) and in chemical physics (complex fluids) with a strong emphasis on computer simulation. Her work is funded by the Navy and by the National Science Foundation. Her honors include: the National Science Foundation Career Award, National Research Council Postdoctoral fellowship, the Harvard University Physics Department Robbins Prize, and a Zonta International Amelia Earhart fellowship. Dr. Selinger is a member of the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society.
Xiao-Lun Wu
Department of Physics
408 Allen Hall
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
413-624-0873
FAX: 412-624-9163
E-mail: xlwu@vms.cis.pitt.edu
Physics of Fluid Thin Films (P)
Fluid Flows in Freely Suspended Films (G)
Hydrodynamics and Turbulence in Two Dimensions (S)
Xiao-Lun Wu received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in physics and is an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh. His research focuses on the long-standing problem of the effect of spatial disorder on critical fluctuations of Ising-like systems, particularly fluid flow and turbulence in thin, free-standing liquid films as well as particle diffusion and thermal convection. Some of his recent research includes: hydrodynamics in free-standing liquid films, nucleation and chiral symmetry breaking under hydrodynamic flows, structure and dynamics in a glass forming system, internal modes of macromolecules and critical fluctuations in porous media. Dr. Wu has been an invited speaker at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Aspen Center for Physics, Ford Motor Company and numerous universities and society meetings. He is a member of the American Physical Society and the Materials Research Society.
Arjun Yodh
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Pennsylvania
209 S. 33rd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
215-898-6354
FAX: 215-898-2010
E-mail: yodh@dept.physics.upenn.edu
Web: http://dept.physics.upenn.edu/facultyinfo/yodh.html
Spectroscopy and Imaging of Tissues with Diffusing Light (G)
Entropy in Suspension (G)
Arjun Yodh is professor of physics and astronomy and professor of radiation oncology at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University. His current interests involve aspects of chemical, solid-state, and optical physics, with experiments oriented towards lasers and the unique spectroscopies these tools offer (including tissue diagnostics). He elucidated the phenomenology associated with diffusive waves and has shown that diffusing photons can be used to probe variations of the absorption, fluorescence, scattering and dynamical properties of turbid media. His lab group has several areas of ongoing research including: complex fluids, laser spectroscopy of biological samples, biomedical applications of NIR imaging, and non-linear optical spectroscopy. He was an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow and a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator, as well as an AT&T Bell Laboratories Faculty Fellow. Currently Dr. Yodh is the William Smith Term Chair at the University of Pennsylvania.