Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturers 2013-2014

Abstracts

Potential hosts should contact lecturers directly to book events. In making arrangements, hosts should be specific about dates, lecture topic, scope of the lecturer's visit and any special accommodations that may be called for.

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.

Gilda Barabino

Professor and Associate Chair, Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
Email: barabino@gatech.edu
Phone: 404-385-5016
Website:www.bme.gatech.edu/groups/barabino/

1. Learning in Research Settings: Role of Identity Formation (P,G,S)
2. Environmental Effects on Tissue-Engineered Cartilage (G,S)
3. Investigation of Sickle Cell Disease using Engineering Approaches(P,G,S)

Gilda Barabino is a Professor and Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. She recently served as the inaugural Vice Provost for Academic Diversity and established a legacy to strengthen diversity and inclusion at Georgia Tech. Prior to her appointments at Georgia Tech and Emory, she rose to the rank of Full Professor of chemical engineering and served as Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education at Northeastern University. Her research focuses on sickle cell disease, orthopedic tissue engineering and diversity in science and engineering. She received her B.S. degree in Chemistry from Xavier University of Louisiana and her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Rice University. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society.

Arlen F. Chase

Pegasus Professor and Chair of Anthropology, University of Central Florida 
Email: arlen.chase@ucf.edu
Phone: 407-823-2227
Web: www.caracol.org

1. Tombs, Texts, and Time: The Archaeology of an Ancient Maya Capital City (PG)
2. Airborne LiDAR at Caracol, Belize and its Implications for Archaeology(PG)
3. Transitions and Transformations in the Archaeology of the Ancient Maya(PG)

Arlen F. Chase is a Pegasus professor and the chair of the anthropology department at the University of Central Florida. He currently co-directs excavations at Caracol, Belize, the largest recorded Classic Period (A.D. 250-900) Maya center; before that, he was involved in research projects at Santa Rita Corozal, Belize and at Tayasal, Guatemala. His research focuses on archaeological method and theory as applied to the Maya area with particular emphasis on ancient urbanism, ceramic analysis, landscape archaeology, and the complex relationship that exists between Maya hieroglyphic writing and archaeological data. Most recently, he has pioneered efforts in applying laser-based remote sensing, or LiDAR, to the ancient Maya landscape. He has authored over 125 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters as well as multiple books. Further information and PDFs of his writings may be found at www.caracol.org.

National Cancer Institute -
Sigma Xi Lecturer
Robert Clarke

Professor and Dean for Research
Georgetown University Medical Center
3970 Reservoir Rd NW
Washington, DC 20057
Phone: 202-687-9364
Fax: 202-687-2085
E-mail: clarker@georgetown.edu 
Web: http://clarkelabs.georgetown.edu/res_robert

1. Hormones and breast cancer (P,G,S)
2. Modeling resistance to hormone based therapies in breast cancer(G,S)
3. What can we learn about breast cancer by combining mathematics and computer science in a systems biology approach to research? (P,G,S)

Dr. Robert Clarke is a Professor of Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center and an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the Royal Society of Biology (U.K.). A native of Northern Ireland, he earned a D.Sc. in 1999, a Ph.D. in 1986, and a M.Sc. in 1982 (each in Biochemistry) from the Queen's University of Belfast, and a B.Sc. (Biological Sciences) in 1980 from the University of Ulster. Dr Clarke completed his postdoctoral training in 1988 as a Breast Cancer Study Group Fellow at the Medical Breast Section of the National Cancer Institute, N.I.H. He joined the Faculty at Georgetown University in 1989, where he served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Georgetown University Faculty Senate (2004-2007). He serves on the editorial board of over a dozen peer review journals and he is currently chair of the N.I.H. Basic Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics grant review panel (2011-2013). Dr. Clarke studies how hormones and growth factors affect breast cancer. Focusing initially on the interactions among hormones and anticancer drugs, his work expanded to include the cellular and molecular mechanisms that explain how breast cancers become resistant to hormone and cytotoxic drug chemotherapies. He and his colleagues developed a series of hormone resistant breast cancer models that are widely used in the field. Dr. Clarke is currently developing and applying novel bioinformatic methods in translational breast cancer studies. Taking a systems biology approach, he and his collaborators have recently described a novel molecular signaling network that incorporates the unfolded protein response to endoplasmic reticulum stress. This signaling network contributes directly to the hormonal regulation of breast cancer cell proliferation and cell death. Dr. Clarke has authored/co-authored over 225 publications and he has several patents, mostly in the field of breast cancer research.

American Meteorological Society Lecture

James R. Fleming

Professor of Science, Technology, and Society Colby College
Email: jfleming@colby.edu
Phone: 207-859-5830
Web: http://www.colby.edu/profile/jfleming

1. Fixing the Sky: The checkered history of weather and climate control(P,G,S)
2. Harry Wexler and the Emergence of Atmospheric Science (P,G,S) 
3. Historical Perspectives on Climate Change (P,G,S)

James Rodger Fleming (Ph.D. history Princeton University) is professor of science, technology, and society at Colby College, Maine. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Meteorological Society (AMS), and series editor of Palgrave Studies in the History of Science and Technology. Jim's books include Meteorology in America, 1800-1870 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1990), Historical Perspectives on Climate Change (Oxford University Press, 1998), and Fixing the Sky: The checkered history of weather and climate control (Columbia University Press, 2010) winner of the 2011 Sally Hacker Prize from the Society for the History of Technology and the Louis J. Battan Author's Award from the AMS. His new research involves a history of the emergence of atmospheric science, a biography of the substance we now call carbon dioxide, and an examination of the history and culture of the Anthropocene.

James Giordano

Chief, Neuroethics Studies Program, Edmund D. Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
Email: jgiordano@neurobioethics.org 
Phone: 202-903-5373 Web: www.neurobioethics.org

1. Neurotechnology: Practical and ethical issues at the intersection of brain science and society (P,G,S)
2. Predictive neurotechnologies in national security and defense: Social obligation or Minority Report? (P,G,S)
3. Neural implants and indwelling neurotechnologies: Treatments, enhancements or enablements? (P,G)
4. Neuroimaging pain: Technical, neuroethical, and socio-legal issues. (P,G,S)

Prof. James Giordano is Chief of the Neuroethics Studies Program in the Edmund D. Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics, and is on the faculty of the Division of Integrative Physiology, Department of Biochemistry; Interdisciplinary Program in Neurosciences; and Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA. He is CL Clark Fellow in Neurosciences and Ethics at the Human Science Center of Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany, and was 2011-2012 JW Fulbright Foundation Professor of Neuroscience, Neurotechnology, and Ethics on the medical faculty of Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich, Germany. As well, Dr. Giordano is 2012-2014 William H. and Ruth Crane Schaefer Distinguished Visiting Professor of Neuroethics at Gallaudet University, Washington, DC, and is a Senior Fellow of the Board of Regents of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, Arlington, VA, USA.

Prof. Giordano chairs the Capital Consortium on Neuroethics, Legal and Social Issues (www.ccnelsi.com) - bringing together major academic centers in the US Capital Region in lectures, symposia and seminar series focused upon all areas of neurophilosophy and neuroethics, and the National Neuroscience, Ethics, Legal and Social Issues (NELSI) project.

Prof. Giordano is Editor-in-Chief of the journals Philosophy, Ethics and Humanities in Medicine, and Synesis: A Journal of Science, Technology, Ethics, and Policy, Associate Editor for the international journal Neuroethics, Executive Editor-in-Chief of the book series Advances in Neurotechnology: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues (published by Taylor-Francis/CRC Press); and Associate Editor of the book series Augmenting Human Performance (Springer Verlag). The author of over 200 publications in neuroscience, pain, neurophilosophy, and neuroethics, his recent books include: Neurotechnology: Premises, Potential and Problems; Maldynia- Multi-disciplinary Perspectives on the Illness of Chronic Pain (Taylor-Francis/Informa, USA); Scientific and Philosophical Perspectives in Neuroethics (with Bert Gordijn, Cambridge University Press, UK); Pain: Mind, Meaning, and Medicine (PPM Press, US); and Pain Medicine: Philosophy, Ethics, and Policy (with Mark Boswell; Linton Atlantic Books, UK).

His ongoing research addresses the molecular and behavioral neuroscience of pain and analgesia, the neurophilosophy of pain and mind, the neuroethics of pain research and treatment, and the ethical issues arising in and from advancements in science and biotechnology.He is 2012-14 National Distinguished Lecturer, Sigma Xi, National Research Honor Society and 2012-14 National Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE. In recognition of his work, he received the 2012 Klaus Reichert Prize for Medicine and Philosophy, and was elected to the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in 2008.

Theodore Goodson, III

The Richard Bernstein Collegiate Professor of Chemistry, University of Michigan
Phone: 734-647-0274
Email: tgoodson@umich.edu
Website: http://www.umich.edu/~goodgrp/ 

1. New Approaches to Energy Harvesting and Energy Storage with Organic Materials (P,G,S) 
   
2. Quantum Sensing with organic materials (G,S)
   
3. Optical limiting, New materials, Applications, and the future (G,S)

Theodore Goodson III received his B. A. in 1991 from Wabash College and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1996. After postdoctoral positions at the University of Chicago and at the University of Oxford, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Wayne State University in 1998. In 2004 he moved to the University of Michigan as Professor of Chemistry. In 2008 he was appointed as the Richard Barry Bernstein Professor of Chemistry at the University of Michigan. Dr. Goodson’s research centers on the investigation of nonlinear optical and energy transfer in organic multi-chromophore systems for particular optical and electronic applications. He has investigated new quantum optical effects in these systems as well as fundamental excitations in small metal topologies. Dr. Goodson’s awards include the Army Research Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, National Science Innovation Award, Percy Julian Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Lloyd Ferguson Young Scientist Award, Burroughs Welcome Fund Award, American Chemical Society Minority Mentorship Award, University Faculty Recognition Award, College of Science Teaching Award, and a National Academy of Sciences Ford Postdoctoral Fellowship. Dr. Goodson has been a Senior Editor for The Journal of Physical Chemistry since 2007. He has served on the Committee of Institutional Cooperation and the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Goodson has published over 110 scientific publications and more than 150 invited talks.

Mark Hernandez

Professor of Environmental Engineering and Director of the Colorado Diversity Initiative, University of Colorado, Boulder 
Email: Mark.Hernandez@Colorado.Edu
Facsimile: 303-492-7317

1. Aerobiology, the final frontier for environmental engineers. How molecular biology is rapidly changing our views of the air we breathe at home, in transit, and at work (G,S)
2. The Demography of Academic Neighborhoods and the Emerging Culture of Missing Mentors in our Research Universities (P,G,S)

Mark Hernandez became a registered professional civil engineer after attaining all of his degrees from the College of Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley. After a post-doc tenure in environmental microbiology (also at Berkeley) and several years of professional practice, he joined the University of Colorado faculty in 1996, where he is a professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering. Dr. Hernandez is an expert on characterizing and controlling biological aspects of air pollution—both indoors and out—and serves the National Academy of Science through reviewing risk assessments of new biological defense laboratories being constructed by the US military and the Department of Homeland Security. With respect to environmental investigations, his aerobiology work has focused on large-scale disasters including bioaerosols generated by major metropolitan floods, the quarantined City of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, and coastal Louisiana following the Horizon oil spill. Dr. Hernandez. He also serves as a faculty director of the Colorado Diversity Initiative, which coordinates major diversity efforts among college science, math, and engineering departments with a focus on promoting underrepresented students through graduate schools and into the professorate.

Luis Herrera-Estrella

Director of the National Laboratory for Genomics of Biodiversity and Professor of the Department of Plant Genetic Engineering, Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del IPN
Phone: (52-462) 623-9660
Email: lherrera@ira.cinvestav.mx

1. The Impact of Biotechnology on Current Life" or "Release of transgenic crops in a center of genetic diversity: The case of transgenic corn in Mexico" (P)
2. Evaluating the RoadMap as support for risk analysis of the release of GMOS (G)
3. Molecular mechanism that mediate changes in root system architecture in response to Pi deprivation" "Signaling during the phosphate deprivation response in Arabidopsis" (S)

Mary Lee A. Jensvold

Associate Professor 
Department of Anthropology & Museum Studies, Primate Behavior & Ecology Program 
Central Washington University
Email: jensvold@cwu.edu 
Phone: 509-963-2215
Web: http://www.cwu.edu/anthropology/mary-lee-jensvold

1. Conversations with Chimpanzees: Transforming our View of Nature(P,G,S)
2. Animal Welfare: Chimpanzee Relationships With Caregivers and Zoo Visitors (G,S)
3. Ethological Roots of Language Acquisition (G,S)
4. What? Conversation Repair in Chimpanzee Conversations (G,S)

Mary Lee Jensvold is an Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department and the Primate Behavior and Ecology Program at Central Washington University. She has worked with chimpanzees who communicate with sign language since 1986. In 1985 she received a B.A. in Psychology from University of Oregon, in 1989 a M.S. in Experimental Psychology from Central Washington University, and in 1996 a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from University of Nevada-Reno. She is on the board of the Animal Welfare Institute and Friends of Washoe. She specializes in ethological studies of apes, animal intelligence, communication, language, and culture. Her studies include conversational behaviors, private signing, phrase development, chimpanzee to chimpanzee conversation, imaginary play, and artwork in chimpanzees. Other research includes caregiving practices, zoo visitor effects, and public education about chimpanzees. She is active in improving conditions for captive chimpanzees.

Eric J. Jolly

President Science Museum of Minnesota
Email: ejolly@smm.org 
Phone: 651-221-9415
Web: www.smm.org

1. Why Science? (P)
2. Research Based Practice for Addressing STEM Achievement (P)

Dr. Eric Jolly is president of the Science Museum of Minnesota, a museum that serves nearly one million people each year through its hands-on exhibits, giant screen films, special events and unparalleled education programs. Dr. Jolly is a passionate advocate for science literacy for all people, and has published numerous articles, books, and curricula, and lectured around the world on the importance of science learning in contemporary societies and the importance of participation in STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-and Math) education.

Dr. Jolly works with a number of groups promoting STEM education, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the National Science Foundation, the National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering, the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics, and the National Science Teachers Association.

Dr. Jolly has published many scholarly articles and lectured throughout the world. In 2004, he published "Engagement, Capacity and Continuity: A Trilogy For Student Success." He is the author of numerous books, articles, and curricula for students and teachers, including "Bridging Homes and Schools," (a comprehensive resource for teachers of Limited English Proficiency students), and "Beyond Blame: Reacting to the Terrorist Attack." His curricula are used in more than 16 countries and an estimated 400,000 classrooms worldwide.

Dr. Jolly has a PhD in psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and studied physics and psychology as an undergraduate. He holds honorary degrees from the College of Saint Scholastica and St. John’s University.

W. R. (Bill) Klemm

Professor of Neuroscience, Texas A&M University
Email: wklemm@cvm.tamu.edu
Phone: 979-589-2665
Website: http://vetmed.tamu.edu/faculty/wklemm

1. Atoms of Mind. The "Ghost in the Machine" Materializes (P,G)
2. What Teachers Can Do to Improve Student Learning and Memory (G,S)
3. Better Grades, Less Effort (G,S)

Dr. Bill Klemm is an internationally recognized neuroscientist with provocative new theories on how brains think, the nature of consciousness, the cause of dreaming. and the issue of human free will. These ideas derive from his four decades of research at all levels of neuroscience, molecular, cellular, system, and cognitive. He has published some 425 publications, which includes 15 books, and 45 book chapters. He has served on the official Editorial Boards of six scientific research journals and has been a peer reviewer for approximately 1,000 manuscripts for 45 scholarly journals. His learning and memory lectures are derived from his innovations in on-line collaborative learning, in memory research, and in Federally funded middle school educational outreach programs. Known as the "Memory Medic," Dr. Klemm has written several books on improving memory and writes on that topic in his Web blog and newspaper columns.

Rikk G. Kvitek

Professor, California State Unversity, Monterey Bay (CSUMB)
Email: rkvitek@csumb.edu
Phone: 831-582-3529
Website: http://seafloor.csumb.edu/

1. Peeling Back the Blue: how we map and use 3D visualization to reveal and learn from earth's hidden seafloor landscapes.(P,G,S)
2. From "You've Got to Be Kidding!" to "Ah-Ha!": Hope for our oceans through insight and innovation.(P,G,S)
3. Mediation of the foraging behavior, spatial distribution and ecological influence of sea otters and shorebirds by harmful algal blooms. (P,G,S)
4. Destruction and recovery in polar seas: The effects of ice scour disturbance on Arctic and Antarctic seafloor communities (P,G,S)

Rikk Kvitek is a Professor in the Division of Science and Environmental Policy, CSU Monterey Bay, where he directs the CSUMB Seafloor Mapping Lab. Rikk obtained his Bachelor of Science in zoology from the University of Michigan, a Masters at Moss Landing Marine Labs, and PhD in zoology from the University of Washington. His research with whales, sea otters, walrus, sea birds, fish, ice bergs, submarine canyons and numerous invertebrates from the Arctic to the Antarctic has brought novel insights to the fields of benthic ecology, seafloor disturbance, habitat mapping and species relations, and the effects of harmful algal bloom toxins in marine food chains. Beginning with SCUBA, Dr. Kvitek quickly realized that detailed birds-eye views of the seafloor could do for marine research what aerial photography had done for terrestrial studies, and now specializes in bringing seafloor habitats to life with high resolution remote sensing and 3D visualization.

Diandra L. Leslie-Pelecky

Email: speaking@drdiandra.com
Phone: 214-966-8446
Website: http://www.drdiandra.com

1. The Science of Speed: Faster, Stronger and Safer (P,G)
2. Materials at 200 mph: Faster, Stronger and Safer(P,G)
3. Building the Perfect World: One (Very) Small Step at a Time (P,G)
4. Biomedical Applications of Magnetic Nanoparticles (G,S)

Diandra Leslie-Pelecky earned undergraduate degrees in physics and philosophy from the University of North Texas and a Ph.D. in condensed matter physics from Michigan State University. She spent the majority of her twenty-year academic career as a nanomaterials research and educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Her research in magnetic nanomaterials was funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy. She developed fundamental understanding of magnetic materials as well as applications of nanomaterials to medical diagnosis and treatment processes such as magnetic resonance imaging and chemotherapy. Leslie-Pelecky is nationally recognized for her work in science education and outreach at all levels, having directed education and outreach projects funded primarily by the National Science Foundation.

Leslie-Pelecky is a popular speaker with technical and non-technical audiences, including addresses for the public sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, numerous science museums, and the American Physical Society. Her book, The Physics of NASCAR, was excerpted by TIME magazine and has been featured in publications from the Materials Research Bulletin to Sporting News. Her blog (www.buildingspeed.org/blog) focuses on the science of motorsports and is avidly read by NASCAR fans and insiders.

Diandra has written for and appeared in a number of motorsports-related television broadcasts, including segments for ESPN (one of which won the 2010 Aflac Motorsports Journalism Award of Excellence), an episode of the Emmy-winning series Quest for the Cup, was host and writer for the National Science Foundation project The Science of Speed, and will appear in a segment for the upcoming History Channel show Invisible. She is a bi-weekly guest on the SiriusXM Speedway satellite radio program where she uses science to debunk "NASCAR Myths" for motorsports fans.

Yi Lu

Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Bioengineering; Department of Materials Science and Engineering; and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Email: yi-lu@illinois.edu
Phone: 217-333-2619
Website: http://www.chemistry.illinois.edu/faculty/Yi_Lu.html/

1. Rational Design of Metalloproteins as Biocatalysts for Sustainable Energy (G,S)
2. Functional DNA Nanotechnology and its Application in Sensing, Imaging and Medicine (P,G,S)

Dr. Yi Lu received his B.S. degree from Peking University in 1986, and Ph.D. degree from University of California at Los Angeles in 1992 under Professor Joan S. Valentine. After two years of postdoctoral research in Professor Harry B. Gray group at the California Institute of Technology, Dr. Lu started his own independent career in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 1994. He is now Jay and Ann Schenck Endowed Professor of Chemistry and HHMI Professor in the Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering. He is also a member of the Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His research interests lie at the interface between chemistry and biology. His group is developing new chemical approaches to provide deeper insight into biological systems. At the same time, they take advantage of recently developed biological tools to advance many areas in chemistry. Specific areas of current interests include a) design and engineering of functional metalloproteins as environmentally benign catalysis in renewable energy generation and pharmaceuticals; b) Fundamental understanding of DNAzymes and their applications in environmental monitoring, medical diagnostics, and targeted drug delivery; and c) Employing principles from biology for directed assembly of nanomaterials and its applications in photonics and sensing. Dr. Lu has received numerous research and teaching awards, including the Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2007), Early Career Award, Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry (2007), Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor Award (2002), Camile Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1999), Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (1998), Research Corporation Cottrell Scholars Award (1997), and the Beckman Young Investigators Award (1996).

Paul E. Minnis

Professor of Anthropology, University of Oklahoma
Email: minnis@ou.edu
Phone: 405-325-2519 

1. Mysteries or Lessons: Archaeology of the Ancient Southwest(P,G,S)
2. Indigenous Humans and History in Ecology(P,G)
3. Utilitarian Archaeology: "Mining" the Past for the Future (S)
4. Develop of regional System in the North American Southwest (P,G,S)

Paul Minnis' research focuses on archaeology and prehistoric ethnobotany, especially of the U.S. Southwest and northwestern Mexico. 
Although he has conducted research throughout the "Southwest," for the past two decades he has codirected an archaeological project to understand the organization and political ecology of Casas Grandes, one of the most important ancient communities of northwestern Mexico and the U.S. Southwest. He has also written on the practical uses of archaeology.
Minnis' ethnobotanical research centers on the analysis of plant remains from archaeological sites in order to better understand how ancient people used their environment and the effects they had on the structure and dynamic history of natural environments. Minnis has served as President of the Society of Ethnobiology, Treasurer and Press Editor for the Society for American Archaeology, and co-founder of the Southwest Symposium. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Colorado with graduate degrees from the University of Michigan, he has received the E.K. Janaki Ammal Medal from the Society of Ethnobonatists (India) and three Presidential Recognition Awards from the Society for American Archaeology.

Dennis K. Norman

Faculty Chair, Harvard University Native American Program
Email: dnorman@partners.org
Phone: 617-530-0550 

1. American Indian Health: A History of Disparities (P,G,S)
2. Twenty Years of Nation Building in Higher Education (P,G,S)

Dennis Norman is the Chief of Psychology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Faculty Chair for the Harvard University Native American Program, and Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School. He is Board Certified in both Clinical and Child and Adolescent Psychology. He received his doctorate in Human Development, Counseling and Consulting Psychology from Harvard University and also has an M.A. in Child Development from Tufts University, Child Study Department. His special interest has been cross cultural psychology, coping with chronic illness and human development with a special focus on American Indian/Alaskan Natives. He is Past Chair of the Board of Registration for Psychology, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Dr. Norman directs the Harvard University Native American Program Health Initiative teaches field research for Native communities at the Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Jody A. Roberts 

Director, Center for Contemporary History and Policy Chemical Heritage Foundation
Email: jroberts@chemheritage.org 
Phone: 215-873-8281
Web: Click here

1. Sensing Change: How Art and Science work to Communicate Environmental Change (PGS)
2. Re-inventing Green Chemistry: Alternative Histories for a Sustainable Science (GS)
3. From Inception to Reform? An Oral History of the Toxic Substances Control Act (GS)

Roberts' work explores the intersections of emerging molecular sciences and public policy and the ways in which tensions brought about between the two get resolved. He received advanced degrees in science and technology studies from Virginia Tech, where he cultivated an interest in the practice of the molecular sciences and the ways in which they are shaped by internal architecture and design (e.g., technologies of the laboratory) and the politics of the broader world (e.g., chemical regulations). Those interests became the basis for the projects that Roberts conducts in the Center for Contemporary History and Policy at CHF. Roberts lectures in the Science, Technology, and Society Program at Drexel University and in the History and Sociology of Science Department at the University of Pennsylvania and is a senior fellow in the Environmental Leadership Program. Roberts holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry from Saint Vincent College.

J. Carlos Santamarina

Professor Georgia Institute of Technology
Email: jcs@gatech.edu 
Phone: 404-894-7605
Web: http://pmrl.ce.gatech.edu/

1. Energy: A Geo-Centered Perspective(P,G,S)
2. Bio-Mimetics: From Nature to Engineering (P,G,S)
3. Particulars of the Particulate: Phenomena in granular materials at the particle/pore-scales (P,G,S)

Santamarina and his team explore the scientific foundations of soil behavior and subsurface processes using unprecedented particle-level and pore-scale testing methods, combined with numerical methods and high-resolution process monitoring systems. This conceptual and experimental framework is advancing the study of phenomena and the development of solutions in energy geotechnology with contributions to: efficiency and conservation, resource recovery (petroleum, methane hydrates), energy geo-storage, and energy waste (carbon geological storage, fly ash and nuclear waste). Two books and more than 250 publications summarize salient concepts and research results. His former doctoral students are faculty members or lead engineers at foremost universities and organizations worldwide. Dr. Santamarina is a frequent keynote speaker at international events, a member of both Argentinean National Academies, and a member of committees at the USA National Academies. He holds a Ph.D. from Purdue University, M.S. from the University of Maryland and BSc from Universidad de Cordoba.

John J. Shea

Professor, Stony Brook University
Phone: 631-632-7665
Email: John.Shea@sunysb.edu
Website: http://www.stonybrook.edu/anthro/Shea/ Shea%20Personal%20Webpage.htm

1. Myths of "Modern" Human Origins(G)
2. The Handaxe's Tale: Stone Tools and Human Evolution (G)

John J. Shea is Professor of Anthropology at Stony Brook University in New York and Research Associate of the Turkana Basin Institute in Kenya. He is an alumnus of Boston University (BA 1978) and Harvard University (Ph.D. 1991). Shea’s research focuses on the archaeology of human evolution, namely the origin of our species, Homo sapiens, and the extinction of the Neanderthals. He is an expert at making, using, and analyzing stone tools whose work has been featured in more than a dozen television documentaries and in exhibits in the American Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution). Shea has conducted archaeological surveys and excavations in Israel, Jordan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. His most recent publications challenge the widely-held theory that Homo sapiens became “behaviorally modern” along the course of our evolution, using evidence from the analysis of stone tools from Eastern Africa.

Paul D. Simmons

Clinical Professor, Univ Louisville School of Medicine
Phone: 502-852-1308
Email: paul.simmons@louisville.edu

1. "Faith in the Public Square: Should we teach religion in the schools?"(P,S)

Simmons is a medical ethicist who has training in theology and philosophy, doing post-doctoral work at Cambridge and Princeton Universities.He is involved in the national and international debates through speaking and writing on topics such as abortion, genetics, in-vitro fertilization, stem-cell research, elective death and health care.His special interest is in the relation of religion, science and public policy. He brings theological insights into conversation with scientific and legal dimensions of each issue.

John A. Turner

Research Fellow, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Phone: 303-275-4270
Email: John.Turner@nrel.gov
Website: http://www.nrel.gov

1. Hydrogen Production from Photoelectrochemical Cells: Theoretical considerations and experimental results (S)
   
2. Frontiers, Opportunities and Challenges for a Hydrogen Economy(P,G)
   

John A. Turner, Ph. D., is a Research Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. His research is primarily concerned with enabling technologies for the implementation of hydrogen systems into a sustainable energy infrastructure. This includes direct conversion systems (photoelectrolysis) for hydrogen production from sunlight and water, materials for advanced fuel cell membranes, and corrosion protection for fuel cell metal bipolar plates. His monolithic photovoltaic-photoelectrochemical device has the highest efficiency for any direct conversion water splitting device (>12%). He is the author or co-author of over 140 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of photoelectrochemistry, fuel cells, batteries, general electrochemistry and analytical chemistry.

James L. Van Etten

William B. Allington Distinguished Professor University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Email: jvanetten1@unl.edu 
Phone: 402-472-3168
Web: http://www.pbcv.org

1. Giant Viruses Change the Perception of Viruses (G)
2. Algae as Candidates for Biofuel (G)

James Van Etten is the William B. Allington Distinguished Professor of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Dr. Van Etten received his PhD in 1965 from the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Illinois. After spending a year as a NSF postdoc in the Department of Genetics at the University of Pavia (Italy), he joined the UNL Plant Pathology Department. His early research at UNL focused on two topics, the biochemistry of fungi, primarily spore germination, and the characterization of the unusual bacteriophage phi6. For the last 30+ years, his research has focused on the isolation and characterization of large icosahedral, dsDNA-containing, plaque-forming viruses that infect certain unicellular, eukaryotic chlorella-like green algae. These viruses are ubiquitous in fresh water from all over the world. The chlorella viruses have genomes as large as 370 kb that contain as many as 400 protein encoding- and 16 tRNA encoding-genes.

Bryant W. York

Professor, Portland State University
Phone: (503) 725-9521 
Email: york@cs.pdx.edu 
Website: http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~york

1. Computatational Thinking, Visualization and the Advancement of Science in the Twenty- First Century (G)
2. Prime Number Graphs, Factoring, and Self-similarity (S)

Dr. York's educational background includes the A.B. in mathematics from Brandeis University, the M.S. in management from MIT, and the M.S. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. He has held industrial research positions at the IBM Research Labs and at Digital Equipment Corporation's Artificial Intelligence Technology Center. He is currently professor in the Department of Computer Science at Portland State University; formerly associate professor and research director for the College of Computer Science at Northeastern University (1991 – 2001); and associate professor of computer science at Boston University (1986 – 1990). His current interests include Clifford Algebra neural networks; Factorization of large integers via the method of searching prime number graphs; and Models for broadening participation of underrepresented groups in computing and information technology.