Health News - Beta blockers reduce risk of death after surgery, study finds

Health News - Beta blockers reduce risk of death after surgery, study finds

Homeless Nemo: What Does the Future Hold for Coral Reef Communities?

Homeless Nemo: What Does the Future Hold for Coral Reef Communities?
with Vania Coelho, Ph.D. of Dominican University, San Rafael, CA

Coral reefs are undoubtedly among the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Studies predict that without increased conservation and restoration efforts a complete collapse is only a few decades away. This talk will focus on the current status of coral reefs around the world, including threats to them and the consequences of those threats. (April 30, 2008; September 29, 2010) Get the flyer here.
 
Dr. Coelho holds degrees in Biology, Ecology and Zoology and she completed doctoral research while working as a visiting scientist at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. After completing her doctorate she held research scientist positions at Columbia University. Dr. Coelho’s research focuses on the ecology and evolutionary biology of marine invertebrates including benthic community ecology, population biology, behavior, systematics of crustaceans, and coral reef ecology. She is currently Associate Professor of Biology at Dominican University.
 

Ants: The Invisible Majority

Brian Fisher, Ph.D.

Marin Science Seminar Presentation: "Ants: The Invisible Majority" (September 22, 2010) Download the flyer here.

Dr. Fisher is modern day explorer who treks through the last remote rainforests, deserts and plains of Madagascar in search of ants.  His research highlights insects as a useful tool to discover and preserve all plants and animals on this unique island.   Along the way he has discovered over 1000 new species including the jumping ants and Dracula ants. He has published over 75 peer reviewed articles in scholarly journals including the recently published “Ants of North America” with Stefan Cover. He has appeared in a number of BBC, Discover Channel, and National Geographic films and has been profiled in Newsweek and Discover magazine. When not working in the field, Dr. Fisher lives with the banana slugs in a treehouse in Marin County. 

Dr. Fisher is currently Associate Curator of Entomology at the California Academy of Sciences and adjunct professor of biology at both the University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco State University.

Cartoon Physics - How Scientists and Artists Make Pixar Films

with Rod Bogart of Pixar
Wed. Sept. 15, 2010, 7:30 pm, TLHS, San Rafael, CA

Pixar films are known for their characters and stories, but how is the film actually made? This talk will describe the various applications of math and science behind the art, from animation and
simulation, through shading and lighting, to mastering for the
audience.
 

Rod Bogart joined Pixar in 2005 after spending ten years as a software engineer at Industrial Light & Magic. He has a M.S. from the University of Utah, where he specialized in computer graphics. At Pixar, Mr. Bogart is in charge of color science at the studio, overseeing the technology for creating the final distributed masters of the movie.

Nanoscience Now (Let's move atoms one by one and watch them with powerful microscopes!)

with Miquel Salmeron, Ph.D. of Lawrence Berkeley Labs

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

7:30 - 8:30 pm

Terra Linda High School, Room 207

Prof. M. Salmeron is the Director of the Materials Science Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley Materials Science and Engineering Department. He is the Scientific Director of the Imaging and Manipulation Facility of the Molecular Foundry, the Department of Energy Nanoscience Institute in Berkeley.  He received his B.A. in Physics from the University of Barcelona, and his Ph.D. from the University Autonoma of Madrid, Spain, in 1975.  In 1984 he moved to the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as a Divisional Fellow, becoming a Senior Scientist in 1996.


His research focuses on atomic scale structure and properties of surfaces and nanomaterials for applications in electronics, catalysis, tribology and environmental science.  He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1996 and of the American Vacuum Society in 2003.  He received the Outstanding Research Award in 1996 and the Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment Award in Materials Chemistry in 1995 from the U.S. Department of Energy.  In 2004 he received the Klaus Halbach Award for the development of innovative instrumentation at the Advanced Light Source.  In 2008 he received the Medard Welch Award of the American Vacuum Society and the Langmuir Lectureship Award of the American Chemical Society.


Prof. Salmeron is the President of the Scientific Advisory Board of the “Institut Catala de Nanotecnologia” inBarcelona, Spain.  He has published 390 Journal articles and book chapters.