Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturers 2008-2009

Jan 19, 03:43 AM

FOR THE 70TH CONSECUTIVE YEAR, Sigma Xi presents its panel of Distinguished Lecturers as an opportunity for chapters to host visits from outstanding individuals who are at the leading edge of science. These visitors communicate their insights and excitement on a broad range of topics. Each year thousands of Sigma Xi members, students and the public have an opportunity to hear exceptional talks and to ask questions of these experts. The 2008-2009 Distinguished Lecturers are available July 1,2008-June 30,2009. Each visitor has consented to a modest honorarium together with full payment of travel costs and subsistence. Local chapters may apply for subsidies to support expenses related to hosting a Distinguished Lecturer Applications must be submitted online by March 1, 2008.

The committee is pleased to announce the support of the American Meteorological Society, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Cancer Institute and the Society for Risk Analysis. These sponsors have nominated a member of their society as a lecturer, and provided funding for additional subsidies.

Lecturer biographies, contact information, abstracts of talks and additional program information can be found online under the Lecturership Program link at www.sigmaxi. org. For additional information please send an email to Iectureships@sigmaxi.org or call 800-243-6534 x206.

The Distinguished Lectureship Program supports the mission of Sigma Xi to promote the health of the research enterprise and the public understanding of science.

John F. Alderete, Professor, University of Texas Health Science Center

STDs, Trichomonas vaginalis, and Adverse Health Outcomes (P,G) * Trichomonas vaginalis Adherence and Disease (G,S) * Trichomonas vaginalis AP65 and Pathogenesis (S)

Helen Berman, Board of Governors, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

How the History of the Protein Data Bank Informs the Future of Biology (S) * Creating a Data Resource for Biology: Lessons from the Protein Data Bank (P,G)

National Academy of Sciences Lecturer in Sustainable Economic Development

John B. Carberry, Director: Environmental Technology, E. I. DuPont de Nemours

Sustainable Industry in a Changing Society (P,G) * Sustainability in the Chemical Industry (S)

Daryl E. Chubin, Center Director, American Association for the Advancement of Science

Supply, Demand, and Something Else (G,S) * Tipping Points in Academe (P) * Measuring Program Impact: How to Evaluate the Value- Added (G,S) * Science in a Bigger Frame (P)

National Academy of Engineering-Sigma Xi Lecturer

Dale Compton, Lillian M. Gilbreth Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Purdue University

Health Care Delivery-Can Engineering Help? (G,S,P)

Adela I. de la Torre, Professor and Director, Chicana and Chicano Studies Program, University of California, Davis

Sex on the Border: Risky Practices and HTV(G) * Improving Latino Health Outcomes: Identifying Best Outreach Practices for Public Health Insurance (P) * Immigration Policy and Immigration Flows: A Comparative Analysis of Immigration Law in the U.S. and Latin America (P)

Barbara Gerbert, Professor and Chair, University of California, San Francisco

When Asked, Patients Tell: Disclosure of Sensitive Health-Risk Behaviors (S) * Role of Health Care Professionals in Helping Victims of Domestic Violence (G,S) * Bet You and Your Doctor Don't Talk about Sex: A Conversation Starter for Patients (G)

Robert B. Gilbert Hudson Matlock Professor in Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering, The Univeristy of Texas at Austin

Hurricane Katrina and the New Orleans Levees: What Went Wrong and Why (P,G,S) * Role of Engineers in Managing Risks from Natural Hazards (G,S) * Offshore Experience from Recent Hurricanes (S)

Kimberly Gray, Professor, Northwestern University

The Modern American City: Can We Ever Make it Sustainable? (P,G) * Ecological Restoration: The Importance of Details in the Big Picture (P,G,S) * Progress in Engineering Photoactive Nanocomposite Materials for Solar Fuel Production (G,S)

Robert M. Hazen, Senior Scientist, Carnegie Institution, Geophysical Lab

Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins (P,G) * Right and Left: Mineral Surfaces and the Origins of Biological Handedness (G,S) * Functional Information and the Emergence of Biocomplexity (G,S)

Manjit S. Kang, Vice Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana India

Can Crop Scientists Help Feed Ten Billion in 2050? (P) * Genetically Modified Crops: Frankenfoods or Boon for the Poor? (G) * What Can GGE Biplot Analysis Do for Plant Scientists? (S)

Bruce A. Macher, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Francisco State University

Proteomics and Biomarkers (G) * Developing Postdoctoral Scholar Training Programs (P,G)

Sigma Xi Committee on Education Lecturer

Robert D. Mathieu, Professor of Astronomy, Univeristy of Wisconsin Madison

A Wide Vuew of the Universe (P,G) * Stars That Go Bump in the Night (P,G,S) * An Observational Exploration of Angular Momentum Evolution in Sun-like Stars (S) * Preparing the Future National STEM Faculty (G,S)

Philip A. Meyers, Professor of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan

How Did Petroleum Source Rocks Accumulate? Insights from Deep- Sea Sediments (P,G,S) * Marine Upwelling Systems: Their Oceanography and Paleoceanography (P,G,S) * The Great Lakes of North America and Their Sedimentary Histories of Human Impacts (P,G,S)

Naomi Miller, Senior Research Scientist, University of Pennsylvania, Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology

Past, Present and Future of the Landscape in the Land of King Midas: Gordion, Turkey (P,G) * Has It Always Looked Like This? Long- term Vegetation Changes in the Near East (G) * People and Plants: The Present as Key to the Past, Ethnoarchaeology in an Iranian Village (G,S)

Stephen L. Morgan, Professor, University of South Carolina

Forensic Analytical Chemistry: Basic Research Behind CSI (P,G,S) * Capilary Electrophoresis/ Mass Spectrometry and Microspectrophotometry for Trace Forensic Analysis of Fibers (G,S)

Sharon L. Neal, Associate Professor, University of Delaware

Exploiting the Selectivity of Multivariate Spectroscopy in Investigating Complex Systems (G,) * Microenvironment Sensitive Probes in Complex Liquids (G) * Congratulations, if This is How You Want to Spend Your Life! (P)

National Cancer Institute-Sigma Xi Lecturer

Vito Quartana, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Integrating Multiscale Data for Simulating Cancer Invasion and Metastasis (G,S) * Understanding Life by Data Integration at Multiple Scales (P,G) * Biology Becomes an Exact Science (P,G)

Leslie Reid, Associate Professor, Georgia State Univeristy

Urban Crime Rates and the Changing Face of Immigration: Evidence across Three Decades (G,S) * The Immigrant Metropolis (P,G) * Hug Drug or Thug Drug? The Ecstasy Aggression Connection (G,S)

American Meterological Society - Sigma Xi Lecturer

Alan Robock, Professor II, Rutgers University

Climate Consequences of Nuclear Conflict - Nuclear Winter is Still a Threat (P,G,S,) * Volcanic Eruptions and Climate: Comparing Climate Response to Low and High Latitude Volcanic Eruptions (P,G,S) * Using Soil Moisture Observations to Study Climate Variations, to Evaluate Climate Models, and as Ground Truth for Remote Sensig (G,S)

Javier Rojo, Professor of Statistics, Rice University

Respirator Certification (P,G,S) * Survival Analysis and Microarray Data (G,S) * Developing Human Resources in the Mathematica Sciences (P,G,S) * The Body Mass Index, Measures of Spread, and Statistical Genetics (P,G,S)

Vincas P. Steponaitis, Professor of Anthropology and Director of Research Laboratories of Archaeology at the Univeristy of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ancient Moundbuilders of the American South (P) * Moundville: Archaeology of a Pre-Columbian Ceremonial Center in Alabama (G) * The Meaning of Mississippian Palettes (S)

Emily A. Tobey, Professor and NelleC Johnston Chair, Univeristy of Texas at Dallas

Frankenstein: How Physics, Literature and Theatre led to a Sceintific Success (P,G) * The Bionic Ear: Intersection of Technology Advances, Communication and Societal Change (P,G,S) * Breaking the Sound Barrier (G,S,) * Communication Through Electrical Hearing (S)

Robert H. Tykot, Professor of Anthropology, University of South Florida

Mediterranean Trade in Black Gold: The Sources and Distribution of Obsidian (P,G,S) * They Are What They Ate: Bone Chemistry and Ancient Diets (P,G,S) * The Domestication and Spread of Maize in the New World (P,G,S) * Sardinia in the Mediterranean (P,G,S)

Veronica Vaida, Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder

Solar Energy and the Environment (G) * Sun-Light in Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate (S) * Water Aggregates in the Earth's Contemporary and Prebiotic Atmosphere (G)

Roger White, University Research Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland

Living in Nature: Integrating the Social and Environmental Sciences in Computer Based Models (G,S) * Cities and Regions as Complex Self-Organizing Entities: From Dynamic Theory to Planning and Policy Support Tools with Cellular Automata Based Urban Models (P,G,S) * High Resolution Prediction of Growth and Change in Urban Regions: Exploding Grid Cellular Automata with Power-Law Spatial Interaction (G,S) Michael Wolf, Professor of Mathematics and Chair, Rice University

How Nature Chooses its Shape: The Mathematics of Soap Films (G,S) * The Dreary Comfort of the Mathematics Curriculum (P) * NonEuclidean Geometry and the Shapes Space (G) * Recent Developments in Minimal Surface Theory (S)

Society for Risk Analysis - Sigma Xi Lecturer

Felicia Wu, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, University of Pittsburgh

Environmental and Health Risks Associated with Corn-based Ethanol Production: Potential Solutions (P,G) * Genetically Modified Foods: Benefits and Risks (P,G) * Mycotoxins in Food and Feed: Health and Economic Impacts (G,S) * Indoor Air and Health Impacts (P,G)

Dr. Wu begins her term on January 1, 2008.

James Wyche, Provost for Academic Affairs, Professor of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center

Uses of Natural Products and Their Analogues in Drug Discovery (G,S) * Student and Faculty Research at International Training Sites (G) * Pleasures of Being a Professor and Barriers Yet to Overcome (P,G)

John A. Watson, Chair

Committee on Distinguished Lectureships

Copyright Sigma XI-The Scientific Research Society Jan/Feb 2008

(c) 2008 American Scientist. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved. Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturers 2008-2009
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