College of Science & Health Symposium Series

Dr. Daniel Fairbanks and Dr. Haagen Klaus of Utah Valley University present the archaeological finding and excavation of an ancient female Peruvian ruler and the subsequent forensic sculptural facial reconstruction of said ruler performed by Dr. Fairbanks.

Sarah is an Ecologist for the US Geological Survey National Water Quality Assessment program and is based at INSTAAR, University of Colorado. Her area of expertise is in the taxonomy and ecology of a group of algae, the diatoms. She is particularly interested in ice-covered lakes in the alpine and Antarctic, where she has worked on diatoms surviving under harsh conditions. Sarah is also the lead Editor and manager for a project to develop a national diatom flora in the form of an online database, Diatoms of the United States. Sarah would like everyone to know about diatoms and for all to have the resources to identify them correctly. In addition to spending time with diatoms, Sarah is also an avid rock climber and enjoys traveling around the western US.

Dr. Laura Bridgewater, Cancer Dementia & Muscle Function: A Potential Genetic Connection. The BMP2 gene encodes a protein that regulates bone, cartilage, and limb formation, heart development, and programmed cell death. Dr. Bridgewater has discovered genetic variants in this gene that demonstrate its involvement in muscle strength and endurance, as well as possible links to cancer and dementia.

Dr. Alan Rogers has been teaching evolution to college students for thirty years. Until recently, he seldom spent much time arguing that evolution happens. He took that for granted and launched directly into his real love--the mechanisms of evolution. This has lately begun to look like a mistake. According to polling data, most Americans doubt that evolution is a real phenomenon. How can one teach students how evolution works if they doubt that it happens at all? As soon as this dawned on him, he began looking for a text on evidence--something to assign during the first couple of weeks of his introductory course. Many of the books he found seemed to assume that the reader needed only to be told about evolution, not convinced. In the end he wrote his own book, which covers the evidence for evolution and nothing more. It does not merely summarize received wisdom; it recounts the give and take between skeptical scientists who first asked "how can we be sure" and then answered those questions with evidence.

Nalini Nadkarni is an American ecologist who pioneered the study of Costa Rican rain forest canopies. Using mountain climbing equipment to make her ascent, Nadkarni first took an inventory of the canopy in 1981, followed by two more inventories in 1984. Nadkarni and her work in the Costa Rican rain forest were featured in the 1988 PBS series, The Second Voyage of the Mimi, starring a young Ben Affleck. She maintains an interest in public outreach, and her work was highlighted on the web page of the National Science Foundation.

Barry Bickmore is Associate Professor of Geological Sciences at Brigham Young University. His research specialties are low-temperature geochemistry and geoscience education. In this presentation, he discusses how he moved from being a climate change "skeptic" to being an outspoken advocate of mainstream climate science. He then discusses how it is that people like him can so effectively avoid the truth about climate change. The views expressed in this symposium are solely those of Dr. Barry Bickmore.

Dr. Minqi Li discusses the Chinese Government and its influence in Climate and the oil industry.

Dr. Dan Fairbanks discusses the genetics of autism drawing from personal experiences within his own family. Dr. Fairbanks sculpts the bust of his son during his presentation.

Dr. Brian Moench discusses the air quality now and in the future in the State of Utah.

Dr. Steve Wasserbaech discusses his year-long fellowship at CERN in Europe.

Medical Breakthroughs using Nanotechnology to Treat Osteoporosis and other Sketal Diseases

Benjamin Jackson of Myriad Genetics discusses the controversy over the great "Gene Patent."