Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society presents Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Dustin Rubenstein

 Tuesday, April 21 at 12:30 PM on Burt Kahn Court (RWA 145)

• Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society presents Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer Dr. Dustin Rubenstein Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Conservation Biology, Columbia University 
•  “Collaboration in a Changing World”

• Dustin Rubenstein is the Thomas Hunt Morgan Professor of Conservation Biology in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology at Columbia University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Fellow of the American Ornithological Society, and has been recognized by the National Academy of Sciences as both a Kavli Fellow for his research accomplishments and as an Education Fellow in the Sciences for his innovation in STEM teaching. In recognition of his research accomplishments, Rubenstein has received awards from the Animal Behavior Society, the American Ornithologists’ Union, the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, and the University of Michigan. He has been acknowledged for his teaching, scholarship, and mentoring by Columbia University with a Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award and as a Provost’s Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar, as well as by the Society of Columbia Graduates with a Great Teacher Award. Rubenstein’s research takes an integrative approach to understand why complex animal societies form and how organisms cope with environmental change through studies that combine behavior, ecology, and evolution with those of the underlying molecular, neural, and neuroendocrine mechanisms. He has studied a variety of animals, including reptiles, mammals, birds, crustaceans, and insects on every continent except Antarctica. He is the author of nearly 150 publications and the market-leading textbook Animal Behavior. Rubenstein currently serves as the Specialty Chief Editor for the Evolutionary Ecology of Social Behavior Section of Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, as well as an Associate Editor for Science Advances and Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. He was previously on the editorial boards of Proceedings of the Royal Society B, Behavioral Ecology, PLOS ONE, and F1000Research, and has been a guest editor for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Behavioral Processes, and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B. 

Dr. Martha (Marcy) Sanders Professor of Occupational Therapy will speak on her research on Thursday, April 9 at 12:30 PM in Echlin Center 101

Postponed until Fall

 Thursday, April 9 at 12:30 PM in Echlin Center 101 

• Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society Seminar Series presents Dr. Martha Sanders, Professor of Occupational Therapy will speak on her research on Thursday, April 9 at 12:30 PM in Echlin Center 101 

• Dr. Martha (Marcy) Sanders is a professor of occupational therapy at Quinnipiac University and a certified professional ergonomist. Her clinical expertise in ergonomics enables her to work in office and manufacturing ergonomics environments as well as community health promotion (children and older adults) and environmental design to optimize health. She is the chair of the university ergonomics committee which offers ergonomics services to the QU community.  She has recently focused on the impact of optimal lighting environments on sleep and health. She is an ALA Lighting Specialist and has received professional certifications in lighting design and training in cognitive behavioral therapy for Insomnia. She has been involved in researching the visual and health-promoting asepcts of lighting environments to promote performance, mood, and circadian health, notably sleep. 

Dr. Rebecca Johnson will present “The impact of mosquito blood feeding behavior on within-mosquito virus dynamics” Tuesday, March 24, 12:30 PM, Echlin Center 101

 Tuesday, March 24, 12:30 PM, Echlin Center 101

Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society Seminar series presents: Dr. Rebecca Johnson Medical Entomology Post-Doctoral Research Scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

“The impact of mosquito blood feeding behavior on within-mosquito virus dynamics” 

In laboratory experiments, mosquitoes are typically given a single, full, blood meal, but this does not accurately reflect mosquito feeding behavior in the wild where mosquitoes often feed frequently and sometimes take partial blood meals. Recent findings from my lab using Aedes aegypti, the main vector for several important arthropod-borne viruses including dengue virus (DENV), suggest that failing to take this behavior into account may distort our understanding of mosquito biology and mosquito-virus dynamics. Studying the effects of mosquito blood feeding dynamics on virus dissemination and transmission is critical to successful mosquito control, experimental design, modelling of viral epidemics, and represents a new area of vector biology research. 

Dr. Rebecca Johnson is a NIH NIAID K99 recipient and post-doctoral research scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, CT where she works on mosquito biology, within-mosquito virus dynamics, mosquito molecular pathways, and factors contributing to vector competence. 

Dr. James Loving Lichtenstein, Assistant Professor of Biology, Sacred Heart University “Predator Traits and Social Interactions Combine to Shape Meadow Ecosystems”

Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society 

Seminar Series 

presents 

Dr. James Loving Lichtenstein, Assistant Professor of Biology, Sacred Heart University 

“Predator Traits and Social Interactions Combine to Shape Meadow Ecosystems” 

on 

Tuesday, November 18 at 12:30 PM in EC 101 

Predation shapes ecosystems and informs land management decisions. To better predict the how much predators eat, I have spent the last 10 years replicating the process in miniature in all sorts of different boxes. I have found that how much small predators like mantises and spiders eat depends on three things: 1) their traits (behaviors and size), 2) how much they bully each other, and 3) the complexity of their environments. This talk will introduce these questions of predation ecology and delve into my findings in more depth. We will explore how putting bugs in boxes and watching them fight can help answer some of ecology’s toughest question. 

Dr. James Loving Lichtenstein got his PhD at UC-Santa Barbara, where he researched the ecology of animal personality. Then, he tested predator-prey interaction models as a part of his Post-doctoral work at the Yale School of School of the environment. Next, he taught as a visiting assistant professor of biology at Kenyon college. Currently, he serves as an Assistant Professor of Biology at Sacred Heart University. 

Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society 

Seminar Series 

presents 

Dr. Shawna Reed, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences 

“Intracellular Masterminds: Pathogen and Host Interactions in Q Fever Infection” 

on 

Tuesday, October 7 at 12:30 PM in EC 101 

Dr. Reed will discuss the mechanisms of intracellular bacterial pathogenesis. She will give a brief overview of her research at Quinnipiac including the development of the intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii and the interactions of bacterial proteins with host membrane trafficking pathways. 

Dr. Reed is passionate about uncovering the molecular interactions between host cells and intracellular bacteria. She has studied primate parasites (undergraduate), papillomavirus genome tethering (post-baccalaureate at NIH), Rickettsia and Listeria actin-based intracellular motility (PhD research at UC Berkeley) and Coxiella genetics and host interactions (Post-doc at Yale).  In her laboratory, she works with undergraduate students to study intracellular pathogens, bacterial genetics, interactions with host immune sensing pathways, and how individual bacterial effector proteins might contribute to virulence by hijacking host cell functions. 

 Congratulations!

• Graduate Student: Alphonce Manje (advisor Lisa Cuchara) 
• “Enhancing Public Awareness and Advocacy for Umbilical Cord Blood as a Key Source of Hematopoietic Stem Cells”

• Undergraduate Student: Molly Barney (advisors - Profs. Goodman, Hodges, Fischetti)
• “Secure Communication through Quantum Cryptography: A Hands-On Educational Tool”

• Undergraduate Student: Michael Bunce (advisor - Prof. Kirby)
• “The Redox Properties of a Holmium Bridged Polyoxometalate”

“Intracellular Masterminds: Pathogen and Host Interactions in Q Fever Infection”

Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society 

Seminar Series 

presents 

Dr. Shawna Reed, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Sciences 

“Intracellular Masterminds: Pathogen and Host Interactions in Q Fever Infection” 

on 

Tuesday, October 7 at 12:30 PM in EC 101 

Dr. Reed will discuss the mechanisms of intracellular bacterial pathogenesis. She will give a brief overview of her research at Quinnipiac including the development of the intracellular bacterium Coxiella burnetii and the interactions of bacterial proteins with host membrane trafficking pathways. 

Dr. Reed is passionate about uncovering the molecular interactions between host cells and intracellular bacteria. She has studied primate parasites (undergraduate), papillomavirus genome tethering (post-baccalaureate at NIH), Rickettsia and Listeria actin-based intracellular motility (PhD research at UC Berkeley) and Coxiella genetics and host interactions (Post-doc at Yale).  In her laboratory, she works with undergraduate students to study intracellular pathogens, bacterial genetics, interactions with host immune sensing pathways, and how individual bacterial effector proteins might contribute to virulence by hijacking host cell functions.