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

 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 certifed 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. 

“Edwin Hubble Discovers the Modern Universe, 1923-24: A Centennial Celebration” presentation by Dr. Marcia Bartusiak Wednesday, April 23, 5:15 PM, Burt Kahn Court in the Quinnipiac University Recreation and Wellness Center

  Quinnipiac Chapter of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer

Dr. Marcia Bartusiak, Professor of the Practice, Emeritus

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

“Edwin Hubble Discovers the Modern Universe,   1923-24: A Centennial Celebration”

Wednesday, April 23, 5:15 PM, Burt Kahn Court in the Quinnipiac University Recreation and Wellness Center

Combining her undergraduate training in journalism with a master’s degree in physics, Marcia Bartusiak has been covering the fields of astronomy and physics for four decades. A Professor of the Practice Emeritus in the Graduate Program in Science Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, she has written for a variety of publications--including Science, Smithsonian, Discover, National Geographic, Technology Review, and Astronomy--and reviews science books for both The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She is also the author of seven books, including "Einstein's Unfinished Symphony," her award-winning history of gravitational-wave astronomy, "Black Hole," and "The Day We Found the Universe" on the birth of modern cosmology, which won the Davis Prize of the History of Science Society.

In 1982, she was the first woman to win the American Institute of Physics Science Writing Award and five years later was a finalist in NASA‘s Journalist-in-Space competition. She has also received the AIP Gemant Award, the Klumpke-Roberts Award of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and in 2008 was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cited for “exceptionally clear communication of the rich history, the intricate nature, and the modern practice of astronomy to the public at large.”