Carleton College Biology Department Seminars
2012-2013 Academic Year
Mondays, 3:30-4:30PM in Olin Hall, Room 141 

Seniors must attend 14 seminars for the department graduation requirement. You can start accumulating
credit during the spring term of your junior year.  If you have any questions, please contact Lorie Tuma.

Link to Past Seminar Events

FALL 2012                                               

Sept 12 - No Seminar - Opening Convocation

Sept 17 - Dr. Mark McKone, Professor of Biology Research and Supervisor of Cowling Arboretum.  "The enemy within: evolutionary origins and consequences of intragenomic conflict."

Sept 24 - Dr. Sabrice Guerrier, HHMI/CFD Fellow and Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, Carleton College. "The regulation of membrane curvature in cellular physiology."

Oct 1 - Dr. Erik Zettler, Associate Dean of Institutional Relations and Research of the Sea Education Association (SEA) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. "The Ecology of Plastic Marine Debris: Strange Hitch-Hikers
and Life in the ‘Plastisphere.’" Host: Susan Singer

Oct 8 - Jonathan Nelson, Graduate Student, University of Utah. "Using Drosophila genetics to understand molecular mechanisms of mRNA decay." Host: Stephan Zweifel

Oct 15 - Mid term break - No Seminar

Oct 22 - Dr. Sarah Keller, Professor of Chemistry and Adjunct Professor of Physics at the University of Washington. "Examining Feats of Simple Liquid Membranes."  Host: Debby Walser-Kuntz

October 29 -  Dr. Maurine Neiman '99, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of Iowa. "(Dis)advantages of (a)sex and(poly)diploidy in a New Zealand freshwater snail
-or- Why are most eukaryotes sexual diploids?" Host: Mark McKone

Nov 5 -  Dr. Adam Williamson '06, Graduate Student Researcher, University of California, Berkeley. "Ubiquitin-driven cell cycle control."  
Host: Susan Singer

Nov 12 -  Dr. Ben E. Black '97, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania. "Epigenetic Centromeres and How They Direct Chromosome Inheritance."  Host: Stephan Zweifel

WINTER 2013

Jan 7 - Dr. Matthew Beckman, Assistant Professor of Biology, Augsburg College. "Development of the motor program for swimming in Daphnia." Host: Jennifer Wolff

Jan 14 - Patrick L. Williamson, Edward H. Harkness Professor of Biology, Amherst College. “Both sides do it: The mechanism of ATP-dependent phospholipid transport."  Host: Susan Singer

Jan 21 -  Graham T. Johnson, PhD. "Art and Science of Cell Biology." Host: Sabrice Guerrier

Jan 28 - Dr. Gerit Bethke, Postdoctoal Researcher in the Plant Biology department,  University of Minnesota. "Plant Pathogens and the Cell Wall."  Host: Raka Mitra

Feb 4 - Mid-term break (No seminar)

Feb 11 - Susan L. Balenger, Postdoctoral Researcher, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities campus. "Rapid evolution of disease resistance in a wild songbird: Evidence for natural and sexual selection on pathogen-induced gene expression." Hosted by Mark McKone

Feb 18 - Amanda Falk, Ph.D. Student at the University of Kansas. "The fossil birds of East Asia: What the Early Cretaceous birds of China and South Korea can tell us about avian origins and early evolution."   Hosted by Student Department Advisor, Becca Greenstein.

Feb 25 - Dr. Jalean Petricka '00, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology, Carleton College. "Genomics and the Arabidopsis Root."

March 4 - Rafiq Huda '08, Ph.D. Candidate, National Research Service Award (NRSA) Fellow, Department of Physiology, Northwestern University. "More than just the glue - glial modulation of neuronal function."  Hosted by Amy Moore.

SPRING 2013

April 8 - Dr. Marla Spivak, Distinguished McKnight University Professor Apiculture / Social Insects, Deparment of Entomology, University of Minnesota.  "Socialized Medicine in Honey Bee Colonies."  Hosted by Mark McKone

April 15 - Dr. Jayme Dyer '06, Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology, Duke University. "How yeast find a date: Mechanisms of gradient tracking in yeast mating."  Hosted by John Tymoczko.

April 22 - Dr. Stephan Zweifel, Carleton Professor of Biology. "Evolutionary conservation of a mitochondrial recombination junction."

April 29 - Leif Hembre, Associate Professor of Biology, Hamline University. "Conflict between fisheries management and water quality." Host: Dan Hernandez

May 6 -  Mid-term Break (No Seminar)

May 13 -  Dr. Margaret Byrne '87, Associate Professor, University of Miami Medical School.  “Lung cancer screening decision making and how a Carleton biology major came to study it.”  Host: John Tymoczko.

May 20 - Steve Chaplin, Senior Conservation Scientist, Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. "Prairie Conservation in Minnesota."  Hosts: Nancy Braker and Dan Hernandez.

May 27  - Dr. Mary Kroetz,  Post-Doctoral Fellow, Genetics/Cell Biology Department, University of Minnesota. "Identifying regulators of sex - specific gonadal development." Host: Jennifer Wolff.

June 3  -  Dr. Will Ratcliff, Post-doctoral researcher, College of Biological Sciences, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. "Experimental evolution of multicellularity." Host: Dan Hernandez.