Science Pubs 2011-2012
November 15 • McMenamins, Bend
Biotech Crops and Foods: Science, Myth and Madness
Steven H. Strauss, Distinguished Professor of Forest Biotechnology, OSU College of Forestry, Department of Forest Science
Science Pub premieres this season with a presentation that looks at the global fight over genetic modification applied to crops and food. Who are the sources and players in this controversy? What does science have to say about the safety, benefits and consequences for our health? What are the concerns about food security? And how do we know what information is accurate?
December 20 • McMenamins, Bend
The Missoula Floods: How they Made Good Beer and Wine Possible
Ron Reuter, OSU College of Forestry, Natural Resources
The Pacific Northwest is known for its fine wines and beers. We have these tasy products because of our terroir - the combination of climate, geology and soils. Learn how the Missoula Floods give Oregon and the Pacific Northwest its terroir - and delightful flavors.
2012
January 17 • McMenamins, Bend
Transboundary River Governance in the Face of Uncertainty: The Columbia River Treaty
Aaron T. Wolf, Department of Geosciences and Director of the Program in Water Conflict Management and Transformation
The Columbia River Basin is the fourth largest river basin in the US, covering 259,000 square miles -- and the treaty that governs it nears renewal. Learn how we now have an opportunity to examine water resource management challenges - and our philisophical approach to water.
February 21 • McMenamins, Bend
Project Moral Ground: It's Wrong to Wreck the World
Kathleen Dean Moore, Department of Philosophy, OSU College of Liberal Arts and Director, Spring Creek
What are our cultural, moral and spiritual relations to the natural world? The author of award-winning books on this topic, including the recently published Moral Ground, Professor Moore will help us understand whether we have a moral obligation, individual and collective, to future beings – and to leave a world as it was left to us.
March 27 • Brand 33 at Aspen Lakes, Sisters NOTE TIME CHANGE FOR THIS SCIENCE PUB: 6:00-8:00 p.m.
Bees on the Brink
Ramesh Sagili, Horticulture, OSU Extension Service
Honey bee pollination is worth more than $20 billion in the U.S., but in the last 60 years, bee colonies have declined by more than half. Furthermore, beekeepers report unsustainable declines over the last five years -- while the demand for pollination of fiber, fruit, vegetable and nut crops increases. Sagili will describe research efforts at OSU and at other bee research laboratories across the nation, and offer simple suggestions to home gardeners who want to foster honey bees.
April 17 • McMenamins, Bend
When Ranching is for the Birds (and Fish): Drivers and Impacts of Ranchland Ownership Change in the High Amenity West
Hannah Gosnell, Associate Professor, College of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences
in many parts of the American West, the grizzled, leathery rancher riding the range to take care of his cattle and make a buck is being replaced by wealthy “amenity” owners who fly in on weekends and prefer roaming elk to Herefords. They don’t much care whether or not the ranch turns a profit. This ownership shift is changing a way of life. Because ranchlands represent the largest parcels of privately owned – and mostly intact – land in the West, the fate of these landscapes is of great interest to ecologists, conservationists and water resource managers. This presentation explores the s implications of this transition and considers strategies for developing sustainable communities and ecosystems in the rapidly changing rural West.
May 15 • McMenamins, Bend
Let’s Trade Sexy for Smart
Elizabeth Daniels, Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, OSU
Events like Lindsay Lohan’s arrests, Tiger Wood’s infidelity and Kim Kardashian’s marital break-up dominate media headlines. Bling, beauty, and sex are big. Come learn what teens have to say about this media fare, and how the media landscape could look different in their eyes.
June 19 • McMenamins, Bend
This is Your Brain on Stress
Sarina Saturn, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, OSU
Inspired by her Ph.D. adviser, Oregon-born Sarina Saturn started her career dissecting human and animal brains to map emotions at their source. Come learn about the physical loci of emotions in our gray matter and explore chemical responses to stress, and how this neurological knowledge can ultimately benefit the human condition.
July 17 - McMenamins, Bend
ABC's of Vitamin E
Maret Traber, Professor; Director, Oxidative & Nitrative Stress Laboratory, Linus Pauling Institute, OSU College of Public Health and Human Sciences
Vitamin E is essential for protecting our cell membranes, particularly in our nerves, brain and muscles. But we’re still learning how it works. Join OSU’s Maret Traber for a discussion of its forms, why it’s highly regulated, what happens when you take too much, and why hard core athletes like ultramarathon runners may need to take more than the rest of us.