Science Seminar Series Continues Through Spring

VALDOSTA - Departments within the College of Arts and Science at Valdosta State University have planned weekly installments for the Spring 2008 Science Seminar Series, with lectures from 4-5 p.m. every Thursday in the Powell Hall auditorium.

The Biology Department will host the next seminar on Thursday, Feb. 14, featuring Dr. Zehava Eichenbaum from Georgia State University. Dr. Eichenbaum will present a speech “Shr, a Multifunctional Protein in Group A Streptococcus that is NEAT.” The presentation will cover the streptococcal hemoprotein receptor (Shr), a broad-spectrum receptor that, in addition to its role in heme acquisition, functions as an adhesion, and its contribution to the infection process of Group A Streptococcus.

Three lectures have already been held featuring presenters from Florida A&M, the University of Florida and Florida State University. The seminar series will continue until the end of spring semester. For a complete list of topics see the information below or view an expanded version online at http://www.valdosta.edu/cas/scisem/ .

Thursday, January 24
“STOCK ISLAND TREE SNAILS IN PERIL IN THE FLORIDA KEYS”
Dr. Elizabeth L. Mihalcik, Florida A&M University
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, January 31
“Dynamics of Loading the Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase Sliding Clamp”
Dr. Linda Bloom, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of Florida
Hosting Dept: Chemistry

Thursday, February 7
“The Origin and Evolution of New Enzyme Activities”
Dr. Brian Miller, Dept. of Chemistry, Florida State University
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, February 14
“Shr, a multifunctional protein in Group A streptococcus that is NEAT”
Dr. Zehava Eichenbaum, Georgia State University, Biology Department
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, February 21
“Epigenomics: Comparative Analysis of Imprinted Region on Human Chromosome 11p15”
Dr. Ikhide Imumorin, Spelman College
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, February 28
“Cellular Architecture in a Minimal Microbe: the Simple Life?”
Dr. Duncan C. Krause, Department of Microbiology
University of Georgia-Athens
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, March 6
“Nuclear - Clean Energy for the Future”
Nicole Faulk, Assistant to Senior Vice President of Nuclear Development
Georgia Power
Hosting Dept: Chemistry

March 13
Spring Break Week

Thursday, March 20
“Vector-Borne Diseases and Emergence of Pesticide Resistance”
Dr. Jemal Mohammed-Awel & Kebenesh W. Blayneh, Dept of Math & CS
Hosting Dept: Math & CS

Thursday, March 27
“Connecting wildland fire fuel heterogeneity with fire behavior and forest ecology.”
Dr. Joseph O’Brien, USDA Forest Service
Hosting Dept: Biology

Thursday, April 3
“Non-Destructive Evaluation of Engineering Materials: Part A. Fundamental Principles Part B. VSU Undergraduate Research and an Application of Non-Destructive Evaluation”
Dr. Hasson Tavoosi, Dr. Barry Hojjatie & Brandon Vaughan
from Valdosta State University Physics, Astronomy, Geosciences Dept.
Hosting Dept: Physics, Astronomy, Geosciences

Thursday, April 10
“Using Dynamic Geometry to Stimulate Students to Provide Proofs”
Dr. Arsalan Wares, Dept of Mathematics & Computer Science
Hosting Dept: Math & CS

Thursday, April 17
“Aerobic Precipitation of Uranium(VI) by Microbial Phosphatase Activity: An Alternative Approach to Anaerobic Bioreduction”
Dr. Patricia Sobecky, Georgia Institute of Technology, Biology Department
Hosting Dept: Biology