Readings/Lectures/Showings
June 2006
NSWA Events Calendar
Please E-mail NSWA with suggested announcements.
Some events may require advance registration or admission fee. Check with the Sponsoring organizations for further details. Please send additions or corrections to deafrost atsign gmail dot com – and feel free to submit events for future calendars. Please put “NSWA-to be posted” in the subject line.
Thursday, June 1, 2:30 p.m.:
Jeff Nystuen, UW Applied Physics Laboratories, presents “Ocean Ambient Sound Budgets: Sorting out the Racket” for the APL Seminar Series. From the abstract: Underwater ambient sound in the ocean contains quantifiable information about the marine environment. In the frequency range from 1 to 50 kHz, persistent sound is generated by breaking wind waves and can be used to quantify wind speed. On a shorter time scale, the sound of raindrops splashing on the ocean surface is loud and distinctive, allowing oceanic rainfall to be detected and quantified acoustically. On an even shorter time scale, vocalizations of marine mammals (especially whales, but also other marine wildlife), and anthropogenic sounds from ships and sonars, are present and can be used to detect and quantify activity. These sounds are generally distinctive and can be sorted to generate quantitative sound budgets. Long-term ambient sound measurements using a low duty cycle recorder (Passive Aquatic Listeners - PALs) have been collected from different oceanic environments, including deep ocean moorings in the Pacific Ocean (tropical, mid and high latitudes), continental shelf moorings (Washington coast and Bering Sea) and inland waterways (Haro Strait and Puget Sound)… Hardisty Conference Center (UW Henderson Hall).
http://www.nwfsc.noaa.gov/events/uwseminar_site.cfm
Thursday, June 1, 4:00 p.m.:
Peter Goldreich, astrophysicist at Caltech (and recipient of the Heuter Lectureship), lectures on “Turbulence on Earth and in Space” for the Astronomy Department colloquia. UW Physics Astronomy Bldg, A102
http://www.astro.washington.edu/pages/colloquium.html
Thursday, June 1, 1:30 p.m.:
Don McKenzie, USDA Forest Service & JISAO/CSES Climate Impacts Group, and Susan O’Neill, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, will present “Climatic change, fire, and air quality.” Climate change, population growth, and land use changes are closely interrelated forces that may cause significant changes in air quality within the US. Changes in ecosystem dynamics and regional weather features such as temperature and circulation patterns can have a large impact on biogenic emissions and the occurrence and distribution of wildfires in forested and grassland areas. The EPA-funded Science to Achieve Results (STAR) project and Forest Service HAZE project address future US air quality and regional haze in the context of a changing climate. CIG Conference Room (2nd Floor, Lisa Li Building)
4909 25th Ave. NE, Seattle. (Note: The Lisa Li Building is located northeast of the UW campus across from University Village shopping center on 25th Ave NE. The building is located behind Washington Mutual and next to the Burke Gilman Trail.)
http://www.cses.washington.edu/cig/outreach/seminars.shtml
Thursday, June 1, 10:30 a.m.:
Dr. Sinclair Yee, University of Washington, Electrical Engineering, reminisces about “A 40 year Research Journey at the University of Washington.” Yee will give brief descriptions of the early research projects and present the latest development of an optical sensing system. As a young faculty member, the first research project was in the area of electron transport in high field regime in GaAs and Silicon semiconductors. His research interests then shifted to biological applications. In the last stage he concentrated on the development of optical sensors and an optical portable sensing system based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) principle. The system has the capability of detecting multiple (>10) chemical, biological agents in the complex solutions simultaneously in a short time (< 10 minutes). UW Electrical Engineering, Room 125. http://www.ee.washington.edu/research/colloquium/
Thursday, June 1, 4:00 p.m.:
Dr. Carl B. Schreck, Professor, Oregon State University, Department of Fisheries & Wildlife/Leader, Oregon State Cooperative Fishery Research Unit, speaks on the “Migration of Juvenile Salmonids in Large and Small Estuaries and the Possible Role of Stress.” The investigator’s recent work with DNA microarrays and qPCR identified genes representing all major components of the stress response including bioenergetics, gene transcription and growth, and disease resistance. SAFS Departmental Seminar Series. UW 120 Fishery Sciences (Auditorium).
Friday, June 2, 3:30 p.m.:
Dr. Jody Bourgeois, Professor of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington, presents “Tsunami Geology: Splashy Science and the Sands of Time.” Tsunami science remains a frontier because big tsunamis occur rarely. Geological studies of tsunamis are helping to address a range of problems from pure science to hazard assessment. Such studies in the Pacific Northwest have led to changes in building codes and emergency-management plans.
The Indian Ocean disaster of December 2004 heightened public awareness of tsunamis and raised questions about tsunami preparedness worldwide. Important scientific problems have come into the spotlight. In the geological realm, reconstructing tsunami waves from their deposits has become the focus of vigorous scientific research.
Colloquia are held monthly on Fridays in the Physics/Astronomy Building, Room A-102, and start at 3:30 p.m. Reception follows. This year's series has been organized by Ron Irving (Mathematics) and Gail Jarvik (Medical Genetics) and is sponsored by the Office of Research. http://www.washington.edu/research/scienceforum/schedule.html
Friday, June 2, 1:30 p.m.:
Dr. Indrani Medhi (Microsoft Research India) will present “Designing a Text-Free User Interface for Illiterate Users” at the Computer Science and Engineering Colloquium. The world is experiencing a substantial ‘Digital Divide’ in terms of the gap in access to information and communication–illiteracy playing a significant role in widening this gap. Hence the need arises for a platform which enables free flow of information by surpassing the barriers of literacy and computer skills. The talk will describe the design process, the design principles which evolved out of the process, the final application design, and results from initial user testing. The research was conducted in collaboration with a community of illiterate domestic laborers in 3 slums in Bangalore, India. UW Computer Science & Engineering, Room 403.
http://www.cs.washington.edu/htbin-post/mvis/mvis?ID=525
Friday, June 2, 12:30 p.m.:
Dr Aaron Timperman, West Virginia University, presents “Seawater proteomics: Searching for clues into the mechanisms of carbon cycling,” at the Chemical Oceanography Lunch Seminar. UW Ocean Science Building, Room 425.
http://depts.washington.edu/oceanweb/currents/currents.shtml
Monday, June 5, 7:30 p.m.:
Unfortunately, Richard Leakey has had to cancel his Seattle appearance on June 5 due to a “medical emergency.” Call 800-733-1789 for more.information.
Dr. Richard Leakey, world renowned paleoanthropologist and environmental activist, will present "Climate Change and the Future of Life on Earth.” Dr. Leakey, author of “The Sixth Extinction,” will talk about man’s impact on the environment and the future of life on Earth. The presentation begins with a visual introduction to Africa by safari leader David Anderson. The Burke Museum and Woodland Park Zoo are co-sponsoring this two-hour multimedia presentation. University of Washington, Meany Hall.
Ticket prices: Members $30; Students $20; all others $35.
Online: http://www.focusonplanetearth.org or call with credit card number: (800) 927-4647
Or purchase at the door one hour before the event.
http://www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/events/index.php
Tuesday, June 6, 4:00 p.m.:
Dr. Bob Goldstein, Associate Professor of Biology, University of North Carolina, presents the “Generation of Cell Polarity in the C. elegans Embryo” for the departmental Biology Seminar. UW Physics-Astronomy A102.
http://protist.biology.washington.edu/bio2/news/seminars/pdf/BobGoldsteinflyer2.pdf
Wednesday, June 7, 8:00 p.m.:
Portland writer Elizabeth Grossman makes this welcome return visit with a timely new book in hand. High Tech Trash: Digital Devices, Hidden Toxins, and Human Health. Grossman follows the trail of electronic waste from landfills in the United States to ‘recycling’ centers in India and China.
http://www.elliottbaybook.com
Friday, June 9, 7:00 – 9:45 a.m.:
The morning of Friday, June 9, the Washington Biotechnology and Biomedical Association presents the last of its Distinguished Speaker Series programs, “Data Overload in Biomedical Research.” Panelists include Bob Cottingham (VizX Labs), David Galas, Ph.D. (Battelle and Institute for Systems Biology and Peter Tarczy-Hornoch, M.D. (Pediatrics/ Neonatology University of Washington). Registration begins at 7:00 am; the program runs from 7:45 – 9:00. Swedish Providence Campus – James Tower, Seattle. For information on free media registration, email pamlove@washbio.org; meeting information is available on www.wabio.com. Elsewise, $50 for WBBA, WSA or TA members, $75 for non-members.
http://www.washbio.org/cde.cfm?event=130057
Sunday, June 11, 7:30 p.m.:
Science Lecture: Kunstler on a Post-Oil Future. Social commentator and author of The Geography of Nowhere and Home from Nowhere, James Howard Kunstler has written a shocking and pessimistic vision of a post-oil future. In his new book, The Long Emergency, he contends that the depletion of nonrenewable fossil fuels is about to radically change life as we know it, sooner than we think. Seattle Science Lecture Series. Downstairs at Town Hall, enter on Seneca Street. Tickets are $5 (at the door only).
http://www.townhallseattle.org
Thursday, June 15, 7:30 p.m.:
Noted journalist Anthony Flint (formerly of Boston Globe) is here with an incisive work, This Land: The Battle Over Sprawl and the Future of America. Presented with the Town Hall Center for Civic Life. $5 admission at the door (no advance tickets). Town Hall Seattle is located at 1119 Eighth Avenue (at Seneca). Entrance for this is on Seneca Street (downstairs). For more information, please call Elliott Bay at (206) 624-6600.
http://www.townhallseattle.org
Saturday, June 17, 7:00-10:00 p.m.:
2006 Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Science Fiction Museum. Master of Ceremonies Neil Gaiman will induct George Lucas, Anne McCaffrey, Frank Herbert and Frank Kelly Freas into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony is part of a weekend program of related events at SFM including the Locus Magazine Awards, emceed by superstar science fiction author Connie Willis. A new display featuring personal artifacts and video footage from each inductee will be added to the existing Hall of Fame exhibit. Tickets for the induction ceremony are $40 for members, $45 for the general public. Sky Church, in the Experience Music Project building, 325 5th Avenue North. For more information, check http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/details.asp?display=cal
Monday, June 19, 7:00 p.m.:
Jason Leopold, one of the reporters who broke the story of the Enron scandal, substituted an addiction to cocaine with an addiction to news. As he reported on a massive, high-level financial fleecing, he worried that his petty criminal past would be brought to light to destroy his credibility. Tonight, he reads from and signs his memoir, “News Junkie” which tells how his dogged pursuit of the story kept him going. University Bookstore.
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu
Tuesday, June 20, 7:30 p.m.:
Author Paul Park transports his readers to surreal realms, sometimes to far-off planets, sometimes to magical worlds filled with dangerously real enchantments. His most recent books, the Roumania series (A Princess of Roumania and The Tourmaline), bring to life with hallucinatory clarity an incognito princess, a werewolf, and an evil necromancer, familiar players made fresh and strange by this author’s insightful art. Park’s brilliant, twist-filled metafictions and remarkable explorations of what it means to be alien and other have gained him numerous award nominations and the praise of the field's premiere writers. This is part of “Six Summer Evenings of Science Fiction,” the 2006 Clarion West Reading Series at SFM (Science Fiction Museum), June 20 - July 25. Every Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. will feature conversations and readings with six luminaries who have broken new ground in science fiction. Six Summer Evenings takes place at the JBL Theater, located inside the Experience Music Project at 325 5th Avenue North on the Seattle Center campus. Advance ($4) tickets are available at the University Avenue branch of the University Bookstore.
http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/details.asp?display=cal&m=6&d=20&y=2006&eventID=418
Tuesday, June 20, 6:00 p.m.:
Devon, England's Stevie Smith became an outdoor venturer prone to big undertakings. Author of “Pedaling to Hawaii: A Human-Powered Odyssey,” he tells of traveling about the world propelled only by human power (bike, pedal-boat, skates, and his own feet).
Wednesday, June 21, 6:00 p.m.:
Patricia Klindienst, a master gardener who also teaches writing at Yale, introduces her work “The Earth Knows My Name: Food, Culture, and Sustainability in the Gardens of Ethnic Americans.”
Wednesday, June 21, 8:00 p.m.:
Veteran environmental journalist David Helvarg focuses on practical actions that all citizens can take to protect wetlands, sanctuaries, and oceans in “50 Ways to Save the Ocean.” Storm drain runoff, fishing and fish consumption, toxic runoff, oil rig regulation, tide pool etiquette, water table protection, and more, are addressed. Co-presented with PEOPLE FOR PUGET SOUND. For more about People for Puget Sound, please see www.pugetsound.org.
Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 p.m.:
Bob Sheff, a semi-retired doctor and former head of one of the largest managed-care systems in the U.S., reads from and signs his work, “The Medical Mentor: Get the Health Care You Deserve in Today’s Medical System “ in which he proposes that you are your best medical advocate and he’s ready to help you do it. He explains how to do everything from selecting and handling your insurance company to knowing which sources (like medical websites) you should and shouldn’t trust. University Bookstore – Bellevue.
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu
Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 p.m.:
Jeff Goodell, investigative journalist, reads from and signs Big Coal: The Dirty Secret Behind America’s Energy Future. Coal has made a comeback. But is it really a welcome one? The dirty-burning, black lung causing fossil fuel that some think can lessen our dependence on foreign oil remains as problematic as ever when it comes to our health and our ecosystem. Why have we turned back to coal instead of some cleaner alternative energy source? Jeff Goodell investigates.
University District Store
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu
Thursday, June 22, 5:00 p.m.:
Pacific Northwest Bio/Technologies Alliance has a meeting scheduled but the topic, so far, is “to be announced.”
http://www.pnwbiotech.org/meetings.htm
Monday, June 26, 7:00 p.m.:
At this evening’s Science on Tap, Frank Forencich, Chief Creative Officer of GoAnimal, leads a discussion on “Life in our alien environment: what human evolution tells us about health and physical fitness in the modern world.” Ravenna Third Place Books.
Tuesday, June 27, 7:30 p.m.:
Maureen McHugh stands genre conventions on their heads while still producing realistic, scientifically plausible stories. Her feminist takes on gender and the family help her revise everyday life into startlingly new futures and deeply revelatory alternate histories. Unpredictability, imaginativeness, and intense emotions simply expressed have been her work’s hallmarks from her debut novel China Mountain Zhang, winner of the Tiptree and Lambda awards, to her 2005 collection Mothers & Other Monsters. Part of Six Summer Evenings of Science Fiction, the 2006 Clarion West Reading Series at SFM, June 20 - July 25. Advance $4 tickets are available at the University Bookstore. JBL Theatre in the Experience Music Project.
http://www.sfhomeworld.org/make_contact/details.asp?display=cal&m=6&d=27&y=2006&eventID=421
© 2008 Northwest Science Writers Association. All rights reserved.
Text-Only Site Navigation • E-mail NSWA • Privacy Policy
