Biology Hosts Next Seminar in Science Series

VALDOSTA - Departments within the College of Arts and Sciences 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 lecture titled “Cellular Architecture in a Minimal Microbe: the Simple Life?” on Thursday, Feb. 28, presented by Dr. Duncan C. Krause. The seminar will explore the current understanding of the structure and function of terminal organelle in mycoplasma, a subunit within a cell, and its role in mycoplasmas, primarily M. pnuemoniae, and explain its complex structure. According to the online abstract, mycoplasmas are considered to be among the smallest and simplest free-living microorganisms, having minimal genomes, very limited biosynthetic capabilities, and few or no typical mechanisms for regulating gene expression.

Several lectures have already been held featuring presenters from Florida State University, University of Florida, Georgia State University and University of Georgia-Athens. 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/ .

Coming soon:

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

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