UAS Evening at Egan Kicks Off Sept 22 with Dr. Micaela Martinez

Evening at Egan is a fall lecture series hosted in the UAS Egan Library on Friday evenings during the fall semester.

Date of Press Release: September 13, 2017

The annual fall lecture series Evening at Egan kicks off on September 22 at the University of Alaska Southeast Auke Lake campus with guest lecturer Dr. Micaela Martinez, who was recently awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director's Early Independence Award of $2M, along with a research position at Princeton University.  Since graduating from UAS in 2009 with a B.S. in Biology and a B.S. in Mathematics, Martinez went on to earn a Ph.D. in 2015 from the University of Michigan Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. 

Dr. Martinez is currently a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Biology in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University, and a Postdoctoral Affiliate of the Global Health Program in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs.  According to the NIH website, she uses "cutting-edge statistical methods and dynamic models to deconstruct epidemics and reveal information about host-to-host transmission of viral infections, immunity in the population, and vaccine efficacy. She works at the intersection of epidemiology, computational biology, chronobiology (i.e., the study of biological rhythms), and ecology. Her traditional training in biology, coupled with research in computational/applied mathematics and statistical inference, has allowed her to develop a unique expertise: leveraging Big Epidemiological Data to unmask population-level biological processes that impact human health." 

Below is a full list of lectures scheduled this fall for the Evening at Egan series:

September 22 – The Clockwork of Epidemics, Health & Disease

Dr. Micaela Martinez, Assistant Professor at the Columbia University, New York

Dr. Martinez will present research and describe her efforts to discover the biological rhythms in human physiology and immunology that contribute to cycles of infection, birth, and mortality; and thus help doctors to leverage evolutionary insights to improve human health.

September 29 – When the Barge Stops Running: Perceptions of Food Supply Risks in Southeast Alaska

Dr. Lora Vess, UAS Assistant Professor of Social Sciences

Dr. Vess shares her findings on the cultural importance and value of Alaskan grown and harvested foods, as well as perceptions of risks and resiliency related to environmental change, economic sustainability, and trust in political and regulatory institutions.

October 6 – Intergenerational Trauma and Health: How What Happens to Us, Affects Us

Dr. Ann Bullock, Indian Health Service Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention

Trauma is a universal human experience, though some people and groups experience more than others.  Parents can unintentionally transmit trauma to their children, perpetuating it across generations.  Bullock will discuss how stress and trauma work, how they can affect health, and ways people and communities can address them. 

October 13 – Seafood Security in Southeast Alaska

Dr. Mike Navarro, UAS Assistant Professor of Marine Fisheries

Dr. Navarro will introduce the issue of food security and discuss several environmental challenges to sustaining Southeast Alaskan fishery production, introducing tools used in his lab that track these changes. He will focus on solutions that our communities have built to meet the new needs created by these challenges as well as highlight growing opportunities.

October 20 - Zombies! Monstrous Allegory in a Time of Disaster

Dr. Sol Neely, UAS Associate Professor of English

Just in time for Halloween, Dr. Sol Neely offers a reading of culture from the perspective of the monsters it produces. This fun, multimedia presentation offers a genealogy of the zombie from its origins in colonial Haiti through its articulation by George A. Romero and the exploitation genre that it helped spawn.

October 27 – Tentative: Nic Galanin, UAS Artist in Residence

The first Artist in Residence at UAS, Galanin is a Northwest Coast artist who is Inspired by generations of Tlingit & Unangax̂ creativity.  Themes that recur in his work are adaptation and resistance, lies and exaggeration, dreams, memories and poetic views of daily life.

November 3 – Indigenous Language & Health

X̱'unei Lance Twitchell, UAS Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages & Dr. Alice Taff, UAS Affiliate Assistant Professor of Alaska Native Languages

This presentation focuses on the notion that there is a causative, beneficial link between ancestral Indigenous language use and the health of the user, and the need for indigenous wellness in order to foster language revitalization movements.  It will feature eye-witness accounts of Indigenous language use fostering health, and look at studies linking indigenous language use to a variety of social issues and opportunities.

November 10 – Power & Privilege

Following the 2nd Annual UAS Power & Privilege Symposium earlier in the week, this talk is about the ways social hierarchies and identities manifest themselves in our communities, focusing on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age, religion, body size, ability, mental illness, class, and how they intersect.

November 17 – Juneau Icefield Research Project

Researchers from the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP) will talk about their glaciology research outside of Juneau.  JIRP has maintained the longest running study of any glacier in the Western Hemisphere, over 70 years of data.  They will talk about a their 8-week field school which trains future glaciologists and other climate activists.

December 1 – Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, & Recent Advances in Astrophysics

Dr. Marc Finkelstein, Expert on Space and Aerospace

Advances in astrophysics, particle physics and technology have given us a unique perspective on what the universe is made of, and of the limits nature imposes on us.  Finkelstein discusses underlying concepts in relativity, quantum mechanics, the nature of matter and how these studies have led to things and ideas we take for granted daily. The reality may surprise you! 

December 8 – The Origins & Persistence of the American Campus

Dr. Richard Simpson, UAS Assistant Professor of Humanities

The term “campus” invokes the practice of harmonizing architecture and urban planning in order to create a specific setting in which to teach.  Simpson examines the distinct American campus, and how these landscapes have sought to unify individual happiness with industrial productivity, offering insight into the politics of educational space as well as the emergence of today’s “corporate campus,” the signature feature of the global information technology landscape of the twenty-first century.