Take the chill off wintry Saturdays by learning about hot topics such as inertial confinement fusion energy, evolutionary medicine, the neuroscience of magic, and human vs. computer in competitions. These and other topics will be featured during the 2011 Science-on-Saturday lecture series beginning January 8 through March 12 at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in Plainsboro.
The 27th annual series includes nine talks from January through March. Although the free talks are geared toward high school students, they are open to everyone. Doors open at 8 a.m. and the talks begin at 9:30 a.m. in PPPL’s auditorium. Students, teachers, parents, and community members are welcome to attend any or all of the lectures.
The series is co-organized by PPPL’s Ronald Hatcher, Kathleen Lukazik, and James Morgan. Hatcher and Morgan are Plainsboro residents.
“Science on Saturday has become a tradition in the Princeton community. Multiple generations have the opportunity to hear world-class scientists present their research,” Morgan said. “These lectures inspire all ages.”
Morgan, senior program leader in science education, began working at PPPL in 1994 while he was still a student at Temple University. “I have always loved the sciences, but also pursued other interests,” he says. He moved to Plainsboro from Morristown in 2002 to be closer to his grandmother, who was in a nursing home in Cranbury.
“Throughout the course of the year we review science magazines and journals to consider contemporary science topics and stars in scientific fields,” says Morgan about choosing potential speakers for the Science on Saturday series.
The audience includes high school students, Princeton University staffers, and community members. “All of those groups attend, and many often attend the entire series. Also, many come year after year for the talks,” he says.
Morgan has been running the annual science bowl for high school students at PPPL for 15 years. He received a plaque to recognize his achievement in 2002 after his 10th year. Morgan was one of the inventors of the Academic Competition Software used in the science bowl. “It worked even better than I thought it would, and saved resources,” he says.
Hatcher, a senior research engineer at PPPL, decided to pursue a career in science during high school. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and mathematics and a master’s degree in electrical engineering. He began working at PPPL in 1984 and chose to live in Plainsboro due to proximity to the laboratory.
“We choose speakers based on acquaintances, interesting research and/or bio, and recommendations from past speakers,” he says. According to Hatcher all ages attend the talks.
The first talk on Saturday, January 8, is “Major Themes in Evolutionary Medicine” presented by Professor Steve Stearns, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University. A 1967 graduate of Yale College, he earned a master’s degree. from the University of Wisconsin, and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia.
Stearns works on life history evolution, which links the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology, and on evolutionary medicine. He was professor of zoology at the University of Basel from 1983 to 2000 and began work at Yale in 2000.
His books include “Evolution, an introduction” (Oxford, 2005) with Rolf Hoekstra, “Watching, from the Edge of Extinction” (Yale, 1999) with his wife, Beverly Peterson Stearns, “The Evolution of Life Histories” (Oxford, 1992), and two edited volumes, “Evolution in health and disease” (Oxford, 2008), and “The Evolution of Sex and its Consequences.”
Stearns founded and has served as president of both the European Society for Evolutionary Biology and the Tropical Biology Association and was founding editor of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology. He has been a vice president of the Society for the Study of Evolution and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Upcoming Science-on-Saturday include:
January 15: “Electrons, Camera, Action: Advanced Microscopy Techniques for Understanding Structure-Property Relationships in Energy-related Materials,” Professor Mitra Taheri, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia.
January 22: “Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions,” Dr. Stephen L. Macknik, Director of Behavioral Neurophysiology, and Dr. Susana Martinez-Conde, Director of Visual Neuroscience, Barrow Neurological Institute, Phoenix.
January 29: “The Robotic Scientist: Can Scientific Discovery Be Automated?” Professor Hod Lipson, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering and Computing & Information Science, Cornell University, Ithaca.
The laboratory is on Princeton University’s Forrestal Campus off Route 1 in Plainsboro and not on the University’s main campus in Princeton. The lectures usually last, with questions, about two hours. Registration is on-site prior to each session. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.
PPPL is a federal facility. Heightened security measures are presently in effect at the laboratory. Upon arrival, all adult visitors must show a government-issued photo I.D. This could include a passport or a driver’s license. Non-U.S. adult citizens must show a photo I.D., plus provide the following information: citizenship, date of birth, and place of birth. For the welfare of both staff and visitors, PPPL security staff retains the right to inspect vehicles and personal packages such as briefcases, satchels, book bags, and purses. Visit https://www.pppl.gov for more information.
— Lynn Miller
Science on Saturday, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Forrestal Campus, Route 1 North, Plainsboro. Free. 609-243-2121. www.pppl.gov.
