Monday, November 6
Biology Seminar: How the Minnesota Zoo is Saving Wildlife in Minnesota
Dr. Tara Harris, Vice President for Conservation, Minnesota Zoo
Zoos are playing increasingly important roles in wildlife conservation. Dr. Harris will talk about the Minnesota Zoo’s work, in partnership with others across the region, to save species of concern in Minnesota – including prairie butterflies, bison, freshwater mussels, and endangered turtles.
4:00 PM, RNS 410
MSCS Colloquium: Technical Foundations of Emoji
Hannah Miller, Computer Science Candidate, U of MN
3:30 pm, RNS 310 – Everyone Welcome
Tuesday, November 7
MSCS Research Talk: Identifying, Understanding, and Addressing Problems in Communication Technologies
Computer Science Candidate Hannah Miller, U of MN
3:30 pm, RNS 203
Abstract:
In this day and age, technology is embedded in our lives. One of our primary use cases of such technology is for communication, and, though popular, these technologies are not without their faults. In my research, I work to identify, understand, and address problems that people face in their experiences using communication technologies, particularly in text-based communication applications and social network sites. Emoji are “picture characters” that are commonly used in these applications and on the web, but in my research I have shown that their visual nature gives rise to differing interpretations, and thus potential for miscommunication. In my current work, I am developing technology to address this problem and improve the experience of communicating with emoji. In additional work on communication technologies, I have researched skewed demographics in the popular site Pinterest and have designed and developed a social network site customized for people with aphasia. I plan to continue studying and improving widely used computer-mediated communication technologies to better support our everyday communications.
Wednesday, November 8
Physics Colloquium: Near-field optics for investigating biomolecular self-assembly below the diffraction limit of light
Keisuke Hasegawa PhD., Department of Physics at Grinnell College
2:00 p.m. RNS 210
Thursday, November 9
No Events
Friday, November 10
Seminar: Chemical Biology and Catalysis with Tailored Virus-Like Particles
M.G. Finn, Georgia Tech
Abstract:Viruses and virus-like particles are the largest scaffolds conveniently available to the molecular scientist with structures known to atomic resolution. They therefore represent unique tools with which to explore a variety of questions in nanoscience, biology, and materials research. Our work in recent years has focused on the particle derived from the bacteriophage Qb capsid as a model system. Methods for the chemical and genetic modification of the coat protein, its targeting to particular cell types, and its use in immunology and as a container for functional biological molecules will be described.
3:15 pm, RNS 310