Women in Science

This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. Dorothy Fragaszy, University of Georgia, compares tool use in nonhuman primates and humans which leads to ideas about the attributes of humans that have led us to differ so dramatically from other primates in technical prowess and technical traditions. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34190]

This symposium addresses the interactive gene-culture co-evolution of the human brain with tool use and technology - ranging from simple stone tools millions of years ago to computers today. The combination of genetic and activity dependent mechanisms that create a given cortical phenotype allows the mammalian neocortex to rapidly and flexibly adjust to different body and environmental contexts, and in humans permits culture to impact brain construction. Leah Krubitzer, UC Davis. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Science] [Show ID: 34192]

Katherine Markovich, PhD teamed up with fellow graduate students Stephen Maples and Lauren Foster in the NSF Climate Change Water and Society Integrative Graduate Education Research Traineeship (CCWAS IGERT) to study water resources in Chile. Using water’s signature, the isotopic values for snow, rivers, and groundwater, Dr. Katie Markovich is developing an understanding of Chile’s water portfolio under different climate conditions. Like many of Graham Fogg’s students at UC Davis, she relies on high-powered models to describe future scenarios. California and Chile’s Mediterranean climate is changing, and hydrological research will help water managers in both areas prepare infrastructure for different conditions. Series: "Women in Science" [Science] [Show ID: 34329]

Over 40 scientists came together to tackle issues working mothers face. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 34108]

At the Animal Science Swine Center at UC Davis, Kristina Horback studies pig personality. She monitors the behavior of female pig from birth through puberty looking for behavior that would help predict aggression in female sows. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 34112]

The Santa Cruz Island horse lived for centuries on the Channel Islands, but years of isolation and a small gene pool have left the breed teetering on extinction. UC Davis researcher, Amy McLean, is working with El Campeon Farms to save the Santa Cruz Island horse and preserve a piece of California history. Series: "UCTV Prime" [Agriculture] [Show ID: 34109]

Laurie A. Boyer, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology and Biological Engineering at MIT, discusses her work studying cell fate and cardiac regeneration. She shares how her lab is dissecting the gene regulatory mechanisms that control lineage commitment during heart development and congenital heart defects and applying this knowledge toward engineering cardiac tissues. Series: "Women in Science" [Health and Medicine] [Education] [Professional Medical Education] [Show ID: 33775]

Across the tree of life, we can trace cancer vulnerabilities back to the origins of multicellularity. Cancer is observed in almost all multicellular phyla, including lineages leading to plants, fungi, and animals. However, species vary remarkably in their susceptibility to cancer. Amy Boddy (UCSB Integrated Anthropological Sciences Unit) discusses how this variation in cancer susceptibility is characterized by life history trade-offs, as cancer defense mechanisms are a major component of a body's maintenance. She also looks at how understanding these trade-offs in the context of evolution may help explain the variability we see in cancer susceptibility across human populations. Series: "Women in Science" [Health and Medicine] [Science] [Show ID: 34028]

Ariana is a PhD student at UC San Diego, where she works with the Sysnet, CryptoSec, and CNS groups at UCSD, as well as the Center for Evidence-based Security Research (CESR). She is advised by Geoff Voelker and Stefan Savage. As an undergrad, she started her academic journey in a security lab as an coder. She soon realized that the world of security would be an enthralling space that has repercussions for everyone that uses a computer today, and after doing some coding, she then moved more into a research-oriented role. She discovered that one of security's problems revolved around users and how users interact with our various security mechanisms; and what good are our security mechanisms if they fail to protect people? She then decided to dive into the intersection of usable security and empirical analysis, or how we can use environmental studies to determine user behavior, where is it going wrong, and how we can fix it. This is the philosophy that drives her research Series: "UCTV Prime" [Science] [Show ID: 33422]

This symposium explores the evolutionary origins of human imagination, its impact on the sciences and arts, the consequences of imagination impairment, and the fundamental genetic and neurological basis of human imagination. Early H. sapiens took imaginative expressions to new heights. By 100,000 years ago, perforated and ochre-covered marine shells were found in early modern human burials and living sites and thereafter more material culture items convey imagination. Lyn Wadley, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Series: "CARTA - Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny" [Humanities] [Science] [Show ID: 33809]