Tuesday, November 18 • 6-7:30 p.m. • Northrop Best Buy Theater
Join members of the CBS community for an evening of lightning talks discussing the real-world opportunities, challenges, and applications of life sciences research and practice. Speakers will include a mix of faculty, students, and alumni discussing areas of passion from a wide range of biological fields of study. Light appetizers provided.
Speakers
Madelyn Blake | The brain on stigma: How science can make us kinder
2024 Alumnae, Neuroscience; Genetics, Cell Biology & Development; and Cellular & Organismal Physiology
Executive Director for Brains for Change & Academic Research Assistant in the Prins Lab
Madelyn Blake's experiences seeing people struggle with substance use disorders while growing up and hearing the stigma associated with it led her to pursue opportunities as an undergraduate to do research exploring the treatment of addiction and start a non-profit organization committed to educating high school students about substance use disorders from a neuroscience perspective.
Bennett Olupo | Environmental joy: Shifting the culture
2018 Alumnus, Biology
Senior Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
After completing a Master’s in Environmental Management with a specialization in Food Systems from Yale School of the Environment, Bennett Olupo now serves as the Senior Community Engagement and Outreach Specialist at the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where he helps develop regulation considering the input of community members to promote environmental justice and address Minnesotans’ disproportionate exposure to pollutants.
Mari Reid | What can we learn from our organelles about communication?
Graduate Student, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, & Biophysics
Mari Reid is currently a third-year graduate student in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biophysics where her research looks at how lipid droplet and mitochondrial interactions are mediated during metabolic stress. In addition to her research, Mari is an avid reader and clarinetist. She recently competed in the CBS 3-minute Thesis competition, where she was asked to condense her graduate thesis into a 3-minute presentation.
Allison Shaw | Models (and science) as stories
Associate Professor, Ecology, Evolution, & Behavior
Allison Shaw joined the Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior department within CBS in 2014. Her research uses models to understand how organisms use movement to adapt to their environments, and what consequences movement has for populations and species interactions. Allison's work in theoretical biology drives her commitment to fostering a diversity of voices in science, as she sees it as essential to better understanding the living world around us.