Past Events

April

Blood memory: evaluating antibody responses to COVID-19 infection and vaccination

Dr. Rebecca DuBois

Monday, April 12, 2021

6:30-8:00 p.m.

Research into detection methods for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood has rapidly accelerated during the pandemic in response to global health needs. In this virtual seminar, Dr. DuBois discussed how her lab applied existing knowledge from their research on antiviral antibodies to contribute to understanding the human antibody response to COVID-19 infection and vaccination.

Specifically, she described her lab’s development of new technology to quickly measure SARS-CoV-2 antibody levels in blood, with results in less than 20 minutes. Dr. DuBois will describe the utility of this technology for COVID-19 studies, as well as the potential to develop this technology as a diagnostic platform to evaluate immunity to other infectious diseases.

Check out the recording here

March

Back to school: What elementary schools need to consider in re-opening their doors

Dr. Rebecca A. London
Monday, March 8, 2021
6:30–8:00 p.m.

As elementary schools reopen after prolonged physical closure due to COVID-19, attention to healing the school community will be essential. Although there is wide variation in the timing and formats with which schools plan to reopen, it is clear that when students reenter school buildings they will be eager to reconnect with friends and teachers. Because elementary school-aged children learn and grow through play, recess is an ideal time to support healing and to prepare students to return to the classroom ready to learn. When students are allowed to reenter school buildings, providing opportunities for play should be a priority; this talk discusses how schools can safely implement recess and harness the power of play to rebuild the school community and support the well-being of their students.

Check out the recording here

February

The games we can't make (yet)

Dr. Noah Wardrip-Fruin
Monday, February 8, 2021
6:30–8:00 p.m.

It might seem that games can address almost any topic. There are versions of Monopoly and Tetris that, alone, seem to address subjects ranging from pop music, bass fishing, and sex to mass murder, slavery, and predatory real estate development. Yet for all but the last of these, the actual play of these games is at odds with the intended theme. So what topics can games meaningfully address? One powerful way that games can address topics is by having playable models that resonate with their intended themes. Monopoly is actually an example of such a game, with a playable model of real estate development ripped off from a game intended as a critique of capitalism’s approach to resources. The foundation of any playable model is a set of operational logics, which combine communication and computation with opportunities for play.

Check out a recording here

January 2021

Lights, camera, action! Using animal-borne video cameras to see the world from a whale’s perspective

Dr. Ari Friedlaender
Monday, January 11, 2021
6:30–8:00 p.m.

Whales are the largest animals on the planet and inhabit oceans around the world from the tropics to the poles. Whales spend nearly all of their lives underwater and out of view of researchers. While biologging tools have allowed us to track the underwater movement of these ocean giants and describe their behavior, the development of tags that include animal-borne video cameras has opened up a new world to researchers and the general public. From a whale’s perspective, we can now visualize the environment in which whales live and better understand the decisions they make and the behaviors they employ. In this talk, we will explore the underwater lives of the largest and the smallest baleen whales in local and the most remote parts of the planet: blue whales from California, humpback whales from South Africa, and minke whales from Antarctica. Not only does this novel perspective provide information about the whales and their environment, but it also provides insights as to how anthropogenic impacts including climate change are affecting these animals.

Check out a recording of the event here