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Free, Public Lectures by UC Merced Professors

March 11, 2008

MERCED, CA — Professors from the University of California, Merced, are participating for the fifth year in a row in a series of free, public lectures at the Challenger Learning Center in Atwater. The Frontiers of Science and Engineering lecture series aims to open up scientific and engineering topics to the general public through accessible lectures and opportunities for discussion with leading researchers.

The series opened in February with Professor Christopher Viney's report of his journey to Africa with National Geographic Television in search of samples of hippo skin secretions from animals in the wild.

The rest of the 2008 series schedule — with all the lectures planned to be delivered by UC Merced professors except for the June lecture by two retired United States Air Force officers — is as follows:

  • March 15: Professor Francois Blanchette, School of Natural Sciences, UC Merced: “What do Soap Bubbles and Lab-on-a-Chip have in Common?”
  • April 12: Professor Jennifer Lu, School of Engineering, UC Merced: “Self-Assembly from Flagellum to Nanotube”
  • May 17: Professor Kathleen Hull, School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts, UC Merced: “Archaeology in Yosemite: Research at the Intersection of Science and the Humanities”
  • June 14: Colonel Donald Hirschaut, USAF (ret) and Colonel Richard Chisholm, USAF (ret): “1960's Aerial Refueling of Fighters, Bombers in S. E. Asia”
  • September 20: Professor Michael Dawson, School of Natural Sciences, UC Merced: “In it for the Long Haul: an Evolutionist's Perspective on Agriculture, Environment, Fisheries, and Medicine”
  • October 18: Professor Gerardo Diaz, School of Engineering, UC Merced: “Energy of the Future”
  • November 15: Professor Carlos Coimbra, School of Engineering, UC Merced: “The Present and the Future of Solar Power Utilization in California”

All lectures begin at 10 a.m. on Saturdays in the Challenger Learning Center, 3460 Challenger Way, Atwater.