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Past Events
Monday, 1 Mar 2010
Women, Leadership and Service - Jackie Norris
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Jackie Norris is a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which includes Teach for America and Americorps. She previously served as chief of staff for First Lady Michelle Obama. Her other Washington credentials include serving as scheduler for Vice President Al Gore, director of scheduling and advance for HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo and service on the staff of U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter. Her Iowa credentials include serving as Barack Obama's senior advisor on the Iowa caucus campaign and state director on the general election, Tom Vilsack's gubernatorial campaign, and Al Gore's political director for Iowa during the 2000 presidential election. Norris received her undergraduate degree from SUNY at Geneseo and a teacher certification and master's degree in political science from Iowa State University. Part of the Women's Leadership Series.
Portion Size Me: Why We Eat More Than We Think - James Painter
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Move over Morgan Spurlock. Nutrition expert Jim Painter says it's not so much what you eat but how much you eat, and he aims to prove it in his documentary, Portion Size Me, where he put two of his students on a thirty-day fast food diet. Painter argues most people are not aware of their volume of food intake, a major contributor to over-consumption. He discusses the increase in the size of food portions over the last two decades and ways that food portions can be controlled. Painter is chair of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences at Eastern Illinois University and has over a decade of experience in the food service and hospitality industry. He earned his PhD from University of Illinois, Urbana.
Sunday, 28 Feb 2010
Wisdom of the Last Farmer - Why Memory Matters: Transformative Farming and Flavors - David Mas Masumoto
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - The author of eight books, David Mas Masumoto grows organic peaches, nectarines, and grapes on his eighty-acre farm in Del Rey, California. He is perhaps best-known for Epitaph for a Peach: Four Seasons on My Family Farm. His latest book is Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies From the Land. Masumoto is a third generation Japanese American and self-described artist farmer, capturing the stories of family and the land through literature. Every year he hosts an Elberta Peach Tree Adoption program in hopes of educating others about the joy of heirloom produce and the realities of organic farming. The 2010 Shivvers Memorial Lecture.
Thursday, 25 Feb 2010
America's Energy Future - Lawrence Papay
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Lawrence Papay is the National Academy of Engineering Sigma Xi Lecturer, with a distinguished career in the energy sector, including business management, technology integration, nuclear and electric power, and system planning. He is CEO and Principal of PQR, a management consulting firm for a variety of clients in electric power and other energy areas. His previous positions include Sector Vice President for SAIC's Integrated Solutions Sector; Senior Vice President and General Manager of Bechtel Technology & Consulting; and Senior Vice President at Southern California Edison. Papay has served on the Department of Energy's Energy Research Advisory Board, the Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Advisory Committee as well as the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He holds an Sc.D. in nuclear engineering from MIT. Sigma Xi Lecture.
What Can Slimy Rocks in the Deep Sea Tell Us about Microbial Survival Strategies at High Temperatures? Matt Schrenk
7:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - Matt Schrenk is an assistant professor of microbiology at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. Most of his research has focused upon the growth of microorganisms on mineral surfaces, in communities known as biofilms. He is particularly interested in the ecological and evolutionary roles of biofilms in some of the highest temperature ecosystems on Earth - at the deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Schrenk participated in the recovery of the largest sulfide chimney structures to date from the Juan de Fuca Ridge in 1998 and later had the opportunity to conduct the first microbiological analyses of the newly discovered carbonate towers from the Lost City Field in 2001. He received his B.Sc. in Geology and Geophysics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his Ph.D. in Oceanography with a certificate in astrobiology from the University of Washington.
Wednesday, 24 Feb 2010
A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story - Film and Discussion with Producer Lane Wyrick
7:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - A Friend Indeed: The Bill Sackter Story explores the way we as a society have treated people with disabilities, from institutional abandonment to community embrace. Bill Sackter's life story was made famous by the made-for-TV movie Bill (1981) starring Mickey Rooney as Bill, and Dennis Quaid as the young filmmaker Barry Morrow who had befriended Bill in 1972 and began filming their relationship and adventures. At Morrow's prompting, documentary filmmaker Lane Wyrick took on the project of using his original video footage as well as photographs, film and interviews to produce the documentary A Friend Indeed. Wyrick, who is a graduate of the University of Iowa Film School, worked for four years in Los Angeles before returning to Iowa City to pursue his filmmaking career and start his own production company, Xap Interactive. A discussion with producer Lane Wyrick will follow a screening of the 90-minute documentary film. Part of Disabilities Awareness Week.
Green Economy Campus: Change Management for Sustainability - Leith Sharp
8:00 AM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Leith Sharp is the founding director of Harvard University's Green Campus Initiative, recognized as the largest green campus organization in the world and a global leader in campus sustainability. Sharp has eighteen years of experience greening universities. She began her career as the first paid environment officer of the University of New South Wales, where she earned her undergraduate degree in environmental engineering. Sharpe has an ongoing affiliation as a visiting scholar with Harvard School of Public Health and teaches courses in organizational change management for sustainability and green building design through Harvard's Extension School. Part the 2010 Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability.
For a full schedule of events and registration go to: www.livegreen.iastate.edu/symposium/schedule.html
Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability
All Day – Great Hall, Memorial Union - The second annual Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability offers students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to learn about Iowa State's sustainability accomplishments, initiatives, and activities of the past year; hear from those who have taken an active role in ISU's Live Green Initiative; and gain awareness from internationally recognized speakers. Leith Sharp, founding director of Harvard University's Green Campus Initiative, will deliver the keynote address.
For a full schedule of events and registration go to: www.livegreen.iastate.edu/symposium/schedule.html
Tuesday, 23 Feb 2010
Innovation and Ethics - Yvon Chouinard
8:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - Yvon Chouinard is founder and owner of Patagonia, a maker of environmentally conscious, high-performance outdoor apparel. A leader in corporate social responsibility, Chouinard capitalized on his company's success in the late 1980s to tackle the looming environmental crisis. He instituted the Patagonia Earth Tax, which pledges 1 percent of company sales to the preservation and restoration of the natural environment. And in 2001 he helped start One Percent For The Planet, an alliance of businesses that contribute at least 1 percent of their net annual sales to approved environmental organizations. Chouinard, who began in business by designing, manufacturing, and distributing rock climbing equipment, is also the author of Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman. Part of the National Affairs Series and the Iowa State University Symposium on Sustainability.
A reception and poster session will precede the lecture at 7:00 p.m. in the Oak Room. Also featured will be sculptures created from trash removed from Iowa's rivers. The Rivers exhibit is an annual collaboration between Ogden artist David Williamson and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources Project AWARE, a weeklong volunteer river cleanup.
Monday, 22 Feb 2010
Improving the Lives of Smallholder Farmers in Africa and South Asia: The Role of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - David Bergvinson
8:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - David Bergvinson is a Senior Program Officer in Agricultural Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Before joining the foundation, Bergvinson spent over a decade at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center in Mexico, where he led a program to develop insect-resistant maize varieties for Africa and Asia. He also managed CIMMYT's drought breeding network in Southeast Asia that resulted in the development of several stress-tolerant lines that have since been released through national programs. Bergvinson currently manages seven crop improvement grants within the Science & Technology division of the foundation.