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UFOs and UAPs: The Latest Tech to Detect What’s in Our Skies
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - UFOs and UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) have captured the world’s imagination for decades. Renewed attention came in 2021 when the U.S. Intelligence community released its first public UFO report. Despite stating that there is no credible evidence for alien-originating craft, the U.S. government admitted there are objects unknown to us in the atmosphere—foreign government spy balloons, unregistered drones, and other earth-based tech that traditional radar has trouble finding and identifying. NASA and the Department of Defense have created units dedicated to new technologies for detecting what’s in our skies.Travis S. Taylor has doctorates in Optical Science and Engineering and in Aerospace Systems Engineering; and master’s degrees in Physics and Aerospace Engineering—all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He also has a master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University (Alabama). Dr. Taylor worked in various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for more than 20 years. His projects included advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, and next-generation space launch concepts. Dr. Taylor was the chief scientist on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force 2020-2021 (now the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in the Defense Department) and now works for Radiance Technologies. Dr. Taylor has written 19 science fiction novels, two textbooks, and more than a dozen technical papers. Dr. Taylor has appeared and starred in several television programs including the History Channel’s The Universe and Life After People, National Geographic Channel’s hit shows Rocket City Rednecks and When Aliens Attack, The Weather Channel’s 3 Scientists Walk Into a Bar, and History Channel's Ancient Aliens, UneXplained, and hit series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.  This lecture will be recorded and ready to view on the Available Recordings page approximately 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the event.

UFOs and UAPs: The Latest Tech to Detect What’s in Our Skies
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - UFOs and UAPs (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) have captured the world’s imagination for decades. Renewed attention came in 2021 when the U.S. Intelligence community released its first public UFO report. Despite stating that there is no credible evidence for alien-originating craft, the U.S. government admitted there are objects unknown to us in the atmosphere—foreign government spy balloons, unregistered drones, and other earth-based tech that traditional radar has trouble finding and identifying. NASA and the Department of Defense have created units dedicated to new technologies for detecting what’s in our skies.Travis S. Taylor has doctorates in Optical Science and Engineering and in Aerospace Systems Engineering; and master’s degrees in Physics and Aerospace Engineering—all from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. He also has a master’s degree in Astronomy from the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Auburn University (Alabama). Dr. Taylor worked in various programs for the Department of Defense and NASA for more than 20 years. His projects included advanced propulsion concepts, very large space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, and next-generation space launch concepts.Dr. Taylor was the chief scientist on the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force 2020-2021 (now the All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office in the Defense Department) and now works for Radiance Technologies.Dr. Taylor has written 19 science fiction novels, two textbooks, and more than a dozen technical papers. Dr. Taylor has appeared and starred in several television programs including the History Channel’s The Universe and Life After People, National Geographic Channel’s hit shows Rocket City Rednecks and When Aliens Attack, The Weather Channel’s 3 Scientists Walk Into a Bar, and History Channel's Ancient Aliens, UneXplained, and hit series The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch.This lecture will be recorded and ready to view on the Available Recordings page approximately 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the event.

9th Annual Three-Minute Thesis Final Competition
6:00 PM – South Ballroom, Memorial Union - The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) celebrates research being conducted by current ISU graduate students. Developed by the University of Queensland, the competition is an opportunity for students to describe their research, in three minutes, in a relatable and relevant way to a non-specialist audience. The cosponsors of this event have provided access to a live stream via the Graduate College's Facebook page.

Bridging Borders: Career Journeys at Bayer, From Germany to the USA
3:30 PM – 1226 Howe Hall - Dr. Anita Kuepper and Dr. Lucas McKinnon will share their career experiences at Bayer Global. This lecture will provide info about international opportunities in the crop sciences and more generally about German-American industry partnerships.Kuepper is a soybean development pipeline lead and joined Bayer in Research and Development in Frankfurt, Germany; she is now based in St. Louis. McKinnon is a protein scientist and started his Bayer career in St. Louis and recently completed a short-term assignment in Monheim, Germany.This lecture will be recorded but not posted on the Lectures website. Please email lectures@iastate.edu with "Bayer Career Lecture" in the subject line to request a link to the recording. 

Extractive Industry, Historic Disinvestment, and the Future of Rural Communities
7:30 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - George M. Beal Distinguished Lectureship in Rural SociologyPresenting her book, Pushed Out, this presentation focuses on what happens to rural communities when their traditional economic base collapses and new money comes in. This presentation offers Dover, Idaho, as a case study of transformation from a “thriving timber mill town” to an “economically depressed small town” to a “trendy second-home location” and discusses how Dover embodies the story and challenges of many other rural communities. The presentation explores the structural forces driving rural gentrification and examines how social and environmental inequality is written onto these landscapes. Based on in-depth interviews and archival data, the presentation uses an ethnographic lens to put this story in a long view of the region that takes account of geological history, settler colonialism, and histories of power and exploitation within capitalism. With a focus on the processes and mechanisms that make communities vulnerable to gentrification, the conversation that follows the presentation is an opportunity for communities to discuss the future of their homes with an eye toward the economic, social, and environmental sustainability necessary to building thriving rural places.Ryanne Pilgerim is the Regenerative Economies Manager for The Wilderness Society, working to define, coordinate, and implement strategies and policies to promote a Just Transition away from unsustainable, industrial-scale natural resource extraction through avenues that support thriving and vibrant communities. Ryanne was previously a professor of sociology at the University of Idaho, where she worked for over a decade and ran the USDA-funded “Women Farmers & Ranchers on the Rise in Idaho and the US” project. She is the author of numerous publications, most recently a book, “Pushed Out,” which examines the structural causes of inequity in rural communities. Ryanne has deep connections to the American West, especially Montana and North Idaho, where she grew up in a ranching family and spent many summers as a tour guide in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. Both her personal and professional life center efforts to envision rural communities where people can thrive.Ryanne holds a BA in Sociology from Pacific University and an MS and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Oregon. She spends her free time with her husband and their three children, working in the garden, cross-country skiing, picking berries and mushrooms, and caring for their many pets.The University Book Store will be onsite selling Pushed Out: Contested Development and Rural Gentrification in the US West at the event.This lecture ready to view on the Available Recordings page.

Climate, Communities, & Collaborative Action: Lessons from Shakespeare’s Theater
6:00 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - LAS Dean's LectureThe College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture Series highlights faculty excellence in learning, discovery, and engagement in Iowa State’s most academically diverse college. Each semester, the dean invites LAS faculty of distinction to present lectures from their areas of expertise on topics of interest to the general public, designed to stimulate high-quality, intellectual discussion among faculty, staff, students, and community members. Lectures are held during the fall and spring semesters during the academic year.Linda Shenk, professor in the Department of English, was selected by Dean Benjamin Withers to deliver the fall 2024 LAS Dean’s Distinguished Lecture. In her research, Shenk applies methods from her training in Shakespeare and performance to foster collaborative storytelling among researchers and community members that supports climate action and resilience. In particular, she works with women farmland owners in Iowa—some of the most potentially powerful but often unheard of land stewards in the Midwest. She co-leads multiple transdisciplinary research projects, including as a Lead PI for "Central Midwest Climate Opportunities & Learning: CO-Learn," a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/NOAA’s Climate Adaptation Partnerships Project.Shenk's lecture bridges the humanities and the sciences to explore how practices from Shakespeare and his theater support climate research that fosters collaborative, community action. These practices allow communities and researchers to tell stories with each other rather than simply to each other, thereby weaving together their diverse understandings and experiences into coherent, productive action. Shenk has conducted this research for nearly ten years, including currently as a Lead Principal Investigator of a $6M NOAA Climate Adaptations Project for the Central Midwest. She has worked with communities as diverse as middle-school youth in inner city Des Moines and women farmland owners throughout Iowa.Sprinkling her talk with stories of action, Shenk will include how she came to realize the storytelling connections between Shakespeare's "playbook" and climate work. She will share the way some of these techniques can enable all of us—from campus to community members—to be better collaborators who learn with and from each other. A live Q&A session with Shenk will follow the lecture.This lecture is ready to view on the Available Recordings page.

Journey to the Future: How an ISU Alum Leads Investment in Game-Changing Cancer Research
6:00 PM – 2630 Memorial Union -  The future of cancer research is today.  And this impacts all of us tomorrow. Iowa State University alum Shane Jacobson, CEO of the V Foundation for Cancer Research, will share insights on the work of the V Foundation for Cancer Research and how their distinctive approach to investing in game-changing research advances the field of cancer research. He will also share insights on his career journey, leadership principles, and lessons learned as a Cyclone and an accomplished nonprofit executive.Shane Jacobson is an accomplished senior executive with experience leading teams to achieve record-setting revenue, developing best practices culture, and delivering partnerships with ambitious impact goals. At the V Foundation, Shane and the staff focus on funding all-star scientists to accelerate victory over cancer and save lives. They masterfully link networks inside and outside of sports.  Shane has been part of revenue targets aimed at investing more than $3 billion in mission-critical opportunities. He has a positive history of CEO-Board relationships and utilizes his expertise in board best practices, including as an author.Shane has enhanced organizational culture by aligning core values, strategic planning, Objectives, and Key Results. The team has sustained significant growth in its market development through the signature events portfolio, business partnerships, and principal gift strategies. As a result, revenue and grant-making have each grown by more than 100%, respectively, annually breaking results across the board. He negotiated the largest partnership in V Foundation history: a $30M framework announced at the 2024 ESPYs. Shane has secured several of the largest gifts in the history of the V, each seven- and eight-figure gifts, while leading the cultivation and closure of game-changing business partnerships with ESPN and Disney; negotiated the V Foundation becoming the official charity of the National Hockey League; and delivered partnerships with Bristol Myers Squibb, Lexus, Constellation Brands, First Watch restaurants, the WWE, multiple NFL teams, Hearst Communications, Pepsi, Under Armour, and more. He believes in integrated and co-created win-win opportunities that attract forward-facing engagement, leverage multimedia assets, build powerful content for linear and streaming services, often using sports as an accelerator, and uncover a 2-and-3-way collaboration that enhances brand equity.This lecture will be recorded and available to view for two weeks on the Available Recordings page, approximately 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the event. 

Multifunctional Hierarchical Materials: Taking Inspiration from Nature
7:00 PM – Sun Room, Memorial Union - Biological systems in nature have evolved over millions of years to adapt to environmental and ecological challenges. Nature seeks to leverage available materials with an emphasis on hierarchy and local control of microstructure to meet functional needs using the least amount of material. As such, biological systems incorporate intelligent, unique, and complex structural design concepts. Where general principles have been identified across several organisms, these have not been translated into engineered materials with similar generality. As an alternative to traditional manufacturing techniques, additive manufacturing (AM) has accelerated the growth of complex parts that can greatly expand the possibilities for bioinspired applications. This talk will describe the use of bioinspiration in two cellular, hierarchical natural systems: combs made by honeybees and a deep-sea sponge known as the “Venus Flower Basket”.Dr. Nikhilesh Chawla is the inaugural Associate Dean for Engineering in Indianapolis and Ransburg Professor in the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University. He joined Purdue in 2020, after previously serving as Founding Director of the Center for 4D Materials Science and Fulton Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University. Prof. Chawla’s research is in the area Four-Dimensional (4D) materials science with a particular emphasis on the deformation behavior of advanced materials at bulk and small length scales.This lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.

CANCELLED - Technology as Storytelling: How Engineering, Science, and Faith Play
6:00 PM – Cardinal Room, Memorial Union - Please note: due to illness, this lecture has been cancelled.  When we do our science and technology, our stories interpret what we see and direct what we make. In turn, we tell our stories not only by word and voice, but also by what we theorize and create. What does it mean when Christian scholars suggest all academic disciplines --including engineering-- are in the storytelling business? Or that God's Spirit is behind all knowing, even our technical and scientific know-how?  How does a story-based revelation add depth and meaning in our learning and doing of science and technology? Dr. Ethan Brue's study takes a nuanced, holistic, and historical look at how technology taps into human dreams for a better world, even while grappling with the challenges arising from new technologies.  Ethan Brue received his PhD in mechanical engineering from Iowa State University. He currently is the Dean for Technology and Applied Sciences at Dordt University, where he's taught engineering since 2000. Dr Brue is a licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.), having previously worked as an engineeringconsultant and project manager in the energy generation sector as well as a research and development engineer in the agriculture industry. Dr Brue is a co-author of "A Christian Field Guide to Technology for Engineers and Designers" (Intervarsity Press), which looks at the ethics and norms involved in technology design, biblical themes and passages that relate to technology, and how engineering and technology tap into human dreams for a better world. His research interests include thermochemical reactor design, the history of science and technology, solar energy engineering, biomass gasification and combustion, and fluidization. This lecture will be recorded and ready to view on the Available Recordings page approximately 24-36 hours after the conclusion of the event.

2024 Norman Borlaug Lecture: So Our Children Can Eat: Conserving and Protecting Crop Biodiversity
5:30 PM – Great Hall, Memorial Union - 2024 Norman Borlaug LectureDr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler will receive the 2024 World Food Prize for their extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the world’s heritage of crop biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource to defend against threats to global food security. Over the last 50 years, their combined efforts as researchers, policy advisors, thought leaders and advocates have succeeded in engaging governments, scientists, farmers and civil society towards the conservation of over 6,000 species of crops and culturally important plants.A reception and student poster display will precede the lecture from 3:30-5:30 p.m. in the Sun Room/South Ballroom, Memorial Union. Posters will address world issues and are submitted by undergraduate and graduate students. This lecture was recorded and can be viewed on the Available Recordings page.