Science Cafe

Spring 2024 Science Café

The Science Café -- where research scientists and community experts share exciting details of their research, programs, and discoveries -- is back!

This semester, six fascinating evenings are planned, in the Potsdam Civic Center Community Room at 2 Park Street. Each presentation will begin at 7:15 pm. 

See below for more details!

Baffin Bay to the Beaufort Sea by Kayak

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

Join Dr. Eileen Visser (Biology, SLU) as she describes the first single season human-powered traverse of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This elusive sea route was long impassable due to thick year-round ice but climate change has opened the channels between high arctic islands, allowing their four-person team to cross the 1,800 mile Northwest Passage in 103 days. Dr. Visser will address changing conditions in the arctic and their implications, while focusing on the adventure of tackling sea ice, wind, cold, and polar bears to experience this immersion in nature.

Play with your Food and Learn; Farm to Fork Mathematics

Wednesday, February 7, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

When you think about where your food comes from, how to prepare it, and why it tastes good, you probably don't think mathematics has much to do with it. Join mathematicians Drs. Joe Skufca and Katie Kavanagh (Clarkson University) in an exploration of agriculture processes, cooking techniques, and food pairings, and for a hands-on (and tasty!) insight to the ways in which mathematics plays a role in what we eat.

The Wild World of Aerosols

Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

Join us for an exciting evening with Dr. Andrea Ferro (Civil and Environmental Engineering, CU) as she discusses aerosols and their impact, including how the combustion aerosol released during the Canadian wildfires last summer influenced our air quality and visibility in Potsdam. Dr. Ferro will also discuss recent findings on respiratory aerosol emissions and the transport of bioaerosols, such as airborne viruses in indoor environments. Finally, she will provide a relatively simple method to assess your own exposure to aerosol sources using low-cost sensors.

Cyclic Dinucleotide Signaling in Mammalian Cells

Wednesday, March 13, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

Cyclic dinucleotides have emerged as widely used signaling molecules in bacteria. The cyclic dinucleotides expressed in microbial organisms can be recognized by STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) of the innate immune system, and they trigger the inflammatory response. In 2013, researchers discovered human cGAS which could bind to cytosolic DNA and selectively catalyze the synthesis of cyclic dinucleotides. This cGAS-STING pathway is important for the innate immune response, and targeting proteins along this pathway holds promise in the treatment of some specific diseases. Join us for an evening with Dr. Modi Wang (Chemistry & Biomolecular Science, CU) and to a discussion of her recent projects developing cGAS inhibitors and discovering new cyclic dinucleotides mediated pathways.

The Power of Waste

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

Municipal solid waste is full of energy that gets unleashed as powerful greenhouse gases, or captured and combusted as alternative renewable fuels. This has led to a growing interest in quantifying potential gas production, building gas to energy systems, studying fugitive emissions, developing incentives for gas capture and use, and diverting organics away from landfills. Join Dr. Lori Clark (Environmental Studies, SLU) for an exploration of the complexities of solid waste management in modern times, with an emphasis on landfill gas management. Lori has worked with the development of gas prediction models, landfill gas treatment systems, and local organics audits.

Simple Insights from Complex Networks

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.

Are any two people in the world separated by a chain of just six acquaintances? Do your friends have more friends than yourself, or is it just a false impression? … And why is it so difficult to arrest an epidemic by vaccinating only a fraction of the population? The network of social contacts is just one of the myriad complex networks present in our everyday life, including the Internet and the World Wide Web, networks of flight connections, the electricity power grid, neurons in the brain, and many more. Join Dr. Dani ben-Avraham (Physics, CU) for a tour of the young science of Complex Networks and some of the fascinating findings of the field.
 

The Science Café Intercollegiate Committee

Daniel ben Avraham, Clarkson University
Alex Schreiber, St. Lawrence University
Kristine Potter, SUNY Canton
Jessica Rogers, SUNY Potsdam
Beth McCarran, Clarkson University