Speakers
2026 Science and Engineering Lecture Series
Speaker: Rachel Weiss, Rachel Weiss Clark, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry. Florida
State University
Title: Lights, Camera, Reaction! Using Time-Resolved Spectroscopy to Uncover the Mysteries of Light-Induced Chemical Reactions
Abstract: The pursuit of environmentally benign syntheses of industrially relevant products has inspired innovation: how can large scale organic synthesis be reimagined without toxic rare earth metals or dangerously high temperatures? One way this may be achieved is with photocatalysts, which drive chemical reactions from optically accessed electronic excited states. However, many unanswered questions regarding the fundamental chemical and physical processes underpinning photocatalytic chemical transformations remain. This presentation will focus on the fundamental questions surrounding one class of molecular photocatalysts called ligand-to-metal charge transfer photocatalysts, which have been shown to generate a variety of products. Following an introduction to photochemistry, this presentation will divulge how insights into light-induced molecular behavior can be obtained on the ultrafast (10-15 seconds) timescale and how these discoveries might enhance the viability of these photocatalysts in larger scale environmentally friendly syntheses. In addition, an overview of Rachel鈥檚 journey from 91香蕉视频 to graduate school will be presented, including the decision to pursue graduate school, the application process, and the choice of research group.
Bio: Rachel (JU 鈥�21) is a fifth-year graduate student at Florida State University in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry; she will graduate with her Ph.D. in the Summer of 2026. Her research interests can generally be defined by the question, 鈥淲hat happens to a molecule after it absorbs a photon of light?鈥� Her interest in light-induced chemistry originated with her undergraduate research with Dr. Bielmyer-Fraser studying photosynthetic algae and her NSF-REU project at Syracuse University synthesizing fluorescent nanocrystals. Rachel initially continued to work with nanomaterials in graduate school but later found herself drawn to more fundamental questions in photochemistry. She became the inaugural member of the Kudisch Lab in 2023, where she has pioneered the mechanistic understanding of ligand-to-metal charge transfer photocatalysis. She has presented her work at national and international conferences and has recently been published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Speaker: Alistair Dove, Jacksonville鈥檚 Museum of Science & History
Title: Investigating the Ocean's Biological Carbon Pump Using Argo Profiling Floats
Abstract: Whale sharks have a reputation as enigmatic, peaceful giants leading a solitary existence in the vast expanses of the open ocean, but many of our assumptions about this species have been proven wrong by recent research on their population biology, demographics, and movement ecology. Rather than detracting from their appeal, our findings paint an even more vivid picture of a charismatic and long-lived species that still holds tightly to many of its most important secrets, particularly those relating to reproduction. They also underscore just how difficult and intractable this species is to study, perhaps more than any other marine megafauna species. Whether it is their tough, thick skin, their relative rarity and unpredictability, or their extraordinary deep diving behaviour, whale sharks make us work hard for every data point. Nonetheless, technology is increasingly helping us gain insights into the lives of these beautiful animals and their interactions with many others species with which they share their open ocean habitat. These insights are important as we come to realise that the species is growing increasingly endangered.
Informed conservation plans will need to be multilateral and coordinated across many developing economies in the tropics, and will require conservation NGO鈥檚, regional fisheries management organisations, tourism industry stakeholders and sovereign governments to work together. But perhaps the greatest hope for whale sharks will come from a marked increase in awareness of this species and a transformation in cultural values attached to its plight, fueled by their increasing prominence in pop culture and their featuring in a handful of public aquariums large enough to effectively display them. This is promising because analysis shows that the population has the capacity to rebound to pre-industrial levels if threats such as ship strike and plastic pollution can be effectively mitigated.
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Speaker: Alejandra Alonso, Department of Biology and the Center for Developmental Neuroscience,
College of Staten Island
Title: Tau Beyond Microtubules: New Mechanisms of Neurodegeneration
Abstract: Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, are characterized by the presence of abnormal structures known as plaques and tangles. Plaques consist of beta-amyloid, while tangles are primarily composed of an abnormal form of tau. Tau is a vital protein associated with neuronal microtubules. Its primary functions include promoting microtubule assembly and stabilizing existing microtubules.
We made a groundbreaking discovery that pathological tau from Alzheimer's brains exhibits prion-like properties. It can transfer its toxic functions to normal tau molecules and these pathological changes are closely linked to tau phosphorylation.
Tau also exists in the nucleus, dendrites, and synapses. This diverse presence has led to the exploration of novel functions for tau, including roles in nuclear stability, cell signaling, transcriptional processing, and protein synthesis.
Tau's multifaceted nature and its involvement in various cellular processes make it a captivating subject of study. Understanding tau's unique biochemistry holds the potential to shed light on the complexities of devastating neurological diseases.
Bio: Professor Alejandra Alonso is a faculty member in the Department of Biology and the
Center for Developmental Neuroscience at the College of Staten Island, and a member
of the Neuroscience Program at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. She
received her PhD from the University of C贸rdoba in Argentina and completed her postdoctoral
training with Dr. Khalid Iqbal at the New York State Institute for Basic Research.
In 2007, Dr. Alonso established her own laboratory, where her research has remained
focused on understanding the role of tau in the mechanisms underlying Alzheimer鈥憈ype
neurodegeneration. Her lab has identified critical phosphorylation sites on tau, proposed
mechanisms for tau nuclear translocation, and uncovered pathways involved in tau uptake
by neurons. She has also developed a mouse model of neurodegeneration that expresses
low levels of pathological human tau and reproduces the disease.
Dr. Alonso has been a full Professor since 2012. She has served as Director of the
Center for Developmental Neuroscience, Chair of the Biology Department, and Chair
of the Neuroscience Program at The Graduate Center. She has authored more than 100
publications, which have been cited over 11,000 times, and has mentored PhD students,
numerous master鈥檚 students, and countless undergraduates. Her research has been supported
by institutional funding, the Alzheimer鈥檚 Association, private foundations, and the
National Institutes of Health.
Speaker: Sterling Herron, Plant Ecology Program, Archbold Biological Station
Title: The Rarest of the Rare: Fire Ecology, Long-Term Demography, and Conservation of the Endangered Plants of the Lake Wales Ridge (Central Florida)
Abstract: Fire is a fundamental regenerative ecological process in ecosystems globally. In particular the pyrogenic Florida scrub habitat has evolved to rely on fire as a critical source of habitat renewal, and many species are reliant upon fire for successful recruitment and population persistence. However, fire application is not one-size fits all, with many species having diverse fire requirements and adaptations. Decades of demography conducted by Archbold Biological Station has illuminated the unique fire needs of the endemic plants of the Lake Wales Ridge. This fundamental work has further informed the best land management practices for conservation of these often extremely rare species, including prescribed burning and plant reintroductions. This talk highlights several of the 鈥渞arest of the rare鈥� species of the Lake Wales Ridge, such as Florida ziziphus (Pseudoziziphus celata) and Florida perforate reindeer lichen (Cladonia perforata), and their evolutionary journey toward becoming some of the most distinctive species in Florida.
Bio: Sterling Herron is a Plant Ecology Research Assistant V at Archbold Biological Station, specializing in the botany and conservation of endemic plants of the Lake Wales Ridge in south-central Florida. Sterling earned his B.S. in biology and chemistry from Milligan University (Milligan, TN) and his Ph.D. in biology from Saint Louis University (St. Louis, MO). His graduate work covered exploration of herbaceous perennial crop wild relatives and their potential as new grain crops, in collaboration with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Land Institute. At Archbold, he has had the opportunity to work with over a dozen endemic and endangered plant species unique to the Lake Wales Ridge, leading long-term demographic studies on these species, as well as implementing reintroductions of endangered species. His philosophy is that it has never been more important to understand and preserve the endemic species of Florida, with the rising tide of the state鈥檚 population as well as impending threats from climate change.
Speaker: Guangyao Chen, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry and Physics, 91香蕉视频
Title: Fact, Fiction, and Fission 鈥� The Truth of Nolan鈥檚 Oppenheimer
Abstract: Christopher Nolan鈥檚 blockbuster film Oppenheimer captivated audiences worldwide, but how much of the Atomic Age origin story was movie magic versus historical reality? In this engaging popular science lecture, Dr. Guangyao Chen peels back the cinematic layers of the Manhattan Project to explore the science, the drama, and the world-changing legacy of the first atomic bomb.
This talk will cover the high-stakes history of 1939, when a letter from Albert Einstein warned President Roosevelt that Nazi Germany might be building a new type of bomb. It offers a clear, non-technical look at how atoms are split and the chain reactions that turned a laboratory discovery into an unprecedented source of power. The lecture also explores the story of how thousands of people lived and worked in hidden locations like Los Alamos and Oak Ridge to solve the impossible engineering challenges of the 1940s. Finally, Dr. Chen will provide a comparison of the film鈥檚 biggest moments against the true historical record and discuss how modern nuclear technology, from scalable fission to fusion, remains a critical solution for our energy future.
Bio: Dr. Guangyao Chen is an Associate Professor of Physics and Quantum Information in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at 91香蕉视频. As a theoretical nuclear physicist, Dr. Chen explores the fundamental building blocks of our universe through advanced mathematical modeling and quantum computing. His work seeks to bridge the gap between complex atomic theory and the practical technologies that shape our modern world.
Speaker: Gregory Brennan, College of Veterinary Medicine at Orange Park
Title: Cross-species Adaptation: Molecular Footholds and Viral Transcriptional Programs in Poxviruses
Abstract: Cross-species spillover events from animals to humans are responsible for many of
the major pandemics in human history, including Covid-19, avian influenza, and HIV.
Yet we still know relatively little about the evolutionary steps that allow a virus
to cross species barriers and establish efficient replication in a new host. In my
lab, we model this process using vaccinia virus and the antiviral protein PKR as a
central barrier to infection.
Using experimental evolution in weakly permissive African green monkey (AGM) cells,
we demonstrated that rapid gene amplification of a weak viral antagonist occurred
early and was sufficient to fully rescue virus replication. In otherwise completely
non-permissive human cells, this same amplification enabled the virus to evade multiple
barriers to replication and accumulate distinct, species-specific mutations, many
in subunits of the viral RNA polymerase. Taken together, these data suggest that gene
duplication can act as a 鈥渕olecular foothold鈥� for host jumps.
In the second part of the talk, I will present new time-resolved transcriptomic and
proteomic comparisons between vaccinia infections in AGM and human cells. We identified
differences in the timing and magnitude of viral gene expression, as well as host
proteins that are differentially regulated in AGM and human cells. Together, these
results suggest that cross-species adaptation reflects not only overcoming host restriction
factors like PKR, but also a central and previously unrecognized role for viral transcription
in adaptation to new species.
Bio: Greg Brennan is Associate Dean of Research and Basic Sciences at the new Lincoln Memorial University鈥揅ollege of Veterinary Medicine at Orange Park in Jacksonville, Florida. His work integrates immunology, infectious disease biology, and functional genomics and proteomics to investigate the role of host restriction factors and viral evolution in zoonotic emergence. Using experimental evolution, his laboratory has shown that gene amplification can act as a 鈥渕olecular foothold,鈥� enabling viruses to productively infect new hosts. Before joining LMU, he held research positions at institutions including the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of California, Davis. As Associate Dean, Dr. Brennan leads the development of LMU-OPCVM鈥檚 research enterprise, including student research training, research infrastructure, and interdisciplinary One Health initiatives.
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Speaker: Eray Erzi, School of Engineering & Technology, 91香蕉视频
Title: What Students Don鈥檛 See: How Microstructure and Processing Control Material Properties
Abstract: Engineering education and industrial quality systems often treat material properties as fixed values verified primarily through chemical composition and certification. In practice, however, the performance of metallic materials is determined long before mechanical testing or component fabrication鈥攄uring melt preparation, cleanliness control, and solidification. The way a metal is processed in the liquid state governs its inclusion population, porosity, and microstructure, which ultimately control its mechanical and service behavior.
This seminar examines how melt quality, reduced pressure testing, and solidification pathways influence internal cleanliness and microstructural integrity, and how these factors shape material properties beyond what chemistry alone can predict. The talk also connects these metallurgical principles to modern characterization approaches, including microscopy-based and magnetic resonance鈥揵ased techniques for evaluating internal defects and structural consistency.
The presentation highlights a critical gap in many industrial raw-material acceptance practices, where spectroscopic composition is often used as the primary criterion while processing history and internal quality remain unexamined. By linking melt processing, microstructure, and material properties, the seminar argues for a more physically grounded approach to material qualification and engineering education鈥攐ne that can identify risk at the very beginning of the manufacturing chain and prevent costly downstream failures.
Bio: Eray Erzi, PhD is a materials engineer, scientist, and educator with over twenty years of experience in metallurgy, materials characterization, and aluminum casting technologies. He is currently an Adjunct Professor of Mechanical Engineering at 91香蕉视频, where he teaches mechanics and materials-related courses and works to integrate materials science concepts into undergraduate engineering education. His technical expertise includes scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), metallography, and a wide range of mechanical and thermal testing methods.
Dr. Erzi鈥檚 research and industrial work focus on how melt processing, microstructure, and internal cleanliness govern material properties and performance, particularly in cast aluminum and structural alloys. He has led and contributed to numerous industrial R&D projects aimed at improving raw material quality, reducing defects, and preventing costly downstream failures in manufacturing. Through both teaching and research, he seeks to bridge textbook models, laboratory measurements, and real-world materials behavior, helping students and engineers understand not just how materials perform, but why they do.
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