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BioForum – Genomics: Insights and Impacts
Saturday, October, 3, 2009
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
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We are in the midst of a renaissance in the biological sciences, which is spurring the growth of brand new fields like functional and comparative genomics. These new fields are revealing novel insights into evolutionary biology, medicine, developmental biology and many other areas, transforming the way scientists look at life. Join us to learn about genomics, hear about compelling current research, and explore the future of this rapidly advancing field.
Moderator: Brian Simison, Curator and Director, Center for Comparative Genomics
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Speakers
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Dr. Jeffrey Boore, Chief Executive Officer, Genome Project Solutions, Inc.
Associate Adjunct Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Jeffrey Boore began his comparative genomics work over two decades ago by sequencing, interpreting, and comparing the mitochondrial genomes of many animal groups, and has continued by working on both plastid and whole nuclear genomes. He has had academic appointments at the University of Michigan and UC Berkeley, was Head of Evolutionary Genomics at the DOE Joint Genome Institute, and is CEO of Genome Project Solutions, Inc. He has led several whole genome sequencing projects, including those of the crustacean Daphnia pulex, the moss Physcomitrella patens, and the oomycete agent of Sudden Oak Death Syndrome, Phytophthora sojae. His contributions have included the use of gene rearrangements for uncovering ancient evolutionary relationships, the demonstration that the vertebrate genome arose by two rounds of whole genome duplication, and the creation of software for doing whole genome evolutionary analysis.
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Dr. Katherine Pollard
Associate Investigator, Gladstone Institute, Associate Professor, Division of Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco
Katherine received her Ph.D. and M.A. from UC Berkeley Division of Biostatistics under the supervision of Mark van der Laan. Her research at Berkeley included developing computationally intensive statistical methods for analysis of microarray data with applications in cancer biology. After graduating, she did a postdoc at UC Berkeley with Sandrine Dudoit. She developed Bioconductor open source software packages for clustering and multiple hypothesis testing. In 2003, she began a comparative genomics NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in the labs of David Haussler and Todd Lowe in the Center for Biomolecular Science & Engineering at UC Santa Cruz. She was part of the Chimpanzee Sequencing and Analysis Consortium that published the sequence of the Chimp Genome, and she used this sequence to identify the fastest evolving regions in the human genome. In 2005, she joined the faculty at the UC Davis Genome Center and Department of Statistics. She moved to UCSF in Fall 2008.
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Dr. Jonathan Eisen
Professor, UC Davis Genome Center, Section of Evolution and Ecology,College of Biological Sciences, Dept. of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine
Jonathan A. Eisen is an evolutionary biologist and a Professor at the University of California,
Davis, as well as the lead of the Phylogenomics Program at JGI Doe Joint Genome Institute.
His research focuses on the mechanisms underlying the origin of novelty (how new
processes and functions originate). Most of his work involves the sequencing of the genomes
of microorganisms and the development and use of "phylogenomic" methods to analyze the
genome data.
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Dr. Nadav Ahituv
Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and Institute for Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco
Nadav Ahituv is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences and the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco. He received his PhD in human genetics from Tel-Aviv University working on hereditary hearing loss. He then did his postdoc, specializing in human genomics, in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the DOE Joint Genome Institute. His current work is focused on discovering gene regulatory elements in the human genome and linking mutations within them to human disease.
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RESERVATION INFORMATION
Be sure to reserve your seat at BioForum. Space is limited and fills up quickly.
Call 1-800-794-7576 to reserve your seat, or purchase tickets online, for the following events:
Genomics: Insights and Impacts
Saturday, October, 3, 2009
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Adapting to Climate Change: Challenges and Prospects
Saturday, April 17, 2010
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
25TH ANNIVERSARY
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of BioForum, individual tickets are available for only $25 this year.
Your ticket includes both morning coffee and a fresh, organic lunch from the Academy café.
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Background
BioForum is a twice-annual seminar series for middle school and high school science teachers. Each symposium is held at the California Academy of Sciences and features presentations on current science and sustainability topics by renowned researchers. The presentations are followed by a panel discussion and question-and-answer session with the speakers and the moderator. BioForums are excellent professional development opportunities for science educators, providing up-to-date information on research that will enrich their teaching.
Seminar Themes
Each BioForum features a topic related to life and its sustainability. A diversity of research fields and sustainability isssues have been covered over the years. During the past three years, BioForum has addressed the following topics:
- Conservation Biology: The Principles and Practice of Conserving Life's Diversity
- Energy Prospects in a Changing World
- Tropical Rainforests: Challenges and New Hopes
- Coral Reefs: How They Survive. Will They Survive?
- Scientific Explorations of the Fungal Realm
- Water Problems of California and the World
Audience
Since 1983, BioForum has served over 5,000 teachers from around the Bay Area. BioForum is presented in a lecture format and is appropriate for teachers with science degrees. Many teachers are regular attendees who return year after year. Some have been participating continuously for over 20 years! The 25th anniversary of BioForum will be celebrated in the fall of 2009.
During the Academy's transition time at the Howard Street location, we were fortunate to collaborate with Oakland Museum of California and University of California Museum of Paleontology at Berkeley and present BioForum in these off-site locations. With the Academy's return to Golden Gate Park, BioForum is now held on-site in our own Forum space.
Program Goals
- Connecting teachers and scientists
- Keeping teachers informed about current research in sustainability and natural history
- Maximizing the potential of the web to bring additional resources to the classroom
Tickets and Logistics
Each event lasts approximately 6 hours, and includes both morning coffee and a fresh, organic lunch from the Academy cafe. To celebrate the 25th anniversay of BioForum, tickets are sold at a discounted price of $25 for the 2009-2010 season. Tickets should be purchased in advance to ensure a space, as this event often sells out. Call 1-800-794-7576 to reserve your seat.
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Video from Past Events
If you missed one of our past BioForums or if you want to share the experience with students or colleagues, spend some time exploring our media archive. On this web page you will find videos of the presentations given at our most recent BioForums and audio recordings from previous years.
Conservation Biology: The Principles and Practice of Conserving Life's Diversity
Saturday, April 4, 2009, California Academy of Sciences
Summary:
How can science best inform efforts to prevent the loss of biological diversity? From local land trusts to federal government agencies, humans are increasingly responsible for managing what remains of natural landscapes. The field of Conservation Biology applies evolutionary and ecological knowledge of species and ecosystems to understand how human actions both positively and negatively affect the natural world. Basic principles of conservation science and examples of their real world applications are presented.
Moderator: Dr. Healy Hamilton, Director of the Center for Biodiversity Research, California Academy of Sciences
Introduction to the Principles of Conservation Biology
Dr. Claire Kremen, Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley
Save an Ant, Save a Planet: The Race to Discover Madagascar's Biodiversity
Dr. Brian Fisher, Chairman and Curator, Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences
Saving the Redwoods: From Principle to Practice
Ruskin Hartley, Executive Director, Save the Redwoods League
Conservation Biology in your Big Backyard
Stuart B. Weiss, Chief Scientist, CEO, Creekside Center for Earth Observation
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Articles and Slideshow Presentations
Looking for more in-depth information on topics you heard about at BioForum? Check out these selected publications from the scientists who spoke at the Conservation Biology BioForum.
BioForum – Conservation Biology (April 2009)
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Dr. Healy Hamilton, Moderator
Director of the Center for Biodiversity Research, California Academy of Sciences
Conservation Biology: The Principles and Practice of Conserving Life’s Diversity [PPT 2.5MB] 
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Dr. Claire Kremen
Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, University of California, Berkeley
Principles of Conservation Biology: an Overview [PPT 5.7MB]
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Dr. Brian Fisher
Chairman and Curator, Department of Entomology, California Academy of Sciences
Save an Ant, Save a Planet: The Race to Discover Madagascar’s Biodiversity [PPT 61.4MB]
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Ruskin Hartley
Executive Director, Save the Redwoods League
Saving the Redwoods: From Principle to Practice [PPT 37.5MB]
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Stuart B. Weiss
Chief Scientist, CEO, Creekside Center for Earth Observation
Conservation Biology in your Big Backyard [PPT 30.3MB]
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We hope that your experience at BioForum left you feeling well-informed about this topic and ready to share what you have learned with your students. Here are lessons developed by Academy educators to help get you started on incorporating the subject into your classroom.
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Conservation Biology
Conservation Island
How do you teach the complexity involved in constructing and implementing a conservation plan? Introduce Conservation Island to your students using an imaginary location that simulates common human impacts and other issues of island ecosystems. Students will collect data and analyze information to devise the best conservation solution.
View lesson plan
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Energy in a Changing World
Energy – A Day in My Life
How much energy do we really use in our daily lives? Ask students to do their own personal audit to calculate their energy use. They will be surprised about the level of their dependence on fossil fuels and other energy sources.
View lesson plan
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