The Academic Minute for 2015.7.13 – 7.17

Catch up with The Academic Minute from 7.13- 7.17

Monday, July 13
Scott McGraw – The Ohio State University
Bitter Side of Cocoa
W. Scott McGraw is a professor in the Department of Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University. There, he is an evolutionary anatomist and primate behavioralist with primary research interests in Africa. He earned his PhD at SUNY Stony Brook in 1996.

Tuesday, July 14
Jay Pasachoff – Williams College
New Horizons Fly-By of Pluto
Dr. Jay Pasachoff is Director of Hopkins Observatory, Chair of the Astronomy Department, and Field Memorial Professor of Astronomy at Williams. He earned his Ph.D. at Harvard and was one of the first contributors to The Academic Minute back in 2010, and recently provided a fascinating account of the total solar eclipse.

Wednesday, July 15
Upmanu Lall – Columbia University
Futuristic Irrigation
Upmanu Lall is director of the Columbia Water Center ,and the Alan and Carol Silberstein Professor of Engineering at Columbia University. He has broad interests in hydrology, climate dynamics, water resource systems analysis, risk management and sustainability. He is motivated by challenging questions at the intersection of these fields, especially where they have relevance to societal outcomes or to the advancement of science towards innovative application. He has been engaged in high-level public and scientific discussion through the media, the World Economic Forum, and with governments, foundations, development banks, and corporations. He has served on several national and international panels. He was one of the originators of the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, and is currently the President-Elect of the Natural Hazards Focus Group of the American Geophysical Union.

Thursday, July 16
Lior Shamir – Lawrence Technological University
Artificial Creativity
Lior Shamir is an associate professor of computer science at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan. He received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from Tel Aviv University, and his Ph.D in computational science from Michigan Technological University. He was a research fellow at the National Institute of Aging.

Friday, July 17
Martin Krieger – University of Southern California
Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurs
Martin H. Krieger is professor of planning at the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California. He is trained as a physicist, and has taught in urban planning and policy at Berkeley, Minnesota, MIT, Michigan, and USC. His nine books are about mathematical modeling, environmental policy, and about theories of planning and design. He has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences and at the National Humanities Center. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.