The Academic Minute for 2022.12.05-2022.12.09

The Academic Minute from 12.05 – 12.09

Monday, December 5th
Saif Mehkari – University of Richmond
Why Does Money Exist?
Saif Mehkari is a macroeconomist specializing in Fiscal Policy and Business Cycles. He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in Economics from The Ohio State University and his B.A. (with majors in Economics, Computer Science, and Mathematics) from the Ohio Wesleyan University. His current research focuses on understand the effects of fiscal policy on economic aggregates such as consumption, employment, educational expenditure, etc.

Tuesday, December 6th
Rebecca Price – University of Pittsburgh
Ketamine and Depression
Rebecca B. Price, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed undergraduate studies in cognitive science at Stanford University and a PhD in Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University. She has been the recipient of an NIMH National Research Service Award (Predoctoral F31), Postdoctoral Research Scholarship (T32), Career Development Award (K23), and an NIMH Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists (NIMH BRAINS) R01. She received the Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Award from the American Psychological Assocation/Psi Chi, the Smadar Levin Award from the Society for Research in Psychopathology, the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research from Rutgers University, the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award from the Anxiety & Depression Association of America, and was named a “Rising Star” by the Association for Psychological Science.

Wednesday, December 7th
Laura Starks – University of Texas at Austin
The Financial Impact of Poor Corporate Climate Performance
Laura T. Starks, Ph.D., is the George Kozmetsky Centennial Distinguished University Chair at the McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on environmental, social and governance investing. Her current research focuses on ESG issues, including climate finance and board diversity, as well as molecular genetics and financial decisions.

Thursday, December 8th
Jase Bernhardt – Hofstra University
Communicating Rip Tide Risk in English and Spanish
Jase Bernhardt has had a lifelong passion for studying weather and climate, dating to his childhood in Upstate New York. At Hofstra, Dr. Bernhardt spearheaded the installation of three campus weather stations, which provide real-time data and practical experience for his meteorology students.

His research also includes using virtual reality to improve storm warnings and preparation.

In 2022 Dr. Bernhardt launched a project to build bilingual communication warning tools about rip currents and became one of eight coastal research programs to receive $1.3 million from New York Sea Grant (NYSG).

Rip currents pose a hazard to visitors to beaches in Long Island and across the nation. Groups such as the National Weather Service and local municipalities provide warnings and education materials about rip currents to the public. According to Dr. Bernhardt, signage and education often do not take into account the region’s large Spanish-speaking population. “There is a dearth of safety materials in languages other than English,” he said, “and that can lead to fatalities.”

Dr. Bernhardt received a B.S. in atmospheric science from Cornell University, where he researched east coast winter storms. He attended graduate school at Penn State, working in the Department of Geography, with a focus on climatology. He expanded his research interests to include human impacts on climate, historical climatology, and the usage of GIS. While at Penn State, Jase served as a broadcast meteorologist on the Weather World television program, broadcast throughout the state of Pennsylvania.

Friday, December 9th
Robert Nordon – University of New South Wales
Making Blood Stem Cells on a Microchip
I am an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney. I have a medical/engineer background, graduating in Medicine in 1986 (MB BS, BMedSci, UNSW), and practicing medicine for 8 years before receiving a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. I work closely with industry in the fields of cell and gene therapy translation, advanced manufacturing and medical technologies. Since 2016 I have been awarded over $5M in research grant funding in the fields of point-of-care diagnostics, cell and gene therapy manufacture and stem cell science.