Countdown to Conference: Speaker Highlight
The 2012 NABT Professional Development Conference is just a few weeks away, and we’re excited to feature some great speakers. Don’t miss NABT is Dallas. Register today at NABT registration.
General Sessions: Thursday, November 1st, 8:45 am – 9:45 am, Landmark Ballroom A-B Ellen Prager, Ph.D. President, Earth2Ocean, Inc., Miami, FL Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans’ Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter Dr. Prager will present entertaining and informative stories and images from her newest book on marine biodiversity. She will highlight the amazing strategies organisms use to survive and reproduce in the sea and how they are connected to society in everything from our food supply to the economy, jobs, and in biomedical research and biotechnology. From the tiny voracious arrow worms whose predatory ways may lead to death by overeating to the hagfish that ties itself into a knot to keep from suffocating in its own slime, Prager will provide an engaging ocean tell-all and a realistic look at why we all should care about the loss of species in the sea. She will also discuss the threats to marine biodiversity and what’s needed to better protect ocean life.
Friday, November 2nd, 8:45 am – 9:45 am, Landmark Ballroom A-B Shirley Malcom, Ph.D. Head, Education and Human Resources, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Re-thinking Biology Education from the Grassroots Up What should our goals be for biology education in the 21st century? This question has been the subject of discussion and debate across a number of reform/transformation initiatives, including Vision and Change (V&C) and the AP Biology Course. Dr. Malcom will highlight how the need to transform biology education is not just a recently recognized challenge. Well over 20 years ago, the late science educator, Dr. Mary Budd Rowe estimated that there were more new terms introduced in a typical high school biology text than in the first two years of a foreign language. Assessment around biology centered on small objectives that Rowe referred to as the “unassembling of the most fantastic feature of science—its stories, its patterns,” leading to what she described as “a denudement of everything that’s rich and fun and beautiful.” Those courses that are focused on coverage of topics are often used by those who would become teachers to satisfy science requirements. This has led to a vicious cycle of “teach as we are taught.” In moving toward a goal of having “the biology we teach reflect the biology we do,” Dr. Malcom will discuss the concepts to be taught, the skills and competencies to be emphasized, and the efforts that are needed to move biology education into the 21st century.
- Presented as part of the NABT Faculty Professional Development Summit: Moving from Vision to Change: 21st Century Transformation of the Undergraduate Biology Classroom.
Saturday, November 3rd, 8:45 am – 9:45 am, Landmark Ballroom A-B William F. McComas, Ph.D. Parks Family Professor of Science Education University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR Darwin’s Mad Dream: What Error and Invention Can Tell Us about How Science Works Darwin’s “Mad Dream” as he put it refers to pangenesis, an idea he proposed to describe the rules of inheritance and explain the source of new variation. These conceptions were vital to evolution by natural selection. Beyond historians of biology, few others are familiar with pangenesis because it was ultimately shown to be inaccurate and represents one of Darwin’s few errors. As Dr. McComas shows us, the case of pangenesis is not interesting just because it was incorrect, but because the account of its development provides an interesting case study into how science works and offers a rare glimpse into Darwin’s thinking and personality. Pangenesis can illustrate important “nature of science” ideas such as the need for empirical evidence, the use of inductive reasoning, the creative component of science, the role of bias and subjectivity, social and personal influences on science, and the notion that scientific knowledge is tentative but durable, and ultimately self correcting.
- NABT is proud to feature Dr. William McComas as the Tenth Annual Christine Chantry Memorial Speaker.
Invited Speaker Sessions: Thursday, November 1st, 11:30 am –12:45 pm, Reunion A-B Duane L. Pierson, Ph.D. Director of Microbiology at NASA – Johnson Space Center, Houston TX Human Spaceflight: Risks and Benefits Human spaceflight has the ability to inspire the human spirit as few endeavors can. However, it is not without risks. Dr. Duane Pierson serves as NASA’s Chief Microbiologist and is expert on the many microbiological aspects of space flight. He will explain how risks associated with microbiology in closed environments are identified and strategies for mitigation are developed. Space is a hostile environment that causes various adverse effects on human physiology including changes in: musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, immunity, and others. In addition to changes to the humans, Dr. Pierson will discuss changes to the microorganisms that accompany all human spaceflight missions. At the cellular level, there are changes to mammalian cells as well as the human microbiota. Gene expression is altered. Some bacteria become much more virulent in the space environment issuing new challenges of the infectious disease risks.
- Presented as part of the ASM Symposium: Microbes: Evolution and Life at the Extremes.
Friday, November 2nd, 10:00 am –11:15 am, Reunion A-B Robert Dennison Retired Biology Teacher A Guest Appearance by Charles Darwin Come see and hear Charles Darwin, the greatest biologist in history. Mr. Darwin will appear, in person, to discuss his life and works, with special emphasis on the voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle and the development of the ideas presented in The Origin of Species. Time will be allowed for questions and photographs. Bring a camera and have someone take your picture with Charles Darwin.
- Sponsored by the Texas Association of Biology Teachers (TABT).
Friday, November 2nd, 2:00 pm –3:15 pm, Reunion A-B Stephen Secor, Ph.D. Associate Professor, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL The Python: Mystery of Nature, Model of Science Pythons possess an unprecedented capacity to alter their physiological performance during the digestion of a meal. Upon the completion of digestion, pythons shut down their digestive tracts to conserve energy during bouts of fasting. Feeding triggers the rapid growth of tissues and organs, dramatic increases in metabolic rate and blood flow, and the initiation of digestive processes. During Dr. Secor’s presentation, he will describe the adaptive interplay between snake feeding habits and digestive physiology, why snakes vary in their responses to feeding and fasting, and the existence of this relationship among reptiles and amphibians. He will also highlight the python’s integrated regulation of gastric, pancreatic, and intestinal functions, and the mechanisms used to regulate intestinal performance. Lastly, Dr. Secor will discuss the Burmese python as a model to examine mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy and microvillus lengthening, to explore the dynamics of gut bacteria, and to discover a novel process that removes ingested calcium.
- Sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS)
Saturday, November 3nd, 10:00 am –11:15 am, Reunion A-B Sam Rhine Genetic Educator and Speaker Stem Cells and the Future of Medicine Mr. Rhine will present an overview of the basic biology of current stem cell technologies including their connections with both reproductive and therapeutic cloning. Special attention will focus on the distinctions among ESCs (embryonic stem cells) derived from human embryos; ASCs (adult stem cells) derived from adult human bone marrow, umbilical cord, placenta, adipose and/or amniocentesis; and iPSCs (induced pluripotent stem cells) derived from human somatic cells such as skin or blood in vitro. The normal embryonic origin of these cells and their in vitro derivations will be discussed with special emphasis on their epigenetic determinants. Potential medical applications of these cells include: cell replacement therapy, human disease modeling, therapeutic drug screening and production of cells for regenerative medicine will also be discussed. There will be special emphasis on MSCs (mesenchymal stem cells), adult stem cells, which have unique therapeutic properties. He will conclude with a look at ‘Cancer Stem Cells’ and their role in tumor formation and therapy.
BELS Benefit Dinner: Friday, November 2nd, 7:00 pm –10:15 pm, Reunion A-B, Cost $95 Michael Pollan John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism, University of California Berkley, Berkley, CA NABT is proud to feature best-selling author and journalist Michael Pollan during a special dinner event benefiting the NABT Biology Educator Leadership Scholarship (BELS). For the past twenty-five years, Michael Pollan has been writing award winning books and articles about the places where nature and culture intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in the built environment. Mr. Pollan is the author of titles including The Botany of Desire, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and Food Rules. He will be awarded the 2012 NABT Distinguished Service Award. Join us as Pollan talks about his books, your dinner, and whatever else comes to mind at this event moderated by NABT’s own Dr. Elizabeth Cowles. Questions from the audience are encouraged, and bring your books for a private signing to follow.
- The Biology Educator Leadership Scholarship (BELS) is made possible through the generous support of PASCO scientific and NABT member donation. The dinner speaker is made possible with consideration from BSCS.