Audio Podcast will be available shortly after lectures.
FALL LECTURE SERIES
Dr. Eliene Augenbraum - October 10th 2007, 1:30PM, Weiss 301
Dr. Eliene Augenbraun is President and CEO of ScienCentral, Inc., which produces science and technology news for radio, television, and the Internet. She also serves as President of The Center for Science and the Media, a non-profit company dedicated to enhancing communications between scientists and the public.
Bite Size Science Has Teeth
Mass media, like university tenure committees and other institutions, live by their own rules. You may not like the rules, but you won’t succeed without knowing them. I am a reformed scientist (PhD Biology, Columbia University) who regularly gets millions of Americans to watch science every day, albeit 82 seconds at a time. I even got Jay Adlesberg (WABC channel 7) to say the word MITOCHONDRIA on the air. Want to know how?
Melanie Wallace - - November 30, 1:00PM - Weiss 305
Melanie Wallace has been with WGBH-TV for over 20 years, serving in many different capacities from production assistant to film director. Since 1998, she has been the senior series producer for NOVA, the longest-running and most successful science documentary series on American television.
Behind the scenes at NOVA: The ART of the SCIENCE documentary
The talk will be a behind the scenes peek at what goes into creating NOVA, the longest running and most successful science series on television. Through a combination of anecdotes and video clilps Melanie Wallace will provide an insiders look at how? NOVA takes complex scientific subjects like evolution, string theory or the human genome project and turns them into compelling stories? that capture the attention of millions of loyal viewers every week.
SPRING LECTURE SERIES
Dr. Roald Hoffmann - Jan 21st 2008, 1:00PM - Weiss 301
Roald Hoffmann is an American theoretical chemist who won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He currently teaches at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. Roald runs “Entertaining Science” cabaret at the Cornelia Street Café in Greenwich Vilage.
IS THERE ANYTHING WE WILL NOT DO TO BUILD BRIDGES?
The answer for myself is implicit in the question – “no.” For a scientist, to speak to our friends in the arts and humanities, to the keepers of the spirit, is very important. I do that through my writing, but in this richly illustrated talk I would like to recount my more nontraditional attempts — in running a New York City cabaret that brings artists and scientists together. And in going, for science (!) to the Carnaval of carnivals in Rio de Janeiro.
Carl Djerassi - March 18, 1:30PM - Weiss 301
Chemist Carl Djerassi, the “father” of the birth control pill, discusses art, science, and his new play.
Reading with the participation of graduate student Adria Le Boeuf
Darcy Kelly - April 17, 2:00PM - Weiss 301
Darcy B. Kelley is Professor of Biological Sciences at Columbia University. She is the editor of the Journal of Neurobiology and a Codirector of Columbia’s doctoral subcommittee on neurobiology and behavior. Her laboratory group studies the biological origins of sexual differences and in particular the actions of the gonadal-steroid hormones androgen and estrogen. Kelley’s studies focus on the vocal behaviors of the South African clawed frog Xenopus laevis.
Geek or goddess: scientists on the silver screen
Speaking about science communication, Pr. Darcy Kelley’s research is all about that. She will speak about the neurobiology of vocal communication, how brain acquire sex, the underwater songs of African clawed frogs. Professor Kelley has also been involved with film, TVm books and movies. She will talk about what it is like to have your science articulated by Gina Gershon (”A Pretty Kettle of Fish”) and explain how to break the pyramid through Frontiers of Science, our new interdisciplinary course for all entering Columbia College students.
Ira Flatow - May 6, 1:30PM - Weiss 305
Veteran NPR science correspondent and award-winning TV journalist Ira Flatow is the host of Talk of The Nation: Science Friday. He anchors the show each Friday, bringing radio and Internet listeners worldwide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space, and the environment. Ira is also founder and president of TalkingScience, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit company dedicated to creating radio, TV, and Internet projects that make science “user friendly.”
Dorian Devins - TBA
Dorian Devins is a New York-based radio producer. For three years she produced and hosted The Green Room, a weekly science radio program which was carried both on the radio and the Web. She currently hosts The Speakeasy, a weekly arts and cultural interview program. She has also conducted an ongoing series of interviews for the National Academy of Sciences’ Web site, does freelance writing, and works as an acquisitions editor of technical physics books. She was founder and executive director of Science Matters, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the public understanding of science. Currently, she is also one of the organizers of the “Secret Science Club”, a science lecture series at Union Hall bar in Brooklyn.
Celia Lowenstein - TBA
Celia Lowenstein is an awarding winning producer/director whose films are regularly shown at international film festivals and screened on television channels around the world. She has been actively involved in science filmmaking and has worked with PBS NOVA to produce “Ancient Creature of the Deep”.
