Sonoma State University
Abbey D giving Colloquium presentation

Fall 2026 Biology Department Colloquium Series

Most Mondays
12:00 pm - 12:50 pm
Darwin Hall 103

Aug
24
Lisa Hua - b&w
Introduction to Fall 2026 Colloquium
Dr. Lisa Hua

Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University

Aug
31
Omar Akhtar
*Higher Frequency of Homologous Chromosome Pairing in Human Adult Aortic Endothelial Cells
Omar Akhtar

MS Graduate Student, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University

Sep
14
Dr. John Marko
Mechanics, Geometry and Topology of Chromosomes
Dr. John Marko

Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University

* This presentation is co-sponsored by MESA: https://stb.sonoma.edu/mesa
Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Lisa Hua Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University Introduction to Fall 2026 Colloquium
Omar Akhtar MS Graduate Student, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University *Higher Frequency of Homologous Chromosome Pairing in Human Adult Aortic Endothelial Cells
Dr. John Marko Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University Mechanics, Geometry and Topology of Chromosomes
Dr. Evan Lintz Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Sonoma State University Dr. Evan Lintz
Dr. Gina Chaput Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University From Root to Bulk: Microbial Carbon Fate Across an Eelgrass Rhizosphere-to-Sediment Gradient
Dr. Tom Kornberg Member, National Academy of Sciences, and Professor Emeritus, Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, UCSF Signaling at a Distance: Cell-Cell Communication in Development and Cancer
Dr. Alison Haupt Associate Professor, Department of Marine Science, CSU Monterey Bay A Relatively Steady State - Recent Changes in Rocky Intertidal Communities
Dr. Gabriel McKinsey Newborn Brain Research Institute, UCSF From Development to Disease: Mechanisms of Microglial Cell State Changes
Lourenco Martins Ph.D. Candidate, Williams Lab - Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley *Born to Fly? How Genes and Environment Shape Wing-Morph Plasticity in Gryllus Crickets
Dr. Allison Luengen Professor, Environmental Sciences Department, University of San Francisco Assessing Mercury Exposure in Urban Coyotes
Dr. Blake Riggs Professor & Associate Chair, Department of Biology, San Francisco State University Organelle Inheritance During Cell Division: New Frontiers in Mitosis
Dr. Matthew Clark Professor & Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Analysis (CIGA), Dept of Geography, Enviroment & Planning, Sonoma State University Spectrum of Life: How Ecoacoustics Supports NASA's Biodiversity Airborne Campaign in South Africa
Dr. Laurel Koch Postdoctoral Fellow, Hansen Lab, Buck Institute *Investigating the Role of Stress Granules in Aging and Proteostasis
Dr. Alexander Payumo Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, San Jose State University Dr. Alexander Payumo
Dr. Annalise Schweickart Postdoctoral Fellow, Price Lab, Buck Institute *Computational Biology and Medicine: Harnessing Big Biological Data for Human Health and Disease

Past Colloquium Speakers

Date Speaker Speaker Affiliation Lecture Title
Dr. Brad Balukjian Research Associate, California Academy of Sciences Hybrid Vigor: How to Chart a Career Path Doing What You Love, Studying Organisms Two-legged to Six
Dr. James Bagley Professor of Kinesiology, San Francisco State University Skeletal Muscle Cell Physiology, Plasticity, and Performance
Dr. Lisa Patrick Bentley Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University Colloquium Introduction
Dr. Benjamin Blonder Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley Why Do Plants Use Water?
Jack Hines SoundScape Ecologist and Science Communicator with Ear to the Wild, and GIS Specialist, Sonoma Ecology Center The Art and Science of Soundscape Ecology
Dr. Abby Buchwalter Cool Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California, San Francisco Exploring the Function and Dynamic Regulation of the Nuclear Lamina
Campus Closed November 11, 2024 - Veterans Day
Dr. Angelica Patterson Curator of Education and Outreach, Miller Worley Center for the Environment Seeing the Forest for the Trees: How Northeastern Temperate Trees Are Responding to a Changing Climate
Sahrye Cohen Environmental Protection Agency Government for the Greater Good: Working in Environmental Regulation
Shelby Hotz Sonoma State University Biology Graduate Program Effects of Thermal History and Biogeographic Location on the Heat Shock Response of Bull Kelp (Nereocystis luetkeana) *This will be over Zoom*
Dr. Kari Herrington University of California, San Francisco, Center for Advanced Light Microscopy Paths of Light: Core Microscopes
Michael Thiele Apis Arborea Naturalized Honey Bees in the Americas: A 7-year Research Project at the Galbreath Wildlands Preserve
Dr. Tessa Hill Professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Davis At Every Depth: Stories From Our Changing Ocean
Rebecca Nelson, Ph.D. Candidate Dept. of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis The Effects of Anthropogenic Global Changes on Plant-Pollinator Mutualisms in California Grasslands
Dr. Durell Kapan Senior Research Fellow, Entomology and Center for Comparative Genomics, California Academy of Sciences Regenerating Nature: Reweaving the Web of Life One Species at a Time — The Extinct Xerces Blue Skies Project
Dr. Mitsunori Nomura Buck Institute Ketone Metabolism in Brain Aging
Campus Closed September 2, 2024 - Labor Day
Gabriel Quintero Plancarte, M.S. Sonoma State University Biology Graduate Program Live Imaging Analysis of Chromosome Movement Along a Centrosome, and Apical-Basal Axis During Metaphase to G1 Interphase
Dr. Lorraine Ling Stanford University Aiptasia: A Model for Cnidarian-algal Symbiosis, Sheds Light on Coral Bleaching
Dr. Chris Lowe Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University Molecular Evidence of Anteroposterior Patterning in Adult Echinoderms or, Are Sea Stars All Head With No Body?

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