Fall 2026 Biology Department Colloquium Series
Most Mondays
12:00 pm - 12:50 pm
Darwin Hall 103
Oct
19
19
Dr. Gabriel McKinsey
Newborn Brain Research Institute, UCSF
Oct
26
26
Lourenco Martins
Ph.D. Candidate, Williams Lab - Integrative Biology, UC Berkeley
Nov
2
2
Dr. Allison Luengen
Professor, Environmental Sciences Department, University of San Francisco
* This presentation is co-sponsored by MESA: https://stb.sonoma.edu/mesa
| Date | Speaker | Speaker Affiliation | Lecture Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | Hormonal Regulation of Cardiomyocyte Regenerative Potential | |
| 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. Alison Haupt | Associate Professor, Department of Marine Science, CSU Monterey Bay | A Relatively Steady State - Recent Changes in Rocky Intertidal Communities | |
| 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. 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. Evan Lintz | Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, Sonoma State University | Cognitive neuroscience: The Information Processing Link Between Biology and Human Behavior | |
| Dr. John Marko | Professor, Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University | Mechanics, Geometry and Topology of Chromosomes | |
| Omar Akhtar | MS Graduate Student, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University | *Higher Frequency of Homologous Chromosome Pairing in Human Adult Aortic Endothelial Cells | |
| Dr. Lisa Hua | Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Sonoma State University | Introduction to Fall 2026 Colloquium | |
| Dr. Bijoya Sen | Postdoctoral Researcher, Hansen Lab, The Buck Institute | The Role of Autophagy in Aging and Age-Related Neurodegeneration | |
| Maria Velazquez | Greater Farallones Association/Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary | Shifting Forests: Examining the Ecological Effects of Kelp Forest Loss and Restoration | |
| Ellie Slick | Fisheries Biologist, United Anglers Casa Grande High School, Petaluma, CA | Student-led Conservation of Steelhead Trout in the Petaluma Watershed | |
| Dr. Louie H. Yang | Professor, Department of Entomology and Nematology, UC Davis | Why Study Insect Ecology in the Field? | |
| Dino Sbardellati | Ph.D. Candidate, Microbiology Graduate Group, Vanette Lab, UC Davis | Phage, Antibiotics, and the Bee Gut: Ecology, Resistance, and Synergies | |
| Dr. David Ensminger | Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, San Jose State University | The Transgenerational Impacts of Stress in a Wild Caught Lizard | |
| Joseph Jackson | Environmental Compliance Inspector, Central San, Contra Costa County | Novel Career Pathway: Research to Regulation | |
| Lorenzo Del Castillo | Ph.D. Candidate, Tetrad Program, University of Californa San Francisco | Potentiation of the Hedgehog Signaling Pathway | |
| Sarah Gordon | Conservation Science Director, Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation | Conservation in Action: A Lifeline for the Endangered Pitkin Marsh Lily | |
| Dr. Charlie Schurman | Postdoctoral Researcher, Schilling Lab, The Buck Institute | An Introduction to Mass Spectrometry and Applications: Proteomics | |
| Dr. Brian Hoover | Principal Scientist, Farallon Institute | When the Bird is Indeed the Word: Seabirds as Indicators of Ocean Prey, Plastics, and Climate Variability | |
| Alexia (Lexie) Martin | Ph.D. Candidate, Entomology Graduate Group, Vannette Lab, UC Davis | A Sequence- and Lab-based Approach to Investigate Chalkbrood Disease Infection within Blue Orchard Bees | |
| Ashley Kidd | Co-founder and Conservation Project Manager for Sunflower Star Laboratory | Seeing Stars: Conservation Aquaculture, Cryopreservation & Communities of Practice |
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