Dr. Donald Hirsh
Department of Chemistry
So small, you can’t miss ’em: phytoplankton, viruses, and nitric oxide
Abstract:
Phytoplankton are single-celled photosynthetic organisms and the foundation of the marine food web. They supply roughly 20% of the oxygen we breathe and are critical components of the global nitrogen and carbon cycles. A subset of the marine phytoplankton, known as coccolithophores, bloom and die in such numbers that they are visible from outer space. In collaboration with Kay Bidle and Brittany Schieler at Rutgers University, we are tracking the production of the evanescent signaling molecule, nitric oxide (NO), in the coccolithophore Emiliana huxleyii. I will give an overview of the biology of NO and our efforts to capture and detect it by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR).
Dr. Nicholas Battista
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Fluids, the opioid epidemic, and a little bit of math
Abstract:
Fluid-structure interaction problems are all around us. From the way we breath, the way leaves blow in the wind, and how fish swim, these are examples of deformable mediums interacting with a fluid. In this talk, I hope to accomplish two things. The first is to give a very brief overview of the type of fluid-structure questions that I’ve thought about on a daily basis for the past few years, such as blood flow during heart development, aquatic locomotion, and collective behavior. Secondly, I want to completely change gears and introduce how math modeling may be useful in combating the opioid epidemic.
