Sharp Minds

Engage with local scientists as they discuss their latest research and discoveries in a friendly, inviting environment. These lectures address hot topics on the first Monday of every month, in the Heikoff Giant Dome Theater. Stay for a special noon documentary showing. 

The Sharp Minds lecture is free with general admission or a Senior Monday ticket. This event is not included with the Annual Explorer Pass. 

 

April 6 - James Nieh

The Secret Language of Bees: How They Learn, Teach, and Move Each Other

Honey bees have a language of motion unlike anything else in the animal world. Through rhythmic dances, they share maps to flowers and water, teaching one another where to go and how to get there. In this talk, Professor Nieh reveals how bees learn their dances from experienced teachers, how their attentive audience responds with tiny body movements, and how this remarkable form of communication helps the colony thrive. Join us to explore the intelligence, coordination, and grace that make the honey bee’s dance language one of nature’s greatest marvels.

About the Speaker

Professor James C. Nieh was born in Taiwan and grew up in Southern California. He received his B.A. at Harvard in 1991 and his PhD from Cornell University in 1997. He received the prestigious Harvard Junior Fellowship and, in 2000, joined the faculty in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of California, San Diego, where he is a professor in the Department of Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution. He held the Heiligenberg Chair of Neuroethology, was chair of his department, was elected Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society, and received the Hambleton Award for his bee research and the Springer Nature Distinguished Editor Award. He is an Associate Dean in the School of Biological Sciences, and is the Chair of the City of San Diego Bee City Committee and the UC San Diego Bee Campus Committee.
Dr. Nieh’s interests focus on bee communication, cognition, and health. He studies many types of social bees, including honey bees, bumble bees, and stingless bees. His lab studies natural and man-made stressors of social bees. A major part of his work focuses on foraging and communication in honey bees and honey bee health. The research on honey bee health focuses on how pesticides alter honey bee behavior and learning, how a common pathogen, Nosema ceranae, infects bees and alters their behavior, how honey bee immunity can be boosted to fight Nosema infection, how the bee gut microbiome may help us find new ways to counter Nosema infection, and how a nutritionally balanced diet can help bees exposed to pesticides. 

Image

May 4 - Aalok Varma

Viruses: From a 2020 vision to a 20/20 one

Viruses have a bad reputation – we associate them with illness, blights, and now pandemics. However, viruses are not simply agents of disease. They shape the natural cycles of our environment (e.g., the carbon cycle); they are our evolutionary partners, helping make our biology work; and they are a source of new medicines and therapies. In this talk, I will describe how we discovered viruses, how they function, and the many ways they co-exist with us and the wider living world. My goal is not to downplay the harm viruses can cause, but to offer a clearer, broader perspective. I hope to convince you that viruses are not something to be feared, but something to understand and appreciate – but only if we look at them with 20/20 vision, and not a 2020 one.

About the Speaker

Aalok Varma is a biologist and avid science communicator. Formally trained in neuroscience, he was awarded his PhD from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS-TIFR), Bangalore. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Loren Looger’s lab at UC San Diego, where he’s trying to decode the mysteries of cephalopod (i.e., squids, octopuses, and cuttlefish) biology. When not working in the lab, he spends his time reading books, playing tennis, swimming, or just being a couch potato. His blood is almost always caffeinated, yet sleep is his superpower. For more information, visit varmaalok22.github.io.

Image