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. 

November 3 - Philip Unitt 

Serving in the department of birds and mammals at the San Diego Natural History Museum since 1988, Philip Unitt has over 50 years of experience in ornithology. He is an expert on the identification, distribution, and historical trends of birds in southern California and Baja California, having published over 40 articles, book chapters, and books, including Birds of the Salton Sea (2003) and the San Diego County Bird Atlas (2004). Other studies have examined the effects of San Diego County's wildfires in 2002 and 2003, as well as patterns of change in the distributions of California birds. He served on the California Department of Fish and Game's advisory committee on birds of special concern and co-authored its landmark report on bird conservation. Additionally, he has prepared over 5,000 bird specimens and speaks regularly to the public and the media. In his role as an editor, he has produced publications on a wide variety of scientific subjects for diverse readers. Phil has served as editor of Western Birds, the regional journal of ornithology for western North America, since 1986.

December 2 - Cecilia Panfil

Cecilia is a current chemistry graduate student at Scripps Research, where she studies the synthesis of antibiotics under Professor Ian Seiple. She’s currently interested in improving unusable antibiotics through structural changes to make them clinically viable. Prior to attending Scripps, she worked at The Rockefeller University under Professor Sean Brady, where she built a pipeline to discover new antibiotics from soil bacteria. In her free time, Cecilia enjoys line dancing, going to the movies, and surfing. 

January 5 - MJ Preston & Chiaki Santiago

Electricity Across Kingdoms: Signaling in Fungi and Mammals

We explore the world of fungal electrophysiology—slow voltage pulses and rhythmic oscillations that may guide how fungi explore, adapt, and coordinate. We’ll show what these signals look like, how they’re recorded, and how they could mediate emergent fungal behaviors such as nutrient tracking and territorial responses. Then we turn to mammals, where evolution used the same basic toolkit—ion channels, membranes, and charge separation—to create a radically faster communication strategy: the action potential. We’ll break down how spikes work, why their speed matters, and how they enable rapid sensing and response in complex environments. Finally, we bring the two systems together to ask: What does it mean for a fungus to “sense”? Can mycelial networks integrate information? And how far apart, physiologically and computationally, are these two kingdoms of life?

About the Speakers

Michael Preston recently earned his PhD in computational neuroscience from UC San Diego. His thesis work focuses on developing novel computational techniques to uncover hidden signals in neural data. He is interested in universal principles of information processing and how bioelectric signaling mediates adaptive behaviors in diverse organisms.

Chiaki Santiago is a recent doctoral graduate from UC San Diego, earning her neurosciences graduate degree, investigating inhibitory hippocampal circuit activity during sleep. She is currently a Medical Writer at Precision Medicine Group, where she works at the intersection of science and communication, translating complex neurological concepts into clear, accessible writing.

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February 2 - Ariana Mirian

Hackers for Hire, Anti-Phishing Training and More! Using Data to Improve Security Decisions.

As more of our world moves to the Internet, cybersecurity becomes an issue that affects everyone. Though the cloak and dagger media depiction of cybersecurity may be exaggerated, the reality is that security is, in part, a constant cat-and-mouse game, with attackers who are trying to wreak havoc on one side and defenders on the other side, trying to protect users. 
At this Sharp Minds, we'll dive into the realities of the world of cybersecurity. We'll talk about historical precedence and how we got to the world we are in today, and where some of the biggest future threats are. We'll also chat about how copious amounts of data can be used to help improve security decisions (including hilarious and counterintuitive outcomes), and finally, what this means for YOU as a person existing on today's Internet.

About the Speaker

Ariana Mirian currently works as a senior security researcher at Censys, where she uses Internet Measurement to answer interesting security questions and improve data coverage. Prior to Censys, she received her PhD from UC San Diego, where her thesis focused on answering the question: how can we use large-scale measurement and analysis to better prioritize security processes? When not geeking out about Internet Measurement and security, Ariana is also an avid aerialist and birder.

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April 6 - James Neih

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. 

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