2014 Agenda

Symposium on “Plant Biotechnology for Health and Sustainability”

Michigan State University
Molecular Plant Sciences Building, Room 1200
October 31-November 1, 2014

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Thursday Afternoon, October 30, 2014

4:00 PM - Room 147 Communication Arts Building |  Map to location
Special Responsible Conduct of Research Seminar: Crossing the Line from Scientific Method to Scientific Misconduct
Dr. Elizabeth Williams, Executive Editor, Journal of Cell Biology

Friday Morning, October 31, 2014

8:30 AM - Room 1415 Biomedical & Physical Sciences |  Map to location
Session Chair - Rob Last, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Department of Plant Biology, MSU

Session One - Careers and Career Paths
8:40 AM Jacqueline Heard, Monsanto Corp.
9:15 AM Elizabeth Williams, Executive Editor, The Journal of Cell Biology

10:00 AM
Career Roundtable discussions

A. Getting Started on the Academic Research Track - what it takes to be competitive for an Assistant Professor Position at a Research-Intensive Institution.

B. Different Paths, Different Institutions - preparing to teach in undergraduate-focused environments

C. Industrial Careers

D. Alternative Career Paths - at and beyond the bench

1:40 PM -  Room 1200 Molecular Plant Sciences |  Map to location
Welcome - Doug Buhler, Director of MSU AgBioResearch and Senior Associate Dean for Research of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Session Two - Light, Rhythms and Genomes
Session Chair - David Dewitt, Associate Dean for Research, College of Natural Science, MSU
1:50 Eva Farre, Department of Plant Biology, MSU, “Transcriptional coordination of physiological responses in Nannochloropsis oceanica CCMP1779 under light/dark cycles”
2:20 Beronda Montgomery, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Research Lab, MSU, “From cyanobacteria to plants: Light-driven modulation of photosynthesis and growth”
2:50 Shinhan Shiu, Department of Plant Biology, MSU, “Predicting biological phenomenon with machine learning”
 
3:20 Break

Session Chair - Cornelius Barry, Department of Horticulture
Session Three - Applying Research to International Agriculture
3:40 Doug Cook, Department of Plant Pathology, University of California Davis, "Taking a walk on the wild side: combining ecology and genomics to deduce the function of legume-microbe interactions in natural and agricultural systems"
4:20 Felicia Wu, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, MSU, “Reducing Mycotoxins in Diets Worldwide: The Potential Role of Transgenic Corn”
4:50 Michael Hamm, Department of Food Science & Nutrition, MSU. "Regionalized food systems in an urbanized world"

5:20 Poster session and mixer in Molecular Plant Sciences Atrium |  Map to location

Saturday, November 1, 2014

8:00 am Continental Breakfast, Molecular Plant Sciences Atrium
9:00 AM -  Room 1200 Molecular Plant Sciences

Session Chair - Danny Ducat, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Plant Research Lab
Session Four - Discovering Pathways and Processes
9:00 Cheryl Kerfeld, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Research Lab MSU, “Diversity, structure, function and assembly of bacterial microcompartments”
9:30 John Frost, Department of Chemistry, MSU, “Sustainability and Endocrine Mimicry”
10:00 Elizabeth Sattely, Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University, "Plant pathway discovery for plant and human health"
 
10:30 Break
 
Session Chair - Kevin Walker, Department of Chemistry and Department of BMB
Session Five - Reimagining Biology
10:50 Danny Ducat, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Plant Research Lab, MSU, "PhotoSynthetics: Towards Designed Cyanobacterial/Heterotroph Consortia for Flexible Photobiological Production"
11:20 Lisa Bergeron, Principal Scientist, VMRD Global Therapeutics Research, Zoetis Inc., “Antibody Therapies for People and Their Pets”