Suter Science Seminars

Each year, dozens of expert scientists visit EMU’s campus to share their insights. Some focus on their cutting edge research and work in the field, and some share perspectives on social reform and sustainability in the context of science.

At the end of each semester we also hear from STEM students, some of whom have presented at national conferences and published research. April 16, 2015 is the next STEM student symposium. Don’t miss an exciting lineup!

Suter Science Seminar presentations are made possible by the sponsorship of the Daniel B. Suter Endowment in Biology.

When and where

Seminars are usually held in either room 104 or 106 of the Suter Science Center unless otherwise noted. See the campus map for more info. Science seminars are free events, open to the public, and usually begin with refreshments and opportunities to meet the presenters.

The complete seminar schedule is available as a PDF file here: Suter Seminar Booklet 2014-15

Spring 2015 Seminars

Jan 12 Linford Gehman
Dr. Gehman will share experiences he had living and working among a community in Bergton, Virginia that still values traditions that have stood the test of time: neighbors helping each other, humility, integrity, devotion to family and church.

Feb 2 Lisa Schirch
This presentation will identify the impacts of climate change and discuss how to prepare for and respond to climate-related conflicts. Lisa Schirch will discuss her journey into peacebuilding and make the links between Anabaptist history and theology of creation care with today’s environmental challenges.

Feb 13 Curt Thompson
This presentation will explore the nature of interpersonal neurobiology and its connections with how following Jesus not only brings us a world of goodness and beauty, but also changes your brain along the way.

Feb 23 Gregory Koop
Dr. Koop will speak about one specific phenomenon, the strength-based mirror effect, that will provide a window into contemporary interference models of memory and the tools psychologists have at their disposal to better understand how we form, store, and retrieve information.

March 9 Jim Krauss
Jim Krauss’s talk will follow his career-long healthcare experience from developing health services in San Joaquin, Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer to serving in an executive role in the American healthcare system.

March 20 Joseph Brewer
In this presentation, the spotlight will be on the role of the unfolded protein response (UPR), a signaling system that regulates homeostasis within
the secretory pathway, in building and equipping specialized ‘antibody factories’.

March 30 Avrama Blackwell
Dr. Blackwell will explain integrative, computational studies that demonstrate that the changes in strength of synaptic connections between striatal neurons can cause the abnormal synchrony and oscillations and also propose a novel treatment for Parksinson’s Disease.

April 13 Nancy Johnston
This lecture traces the evolution of perspectives related to healing suffering. It charts the emergence of more hopeful views and therapeutic strategies which overturn misperceptions of the self as isolated and alone, the wound as flaw, and suffering as irremediable loss.

April 16 STEM Celebration
Spring STEM Celebration calls for student participants from biology, chemistry, mathematical sciences, and psychology departments to participate in the STEM Quiz Show, pizza for all STEM participants and the STEM Poster Show.

Program news