Category: PastSeminar

Mango Materials is a San Francisco-based company that manufactures biodegradable materials using bacteria that feed on waste biogas (methane). The company’s end product is a naturally occurring polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymer that can biodegrade in many different environments. Since 2012, Mango has developed PHA that can be used to create textile fibers as a polyester replacement and that can be used to create injection molded packaging for the cosmetics industry.

This talk by Dr. Anne Schauer-Gimenez, Vice President of Customer Engagement and co-founder, discussed the journey from methane to end-product application, end-of-life biodegradability, and next steps for the company as it transitions to commercialization.

Thanks to Dr. Nick Wohlgemuth, a virologist at St. Jude’s Children’s Research hospital, for a fantastic seminar on the epidemiology and natural history of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, what the emergence of variants means for the vaccines, and how to tell if someone is protected.

In this seminar, Dr. Govind Rao of UMBC discussed manufacturing biologics on demand, novel approaches to detect Covid-19, and low-cost incubators for preemies with built-in sensors. Amazing developments, and we discuss how they can change the health care landscape!

Science Slams are a great way to learn about some remarkable science that is going on in Charm City! These 5-10 min science talks from local scientists are hosted by Johns Hopkins Project Bridge and BUGSS.

At our December event, 5 local scientists presented their work:

Sebastian Markert, “Beam me up Wormy”

Priya DasSarma, “Ancient Pink and Purple Microbes for Research and Education”

Adrianna Ayiotis, “Human Vestibular Implant Clinical Trial”

Arathy Kartha, “Hate 2020? Ask a Vision Scientist”

Kate Gillespie, “Hey Fishy, you fertile?”

Viruses (okay one in particular!) have become a central part of our lives, changing most aspects of our day-to-day routine. These tiny, and not so tiny, snippets of nucleic acid and protein can have profound effects. What is a virus? How do they work? Why is SARS-2 having such a profound effect compared to other viruses? And what precautions should we be taking?

We were so fortunate to have Dr. Richard Condit, Professor Emeritus from the Univerity of Florida and Host and producer of This Week in Virology, join us for a Q&A all about viruses. It was fascinating!

Covid-19 has dramatically affected all of our lives. There have been a broad range of emotional effects related to the pandemic, and certain stressors have affected a large majority of the population. On August 28, 2020, Dr. Sonia Bansal of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center at the University of Maryland School of Medicine discussed recent research showing the effects of the pandemic on mental health across the country, the enormous long-term consequences for families, communities and societies, and the necessity of addressing the mental health needs associated with the pandemic.

What are asteroids? Do they hit the Earth? Has anyone ever been hit by one? Dr. Sethanne Howard is a retired astronomer and the former Chief of the Nautical Almanac Office at the US Naval Observatory. Dr. Howard answered those and other questions in her talk “Asteroids Hitting the Earth”.