This Friday, March 4th is the annual GSS: Graduate Student Symposium. UW Biograds compete fiercely for one of only 20 speaking slots to present their latest ideas, results, and accomplishments to the department and the world! As a broadly integrative department, it’s one of the best opportunities we have to actually learn about what everyone else is doing – especially now that we rarely cross Pacific Ave.
I must say – the prizes are also pretty fun. In previous years, awards have been given for Best Dressed (Brandon Peecook in purple pants – need I say more?), Most Appealing to 5th Grader (often involves poop), Best Extemporaneous Speaking (speakers have to incorporate a random word handed to them into their talk), and the Title for Best Title (typically includes a reference to sex, zombies, and/or incompetent politicians).
This year, there is an excellent line up of speakers that I will attempt to communicate as succinctly as possible (i.e. in 144 characters or fewer). For those students who have submitted abstracts, I’ve attempted to PT (pre-tweet – if it wasn’t a thing before, it is now) their topics. Titles are listed for the those who are luring us with an aura of “TBD” mystery…
This year, tweet @biogss #gss2016
Alex Lowe @ 9:30: #Oysters on grass: can eelgrass numb the pain of ocean acidification? @H2_Lo boldly takes first talk of the day even after #OSM2016 [Ed. My goal was to make these tweets clever, but Alex has already done that work for me, the first part is his actual talk title]
Katrina van Raay @ 9:45: Viruses and toxins team up to blow s[tuff] up, but poser interlopers can cheat the system #freeloaders #tinyterrors
Shawn Luttrell @ 10:00: Yes, but, #whereismymind? Getting A HEAD with Ptychodera lava regeneration. #reallifehydra
Kelly Hennessey @ 10:15: Giardia lamblia small gatekeeper kinases as potential drug targets
Will King @ 10:30: Barnacles = #HotandBothered #climatechange [Ed. Thanks, Will, for making the joke for me]
Yasmeen Hussain @ 11:00:How much perfume do urchin eggs need to wear so that sperm can find them in a giant ocean? #sprayandpray
Marlies Kovenock @ 11:15: Leaves get fat off C02 buffet, nobody wins. #yikes
Peter Conlin @ 11:30: Phenotypic plasticity, bet hedging, experimental evolution
Melissa Lacey @ 11:45: Why are leaves so … leafy? #canyourephrasethequestion
Ian Breckheimer @ 12:00:Mountain flowers will be lonelier because of #climatechange #sigh
Audrey Ragsac @ 1:00: A phylogeny of the earliest diverging lineage of Bignoniaceae (Jacarandeae)
Ethan Linck @ 1:15: Phylogenomic phylogeography of a widespread Mexican highlands bird
Mo Turner @ 1:30: Turns out that melting metaphor for #seastarwasting was not completely inaccurate. #itstoohottokeepallmyarms
CJ Battey @ 1:45: Hummingbird Range Shifts
Meredith Bache-Wiig @ 2:00: Double Trouble: The life and times of a zebrafish melanophores
Melissa Steele-Ogus @ 2:30: Beautiful pictures of something that makes ugly things happen to your body #hangontight
Megan Whitney @ 2:45: Tiny Titanosaurs #totesadorbs #nuffsaid
Jorge Bustamante @ 3:00: Forces to pierce cuticle of tarsi and material properties determined by nanoindentation; the Achilles’ heel of bed bugs
Sima Bouzid @ 3:15: SNiPping out ranges. Lizard genetic diversity can help predict fx of #climate change
Rochelle Kelly @ 3:30: iPOOP? Dietary ecology in the digital age #everybodypoops #reallysteppedinit
