Michael Kirkhart - $50SAT: 3 hams and a university in Kentucky on their quest to build the world’s smallest functioning satellite
On November 21, 2013, a Dnepr rocket was launched from Russia carrying 32 satellites, including 4 of a new class of very small satellites known as PocketQubes. One of these PocketQubes was built as a collaborative effort between Professor Robert Twiggs of Morehead State University and 3 amateur radio operators: Howie DeFelice (AB2S), Stuart Robinson (GW7HPW), and Michael Kirkhart (KD8QBA). This satellite, known by its official name of Eagle-2, it unofficial name of $50SAT, and its OSCAR (Orbiting Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio) designation of Morehead OSCAR 76, has surprised its developers by:

1. Working
2. After almost 9 months, continuing to work (August 21 will mark the 9 month anniversary of the launch)

This talk will provide an overview of the project, including some of the challenges involved as well as a discussion on in-orbit performance.

About Michael Kirkhart:
Michael Kirkhart is an electronics engineer, hardware hacker, amateur radio operator. He recently added the title of amateur satellite developer/operator to the list.

Iron is an important nutrient that we all make sure to get enough of in our diets. Did you know bacteria need it too though? Learn about the battle invading bacteria wage against your body over iron atoms. Those bacteria have some pretty cool tricks up their sleeves, but so do we!

About Ada Hagan:
Ada is a PhD student in Microbiology and Immunology and spends her days doing recon on the strategies bacteria use to invade our bodies. She is passionate about communicating science because she feels the more we all know about science and how things work, the better choices we can make about our lives. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors with her dogs, and fishing with her husband. Ada is also involved with MiSciWriters, a student-run science writing blog.

Ben Connor Barrie – Barking Up the Wrong Tree: A Crash Course in Tree Identification
This lecture will be a crash course in tree identification. Attendees will learn how to start developing their tree ID skills, not just memorize a few trees. Beginners will focus on accurate genus level identification. More advanced participants will work on species level identification. By the end of the lecture, everyone should be able to confidently identify some of the most common trees in the region.

About Ben Connor Barrie:
Ben is a Ph.D. student studying forest ecology at the School of Natural Resources and the Environment. In his spare time, he runs the local website Damn Arbor. He knows all the trees.

Michael Leonard – Thomas Paine: How the First World Revolutionary Fell from Fame and Became the Forgotten Founding Father (of both America and France!)
At 37, a simple girdle maker and tax collector named Thomas Paine came to the American colonies and became known as Tom Paine. There, instead of making girdles or collecting taxes, he would leave women’s figures alone and instead inspire tax payers to not only stop paying their taxes to the king, but “begin the world over again” with their very own nation – run by them! Rich land owning colonists would welcome his powerful words of inspiration to rouse the rabble to their cause, but then abandon him at their first opportunity, when he proved himself to be a bit too dedicated to democratic participation for all – everywhere – from the country he named “The United States of America” to the other republic he directly helped to found, France’s First Republic… and beyond. Tom Paine may have been a late bloomer, but he sure had a way with words that would make him not only the bestselling author of his day, but would also make him – while seen only as an expendable propagandist to those who would take advantage of him to take power – the most effective world revolutionary of all time… Eat your heart out Che.

About Michael Leonard:
Trained as an applied socio-cultural anthropologist who indeed teaches cultural anthropology by day, Michael has decided to take on an alter ego by night – that of an intrepid historian of an obscure, yet important forgotten person of the past, and the “crimes” he perpetrated to earn his obscurity. In this role, Michael hopes to make people think, even if this also may make them a bit uncomfortable – as thinking often does to people. Thomas Paine is Michael’s target to help rescue from obscurity – in comparison with a far more famous Thomas of his ideological ilk, if not style – who are the subject of a book he’s working on entitled, Doubting Thomases.

Aric J Schultz - Meet your Puppet Master: Toxoplasma gondii

Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite that infects humans worldwide. It is well known that T. gondii can manipulate the behavior of infected rodents, and current research is focusing on the parasite’s ability to manipulate the behavior of its human hosts as well.

About Aric J Schultz:
I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan, studying microbial pathogenesis. My thesis work focuses on aspects of the Toxoplasma gondii life cycle, and how it causes human disease.

Marcus Dillon - Prime Directive: The Ethics of Star Trek

In this talk, Marcus Dillon outlines the world of Star Trek and the ethical system that governs the United Federation of Plants; the Prime Directive. Trek has touched on many issues over the course of its 50 year history. To name a few: freedom of speech, military interventionism, racism, the existence of God, transgender issues, and photon torpedoes. Using a few episodes as a guide, Marcus challenges the merits and limits of this system and the moral predicaments it presents to the interstellar explorers of the future.

Don’t worry if you don’t know the difference between a tachyon and a tribble, this talk won’t go over your head.

About Marcus Dillon:
Marcus is an Ann Arbor native and has undergraduate degrees in US and Chinese history from Miskatonic University. He writes jokes on the internet pseudonymously. The Canadian border police have made it clear that he is no longer welcome in that country. He is totally unqualified to speak on any topic at any event, but hey, he works for free.

I’ll be looking at the role that certain chemicals produced and released by forests play in air pollution, and asking whether these chemicals alleviate or exacerbate the problems we encounter in such diverse places as LA and Beijing. I’ll be taking you into the nefarious world of plant communication, and letting you in on the secret of what stresses out a plant. We’ll also be considering how widespread these chemicals are and what their fate is once they leave the tree and hit the atmosphere. And of course, trying to decide which side trees are on…

About Kirsti Ashworth:
Kirsti is a Brit, who has only recently made it across the pond and into Michigan. She gained a PhD in Atmospheric Science from Lancaster University in 2012, where she pondered whether the cultivation of biofuels could affect human health and crop production. In between, she worked as a research scientist in deepest, darkest Bavaria – at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany’s premier alpine ski-resort (though sadly she did have to spend some time most days working). While loving the life in Ann Arbor, she does occasionally miss seeing the mountains!

Autophagy is a recycling process that our cells use to stay clean and healthy. Defects in autophagy can contribute to several diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. In this talk, I’ll be discussing how autophagy works, why maintaining the right balance of autophagy is important in preventing disease, and how expanding our understanding of how cells control autophagy is important for developing new treatments for diseases.

About Katie Parzych:
Katie is a PhD student at the University of Michigan, where she studies how yeast cells regulate autophagy in response to nutrient starvation. She is a recent participant of the RELATE workshop aimed at teaching scientists how to communicate their research to a wide range of audiences. When not geeking out about microbiology and yeast, Katie can usually be found acting on stage with a number of Ann Arbor’s local theatre groups.