For his dissertation Brad Oberle delved into the post-Pleistocene history of two rare species of shootingstars (Dodecatheon), thinking that their response to post-glacial warming might provide clues to the response of plants to global warming. He found that one rare species was a glacial relict that had gradually retreated to a refuge habitat near limestone cliffs. The second rare species was not a species at all but instead an ecotype, or variant, of a widespread species that had adapted to the cooler cliff habitat. The glacial relict is the species most at risk as the climate warms.
WUSTL physics professors will explore “Nobel Laureates Whom We Have Known: Scientists and Citizens” during the 2011 Saturday Science seminar series. The 2011 Saturday Science seminar series — sponsored by the Department of Physics and University College, both in Arts & Sciences — begins Saturday, April 16. The lectures are free and tailored for the general public.
Stuart Bunderson, PhD, of the Olin Business School gives a presentation of his scholarly work during his installation as the first George and Carol Bauer Professor of Organizational Ethics and Governance March 31 in the Charles F. Knight Executive Education Center.
Dancers, drummers and dignitaries participate in the Grand Entry at the 21st annual Pow Wow at the WUSTL Field House April 9. This year’s Pow Wow, a festival of American Indian cultures, brought together some of the largest numbers of dancers and drummers in the event’s history. In addition to dancing, singing and drumming, visitors were able to enjoy a number of traditional arts and crafts and community information booths.
With the theme “Celebrate the Magic of Community,” the 2011 Thurtene Carnival will transform Washington University’s North Brookings parking lot into a vista of thrilling rides and dramatic facades. The carnival will be from 4-8 p.m. Friday, April 15, and from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, April 16 and 17.
Ireland native Maria Bernadette Majella Doyle, MD, assistant professor of surgery at the School of Medicine and a member of the Barnes-Jewish Hospital organ transplantation team, will present the annual Women’s Society Adele Starbird Lecture at 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, in Graham Chapel. Doyle’s talk, part of the Assembly Series, will provide insight into the life of a transplantation surgeon. It is free and open to the public.
A time capsule containing items donated by students, Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton, Dean James E. McLeod, WUSTL Dining Services and others to describe life at WUSTL in 2011 was buried on the South 40 during a ceremony April 2. It will be opened again during the Class of 2011’s 50th reunion in 2061.
Molly Tovar, EdD, director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies at the Brown School, lives her life by four Rs: Relationships, Responsibilities, Reciprocity and Redistribution. “Redistribution is the sharing obligation. Its primary purpose is to balance and rebalance relationships,” she says.
This year, for the first time, all Washington University campuses will join forces for the PB&Joy Food Drive. The food roundup, which begins Wednesday, April 13, and runs through Sunday, April 24, aims to feed area children — enough to fill Busch Stadium three times — who are at risk of hunger this summer when there’s no school or free lunch and breakfast.
