Monday, 03 Feb 2025
George Washington Carver Day of Recognition Program
Carver’s story is one of extraordinary resiliency. Born into slavery in Missouri around 1864, he sought higher education in Iowa, at Simpson College and Iowa State University. He was Iowa State’s first Black student, earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees. After graduation, he became Iowa State’s first Black faculty member. Carver left Iowa for the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, where he spent the rest of his life applying his...
Tuesday, 04 Feb 2025
Seminar: Epigenetic regulation of development plasticity and environmental adaptation
Join this Genetics, Development and Cell Biology Seminar to hear Dr. Xuehua Zhong, professor of biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Dean's Distinguished Professorial Scholar and program director in plant and microbial biosciences, discuss research to determine how cellular machines sense extrinsic and intrinsic cues and alter chromatin landscapes to generate adaptive responses.
Finding Their Voices: How Vocal Coach Mary Jo DuPrey Trains Award-Winning Singers
Mary Jo DuPrey is the Private Touring Vocal Coach for Jon Bon Jovi. She also trained Daveed Diggs for his star making and Tony Award winning performance as Lafayette/Jefferson in Broadway’s “Hamilton.†Mary Jo served on the faculty at the Ray Bolger Program in Musical Theater at UCLA from 2006- 2017 where her renowned Rock Musical Theater Class has helped usher countless students onto the Broadway and National Tour Stages.
Wednesday, 05 Feb 2025
Wild Life: Finding My Purpose in an Untamed World
Rae Wynn-Grant is a wildlife ecologist who researches how human activity influences the behavior of wild animals.
The 1000 Farms Initiative: Lessons from America's Regenerative Farmers
Jonathan Lundgren is an agroecologist, director of the EcdysisFoundation and CEO for Blue Dasher Farm.
Thursday, 06 Feb 2025
The Secret Life of Bears
Rae Wynn-Grant is a wildlife ecologist who researches how human activity influences the behavior of wild animals. As an active scientist, she spends long periods in the wilderness tracking and observing black and grizzly bears in the western United States, and African lions in rural Kenya and Tanzania. Her wildlife exploration and media work has taken her to six of seven continents and over 25 countries. A native Californian,...
Monday, 10 Feb 2025
Koji Alchemy: Rediscovering the Magic of Mold-Based Fermentation
Jeremy Umansky?is a chef/owner of Larder: A Curated Delicatessen and Bakery in Cleveland, Ohio, nominated by the James Beard Foundation as the?Best New Restaurant?in America in 2019.
Tuesday, 11 Feb 2025
Seminar: Humanizing biology to promote equity in STEM higher education
Join this Genetics, Development and Cell Biology Seminar to hear Dr. Robin Costello, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Buffalo, discuss two approaches to disrupt inequities in STEM higher education. One approach looks at underlying factors for gaps in STEM graduation rates while the second considers classroom interventions that promote student outcomes.
Thursday, 13 Feb 2025
Playstrengths: Engaging with the Playspirit
Kirk Lynn is a playwright, novelist, and screenwriter. As one of the five Artistic Directors of the Rude Mechs theatre collective, Lynn has written and adapted over 20 plays. The Rude Mechs is an internationally-renowned ensemble-based theatre company from Austin, Texas, focused on devising and producing new American theatre. Rude Mechs has received over 200 local and national awards and nominations for their work. Lynn earned his MFA as a...
Friday, 14 Feb 2025
Lecture: NICU and Hemodynamics
Two physicians from the Stead Family Children's Hospital, University of Iowa, will discuss the work they do, including the program that has lead to the hospital becoming a global leader in treatment for premature infants.
Monday, 17 Feb 2025
Technology as Storytelling: How Engineering, Science, and Faith Play
When we do our science and technology, our stories interpret what we see and direct what we make. In turn, we tell our stories not only by word and voice, but also by what we theorize and create. What does it mean when Christian scholars suggest all academic disciplines --including engineering-- are in the storytelling business? Or that God's Spirit is behind all knowing, even our technical and scientific know-how? How does a story-based...
Wednesday, 19 Feb 2025
A Dialogue About Congress and Bipartisanship
2025 Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics A conversation with Former U.S. Representatives Vicky Hartzler and David Skaggs, and Dr. Karen Kedrowski, director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics.
Thursday, 20 Feb 2025
Reiman Gardens Sneak Peek 2025: Picture Perfect: Celebrating 30 Years of Beauty at Reiman Gardens
Join Education Director Sara Merritt for a preview of what Reiman Gardens has in store for 2025 as we celebrate our 30th Anniversary! From instagrammable summer displays to once-in-a-lifetime parties, special events, educational programs, and more.
Wake Up the “Watchdog”: Ensuring Our Government Doesn’t Misuse Our Taxes
Rob Sand is the State Auditor, a position he was first elected to in 2018; he is currently the only Democratic Party statewide officeholder in Iowa.  Rob is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Iowa College of Law. He interned in Washington, D.C. for Democratic Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, and then began working for Democratic campaigns in Iowa. After graduating law school, Rob was appointed Assistant Attorney...
Tuesday, 25 Feb 2025
The Past, Present, and Sustainable Future of Our Infrastructural Networks
2025 Symposium on Sustainability Keynote Dr. Deb Chachra, PhD, is a distinguished materials scientist and professor at Olin College of Engineering. She specializes in biological materials and infrastructure, with a keen interest in engineering education. Dr. Chachra is the author of the book How Infrastructure Works: Inside the Systems That Shape Our World (2023), which explores the intricate systems that underpin our daily lives.
Is There More to Mental Health? Let’s Discuss Flourishing, Suffering, and Spirituality
2025 Veritas Forum Dr. Warren Kinghorn, a psychiatrist from Duke University, believes that modern mental health has produced helpful medications and practices but that the benefits are limited by an overly individualistic and mechanistic view of what a person is. Using the alternate view of a person posited by Thomas Aquinas, a Christian thinker, Dr. Kinghorn suggests reframing how we think about mental health without discarding the...
Thursday, 27 Feb 2025
P. H. Elwood Lecture in Landscape Architecture: Mark Strieter
Mark Strieter, a principal with Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects in New York City, will present the 2025 P. H. Elwood Lecture in Landscape Architecture as part of the Iowa chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects' spring conference. The lecture is sponsored by the ISU Department of Landscape Architecture.
Friday, 28 Feb 2025
Graduate Education, Opportunity, and AI
Odis Johnson Jr., PhD, is the Bloomberg Distinguished Professor of Social Policy and STEM Equity at Johns Hopkins University, where he has faculty appointments in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the School of Education as Executive Director of the Hopkins Center for Safe and Healthy Schools, and in the Department of Sociology at the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. He also directs...