Science fiction and fantasy came to life in the real and human forms of authors George R.R. Martin and Kim Stanley Robinson May 2 at the Price Center West Ballroom. The genre giants, each with ties to UC San Diego through the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop, bantered on stage under bright lights against a backdrop flanked by the emblems of the Great Houses featured in the “Game of Thrones,” HBO’s enormously popular adaptation of Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series.
Being a woman can mean many things. That’s what Maria Elena Hewett discovered when she became one of the first student staff members of the UC San Diego Women’s Center in 1998. During her tenure, she met and was inspired by women who were in arranged marriages; single moms; women who were not born female; and those who embraced femininity as a form of activism. The experience taught Hewett about herself, what it means to be a Latina woman, and how to see the world through a critical lens.
With a three-minute talk entitled “Using Geometry to Build Better Birth Control,” engineering graduate student Geoff Hollett took first place at the UC San Diego Grad Slam competition held April 5. Now in its fourth year, the event challenges graduate students across campus to break down their research into bite-sized, jargon-free presentations that can be enjoyed by a broad audience.
How can California better prepare for droughts and floods? Tashiana Osborne, a graduate student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, is studying atmospheric rivers—the primary source of rainfall in the region. These ribbons of water in the atmosphere make the difference between a prolonged dry spell and an unusually wet winter.
UC San Diego’s Divisions of Biological and Physical Sciences will launch a Research Communications program designed to address that need. Funded by a two-year, $225,000 grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the new effort seeks to improve the ability of faculty members, postdoctoral fellows and other researchers on campus to communicate their work to the public.
The next installment of the UC San Diego series, Evening with an Entrepreneur, will feature scientist, inventor, serial entrepreneur, innovator, and long-time UC San Diego supporter, Dr. Tina Nova. Nova will sit down with Biocom’s Joe Panetta for an interview to discuss her unique entrepreneurial background and success in molecular diagnostics.
