Peggy Wallace, PhD
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology
University of Florida

Mysteries of, and Research Insights into Neurofibromatosis 1

Dr. Margaret (Peggy) Wallace received her Ph.D. in Medical Genetics from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1987.  She then spent 4 years as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Francis Collins at the University of Michigan, leading the team that cloned the NF1 (neurofibromatosis 1, a dominant tumor syndrome) gene in 1990.  She joined the faculty of the University of Florida College of Medicine in 1991, and is now a Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology.  The major focus of her lab continues to be NF1, as it is a very complex condition, and the underlying molecular/cell biology is complex as well.  Her lab is trying to determine the underlying pathways involved in tumorigenesis, toward developing a targeted therapy.  In addition, her lab is applying molecular genetic and cell biology approaches to study other conditions with a genetic basis, both of Mendelian and multifactorial inheritance, such as cardiomyopathy, chronic pain conditions, and vitiligo.  There is even a non-human project in the lab, mapping eye disease genes in certain dog breeds.  She collaborates with many investigators at UF and elsewhere.

Steve Letro
Meteorologist in Charge, National Weather Service
Jacksonville, Florida

The 2006 Hurricane Season:  Expectations vs. Reality

Steve Letro is the Meteorologist in Charge at the National Weather Service in Jacksonville, a position he has held since 1994. Steve was born in the Buffalo, New York area, but raised in south Florida.  He received his degree in Meteorology from Florida State University and has held positions as Lead Forecaster, Satellite Meteorologist, Hydrologist and Meteorologist in Charge with the National Weather Service at several offices around the country. Steve has received numerous awards in his career including the National Weather Service’s Modernization Award, and under his direction the Jacksonville National Weather Service office has received several national awards including the Department of Commerce’s Bronze and Gold medals.  A professional meteorologist for over 30 years, Steve has also served as a TV and radio meteorologist, private consulting meteorologist, and as meteorologist for the South Florida Water Management District. Specializing in tropical meteorology and hurricanes, Steve is a long time member of the National Hurricane Center’s Hurricane Liaison Team and is a Vice President of the Florida Governor’s Hurricane Conference. He also teaches tropical meteorology at State and Regional hurricane conferences, and has appeared as a subject matter expert on hurricane related documentaries for the History Channel. 

Butch Shadwell
Senior Member, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Jacksonville, Florida

An Introduction to Low to Medium Energy Gamma Imaging: The Gamma Camera

Butch Shadwell has been working in electronics since he was 12 years old.  Starting with vacuum tube technology, he has designed systems through the evolution of transistors, SSI, MSI, and LSI.  In his extraordinary career he has worked with almost every kind of technology in the electronics industry.  Including applied R&D in nuclear medicine, opto-electronics, electronic warfare, robotics, industrial automation, machine vision, artificial intelligence, digital television, special sensors and embedded microcontrollers. A senior member of the IEEE, for the last fifteen years Mr. Shadwell has been authoring the Brain Teaser Challenge, a monthly humorous column with a technical challenge inside.  It is published in a number of IEEE newsletters and magazines worldwide.  Readers are encouraged to send in their answers. He has conducted sponsored research at Carnegie-Mellon Robotics Institute and received over $1.5 million in grants for his work in machine vision.  For the past ten years he has had a successful consulting practice developing new technologies for over a dozen companies.  His clients include multi-billion dollar companies, and as an active volunteer in IEEE he has been a featured speaker at many universities, sections, and student branches around Region 3 and Jamaica.  See http://www.shadtechserv.com/ for more information.

Terry Ellis
Department of Physics
Jacksonville University

Shooting Stars and Rocks from Space

Terry Ellis is an instructor and lab coordinator for the Jacksonville University Department of Physics, where she has taught since 1989. She has a BS degree in astronomy from the University of Massachusetts and MS degree in Space Science from the Florida Institute of Technology. Meteorites are a personal hobby of hers.

Naresh Dalal, PhD
Dirac Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Florida State University

Nanochemistry

Naresh Dalal received the BS and MS degrees in Physics at Punjab University, and the PhD in Physical Chemistry from the University of British Columbia.  He has been a member of the Florida State University of Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry since 1996, serving as department chair since 1999.  Dr. Dalal  was on the faculty of West Virginia University (1978-96), where he was  distinguished as a Centennial Professor in 1995.  Other appointments include the Killam Fellowship at the University of British Columbia, the IBM World-Trade Visiting Research Fellowship, and the Canadian National Research Council Fellowship.  Dr. Dalal has been involved in numerous collaborations during the past several years, including those with scholars from the United States, Canada, Germany, and Slovenia.

Michael, Buchler, PhD
School of Music
Florida State University

Mathematics, Musical Structure, and Music Analysis

Michael Buchler is Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Florida State University College of Music. His recent research focuses on minimalist composition, on methods of determining resemblance in atonal music, and on Broadway musicals. He has presented his work at numerous conferences in North America and Europe, and his articles appear in Perspectives of New Music, Journal of Music Theory, Music Theory Online, Journal of Music Theory Pedagogy, and In Theory Only. He currently serves on the executive board of the Society for Music Theory, and on the editorial board of Music Theory Online.

Professor Buchler received his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester (Eastman School of Music), a M.M. from the University of Michigan, and a B.M. from the University of Cincinnati. Before coming to Florida State University, he served on the faculties of Indiana University and the University of Iowa. He has received university-wide teaching awards at both Florida State University and the University of Iowa. This past summer, he served as a visiting professor at the Instituto de Artes, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sun (UFRGS) in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
 

Mike McCarthy
Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Incorporated
Jacksonville, Florida

Remediation, Environmental Management and Sustainability--The Evolution of Environmental Business Practices

Mike McCarthy is a professional geologist with more than 25 years experience in environmental management, compliance, remediation, site assessment and research and development projects associated with organic and inorganic water and soil quality issues. He has managed or directed remediation projects ranging in size from small chlorinated solvent spills to large-scale refinery and pipeline projects.  As program manager responsible for addressing the environmental needs of the US Oil and Gas Industry, he served on the Board of Keck Geophysical Instruments, Inc., managed research projects for the America Petroleum Institute and provided technical direction and assistance on hundreds of remediation projects across the United States associated with exploration, production, refining and pipeline facilities. He is currently developing and implementing an Environmental Management System in accordance with ISO 14001 to address the global operations of a Department of Defense Agency.

Craig Maddox, DMA
School of Music
Stetson University

From Infant Crying to Classical Singing: Exploring the Acoustical and Physiological Links between Babies’ Crying and Operatic Singing to Better Understand the Classical Singer’s Ability and Need to Self Amplify

Associate Professor of Voice, Dr. Craig Maddox, joined the Stetson School of Music voice faculty in 1984 after faculty appointments at Florida State University and the University of South Alabama. Dr. Maddox holds the BM in Voice Performance from the North Carolina School of the Arts and the MM in Voice Performance, the MM in Opera Production (Stage Directing), and the DM in Voice Performance from Florida State University. Dr. Maddox is a former winner in the Palm Beach Opera Young Artist's Contest and the Mobile Opera Young Artist's Contest. He has appeared with such opera companies as Orlando Opera, Shreveport Opera and Mobile Opera. Dr. Maddox also has considerable experience in musical theater, having performed leading roles in such shows as Brigadoon, Carousel, Damn Yankees, Pajama Game, and South Pacific. He is an active member of NATS and along with his Stetson voice colleagues has had numerous student winners at NATS Southeast Regional Voice Auditions. Among Dr. Maddox's recent accomplishments are the foundation of the first Stetson University Summer Voice Performance and Pedagogy Workshop, and also, the establishment and coordination of the Hollis Music Performance Laboratory.

John Aris, PhD
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
University of Florida

Molecular Mechanisms of Aging

A Jacksonville University graduate, John Aris received the PhD degree in Biology from Stanford University.  He has been an Associate Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Florida since 1999.  Prior to that, he was a Research Fellow and Laboratory of Dr. Günter Blobel at Rockefeller University in New York City.  Current research interests include in mechanisms of aging that operate at the cellular level, the objective of which is to to pursue an understanding of mechanisms that regulate replicative lifespan in yeast cells and extend these studies to other eukaryotic cell types, such as mammalian cells.

Dr.Aris received the Exemplary Teacher Award from the University of Florida College of Medicine in 2004 and 2006.
 

Robert Ehrlich, PhD
Chair, Department of Physics
George Mason University
 

Crazy Ideas in Science

Dr. Ehrlich is the author of more than 20 books, the most recent of which include Eight Preposterous Propositions (2003) and  Nine Crazy Ideas in Science: A Few Might Even Be True (2001).  Current research interests include basic science, physics education, and communicating science to the public.  His recent seven minute long multimedia presentation, Relativity: Adventures of Albert and Marie, was a finalist in the 2005 Pirelli Relativity Challenge.  Among his many honors are election as a Fellow of the American Physical Societ and receipt of the Epstein Prize of the American Association of Physics Teachers.  Dr. Ehrlich received the Distinguished Faculty Award at George Mason University in 1992.  

In his spare time, he is "hopelessly addicted " to the game of Go, and is advisor to the GMU Go Club.

Biomedical & Public Health Problems Call for Biostatistical Solutions

Laura Gunn is Assistant Professor of Biostatistics at Georgia Southern University. She received the Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Jacksonville University, magna cum laude,  in 1999.  While at JU, Dr. Gunn was awarded the Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellowship and Life Membership Award, the Phi Beta Kappa Alumni Association Fellowship, and the Outstanding Student in Mathematics Award.  She received the MS and PhD degrees in Statistics and Decision Sciences from Duke University.  Most of her research in recent years has been focused upon the application of Bayesian methodologies and modeling techniques to bio-statistical data.

Terrence Quinn, PhD
Professor, Department of Geological Sciences
Research Professor, Institute for Geophysics
University of Texas, Austin

Estimating the Level and Taking the Temperature of the Tropical Seas over the Past 25,000 Years

Terrence Quinn is Professor (Geological Sciences) and Research Professor (Institute for Geophysics), Jackson School of Geosciences,  The University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Quinn’s research interests focus on using the geochemistry of marine sediments and coral reefs to investigate climate variability and changes in mean climate state in the geologic record. He is particularly interested in developing tools to better constrain uncertainties in proxy records of climate and to collaborate with climate dynamicists to better integrate geologic records of climate change with predictions of climate models.  He  is overseeing the renovation of the Stable Isotope Laboratory at the University of Texas. The new facility will house two stable isotope ratio mass spectrometers with the capabilities to measure various light stable isotopes in carbonates, waters and organic matter.