Research scientists and engineers from around the Northeast will gather at Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, April 18, for the annual regional meeting of Sigma Xi, an honor society whose members promote excellence in scientific investigation and cooperation among the disciplines.
Dr. Dora Pinou, WCSU professor of Biological and Environmental Sciences is president of the WCSU chapter and serves as the official conference organizer. The conference will feature three keynote lectures and nearly 100 research abstracts in the fields of life science; physical science; genomics/personalized medicine; earth and planetary science; behavioral science; engineering, applied math and scientific computing; computer science and information systems; and math and science education.
“The members of Sigma Xi represent the finest scientific minds in the world,” Pinou said. “I wanted to bring them to Western so the community could hear from them, but also so that these scientists and their students could see what the university offers.”
The conference will be open to the public and will be held on the WCSU Midtown Campus, 181 White St., Danbury. The conference will be held at multiple locations on campus but sign-in will be in the Science Building lobby.
Three noted scientists will speak on aspects of the conference theme: mathematics as a unifying force in research and innovation.
Kavita Ramanan, Ph.D., Professor of Applied Mathematics, Brown University, will speak at 9:15 a.m. on “The power of randomness.”
Michael Stitzel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, The Jackson Laboratory, will speak at noon on “Advances in genomic medicine.”
Kent Holsinger, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, will speak at 2:30 p.m. on “People, proteas, and evolutionary process: What’s math got to do with it?
Two Sigma Xi members will also be honored during the day-long program: Dr. Howard Russock, WCSU professor emeritus in the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, for his 40 years of service to Sigma Xi, and continuous support of the WCSU Chapter, and Dr. Kestas Bendinskas, editor of the American Journal of Undergraduate Research, professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry at the State University of New York – Oswego, for his role in founding the Northeastern Regional Meeting since 2006.
Sigma Xi is the honor society of research scientists and engineers. It is an international multidisciplinary group whose programs and activities promote the health of the scientific enterprise, reward excellence in scientific research and encourage a sense of companionship and cooperation among scientists in all fields.
For more information about the conference, go to http://www.wcsu.edu/sigma-xi/. To register, visit https://alumni.wcsu.edu/sigma-xi.
For more information, call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.