Four Speakers to Address UC Davis LASER Event

By Kathy Keatley Garvey
The LASER, free and open to the public, will begin with socializing and networking from 6:30 to 7 p.m. Each speaker will deliver a 25-minute presentation. "This possibly may be the last LASER event on the UC Davis campus," said coordinator and moderator Anna Davidson.

• Ian Pollock, assistant professor of art who directs the Graduate Multimedia Program at California State University, East Bay, will speak on his work from 7 to 7:25. His creative work with communications technologies is featured in several anthologies of digital media art. In addition to fruitful collaborations in Guerrilla Grafting, he is involved in mapping prejudice and developing an after-school program in neuroscience and game making. He holds a master of fine arts degree from UC Berkeley.
• Ciera Martinez, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley where she researches comparative genomics in fruit flies, will discuss “The Concealed Beauty of Plant Architecture” from7:25 to 7:50. Her presentation will revolve around her doctorate work, which focused on plant development. As a biologist, she is interested in how organisms evolve and get their shape. During the break, from 7:50 to 8:10, participants will be given 30 seconds to share their work, announce an exhibition, show or idea.
• Anna Davidson will discuss her art work, “The Beauty of Ambiguity,” from 8:10 to 8:35. She is currently a master of fine arts candidate in Art Studio at UC Davis. She earlier received her doctorate from UC Davis in the Department of Plant Sciences where she studied plant ecophysiology.
• Sarah Strand will cover “The Evolution of Religion” in her talk from8:35 to 9 p.m. Strand teaches psychology classes at California State University, Sacramento. She holds a doctorate in behavioral neuroscience and has lectured on neurobiology topics (including religion, morality and love) for six years. In her abstract, Strand says: “Darwin's theory of natural selection provides a spring board for a discussion about the evolution of ideas, including religion. From this perspective, the biopsychological origins of religion and atheism are discussed. Concluding statements focus on evidence of how religion has ‘survived' by expanding and adjusting to changes in culture, a.k.a. it's ‘environment.'”

The series of LASER events on the UC Davis campus are affiliated with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded by entomologist/artist Diane Ullman, professor of entomology, UC Davis Department of Entomoogy and Nematology, and self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick.

For more information, contact Anna Davidson atadavidson@ucdavis.edu or access the Facebook page athttps://www.facebook.com/events/1715690135315290/

Courtesy photo of Ciara Martinez of UC Berkeley will discuss "The Concealed Beauty of Plant Architecture at the UC Davis LASER event on April 14.