By Harriet Knight
Frontiers of Science 2010, is running a Rhodes lecture series initiative parallel to the annual National Science Festival. The lectures feature international speakers that include Dr Noel Ashton, Professor Jude Przybors, Dr Lester Davids and Professor Dudley Shallcross, covering a wide spectrum of research topics aimed at a broad but scientifically informed audience.
The lectures, starting today (26 March) at 16H00, begin with Dr Noel Ashton presenting, “The Science Behind Sculpture and Species Identification - Morphologically Mapping the World's Whales and Dolphins.” Dr Ashton is in the unique position of having combined science, art, conservation and philosophy into a range of educational, awareness and conservation initiatives.
Ashton uses the morphological research methodologies he has developed and refined over the past 25 years to create highly accurate scientific illustrations of the world's cetaceans, and these have been used to inform his paintings, sculptures and environmental programmes, including the Sacred Ocean campaign launched by Archbishop Tutu in 2008.
His lecture will illustrate how he has applied his foundation of research into a wide range of disciplines and programmes.
Monday’s (29 March) lecture starting at 14:30, will be given by Professor Jude Przybors entitled, “Malaria: an ancient disease in the modern world”. Prof Przybors comes from Marburg, Germany and focuses her work on various topics related to protein trafficking mechanisms in the human malarial parasite P. falciparum.
Her research aims to characterise the trafficking pathways, and machinery of this intracellular parasite, with a view to identifying targets for intervention strategies.
On Monday questions such as: Why is the skin so important? What is a tattoo? How does hair go grey? Is there a cure for skin cancer? Can we get rid of wrinkles? These and lots of other fascinating questions will be answered by Dr Lester Davids in his lecture on In Vitro Photodynamic killing of Melanoma cells entitled: “A Potential Adjuvant Therapy?”
The lecture, starting at 16h00 in chemistry minor, will focus on the skin and the dynamic molecules that make up the skin layers. As the first layer of the body’s defence, he will illustrate the importance of caring and protecting this organ as it not only represents our body as a whole but is the first level of interaction and so creates the first impression when we interact with people.
Skin is living, and therefore it ages and with that comes associated problems such as potential skin cancers.
The lecture series will end with a talk by Professor Dudley Shallcross at 11h15 on Tuesday (30 March). His lecture entitled, “How much can the biosphere off-set a warming world; recent atmospheric observations and their potential impact.” Prof Shallcross joins us from Bristol University.
Shallcross was the first ever recipient of the SCI (Society of Chemical Industries) International Chemical Education Award in 2006 and later in 2007 he was promoted to Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and also received the University of Bristol's Engagement Award for the Faculty of Science. In 2009 he won the Royal Meteorological Society Award for the promotion of meteorology and allied disciplines to students and the public.