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Autumn is officially here according to the calendar, if perhaps not the daily high temperatures, and while the daylight hours are growing shorter, CSUN Biologists are no less busy. This week in the department brings a Faculty meeting with a jam-packed agenda, a colloquium seminar on the forensic applications of blowfly reproductive habits, and an exciting new funding award.
Biology faculty and student representatives will have a Faculty meeting Friday at 11am, in Chaparral Hall room 5102, and over Zoom; check your email for a meeting link.
The Biology Colloquium Seminar Series continues Friday with a talk by Khadija Moctar, a forensic entomologist with the Indiana State Department of Health. Dr. Moctar is a CSUN almuna who went on to doctoral research at Indiana University, and she will present her research on egg-laying behavior by blowflies, which are often key indicators in forensic investigations. Her talk, which is sponsored by URISE, will be titled “Calliphorid hygrosensation perception and the effect of humidity on oviposition behavior” Colloquium seminars are held most Fridays this semester at 2:30 pm in Chaparral Hall 5122; after his talk, Dr. Moctar will join a meet-the-speaker gathering with students in Chaparral Hall 5201.
NIH funding SCREAMs for RNA thermometers
The SCREAM team (aka the Abdelsayed lab) is celebrating receipt of a $2 million, five year NIH R35 grant to study structured RNA elements known as RNA thermometers. RNA thermometers are structured RNA elements that sense temperature changes and regulate gene expression in responses to changes in temperature. This project will focus on the discovery of genomic RNA thermometers and developing synthetic RNA thermometers for biotechnology applications.