Welcome back to Science Fair, Bwog’s weekly roundup of science events happening around campus. As always, email science@bwog.com if you want your event featured.

A Spark of Light: Ukraine’s Energy Sector During Russian Invasion

  • Tuesday, December 3, 12:15 pm–1:45 pm.
  • In-person at International Affairs Building, Marshall D. Shulman Seminar Room.  Registration required.
  • Mark Temnycky will discuss Ukraine’s efforts to enhance energy security amidst and despite Russia’s invasion, focusing on renewable energy integration and reduced dependency on Russian energy. Moderated by Mark Andryczyk. More information.

Nothing Without Us: Women and the HIV Response

  • Tuesday, December 3, 1:30 pm–3:00 pm.
  • In-person at Allan Rosenfield Building, 8th Floor Auditorium. No registration required.
  • Women play a pivotal role in the HIV/AIDS response. This event aims to address health care, activism, and program design. The event will feature a screening of excerpts from the acclaimed documentary, Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End AIDS. Following the screening, there will be a panel with the director and Columbia affiliates. More information.

Applied Mathematics Colloquium with Peng Chen

  • Tuesday, December 3, 2:45 pm–3:45 pm.
  • In-person at Mudd Hall, Room 214. No registration required.
  • Peng Chen, PhD from Georgia Tech presents fast, scalable methods for solving Bayesian optimal experimental design problems in computational mathematics. More information.

Neurosymbolic Program Synthesis: Bridging Perception and Reasoning

  • Wednesday, December 4, 11:40 am–12:40 pm.
  • In-person at Department of Computer Science, Room 451. No registration required.
  • Isil Dillig explores the integration of neural networks and symbolic reasoning in real-world applications, such as robot learning and data extraction. More information.

Tissue Talks: Don Ingber, Harvard University

  • Wednesday, December 4, 2024, 3:00 PM–4:00 PM.
  • Online via Zoom. Registration required.
  • Dr. Don Ingber will discuss his research to develop breakthrough bioinspired technologies to advance healthcare and to improve sustainability. This is a part of the weekly Biomedical Engineering Tissue Talks webinar series. More information.

IICD Seminar Series: Livnat Jerby, Stanford University

  • Wednesday, December 4, 2:00 pm–3:00 pm.
  • Schermerhorn Hall, Room 603 and Online via Zoom. Registration required for Zoom.
  • Livnat Jerby presents novel strategies to enhance targeted immune responses through RNA-based and cell-engineering interventions for cancer and immune evasion. More information.

Anchoring Climate Finance Conversations: NCQG, COP, and Beyond

  • Wednesday, December 4, 2:45 pm–4:15 pm.
  • In-person Jerome Greene Hall, Room 104. Registration required.
  • Columbia Faculty members will lead this session which aims to deepen students’ knowledge and understanding of critical topics in climate finance, focusing on the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) and insights post-COP. This event will build on the COP 101 Workshop. More information.

Inaugural Shu and KC Chien Distinguished Lecture with Guest Speaker Hanjoon Jo

  • Thursday, December 5, 11:30 am–12:30 pm.
  • In-person at Schapiro CEPSR, Davis Auditorium and Online via Zoom. Registration required for Zoom. 
  • Hanjoon Jo, PhD from Emory University will deliver the inaugural Shu and KC Chien Distinguished Lecture, addressing advancements in biomedical engineering research. More information.

Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy Seminar: Noah McQueen

  • Thursday, December 5, 2:30 pm–3:30 pm.
  • In-person at The Forum, Meeting Room 301. Registration required.
  • Noah McQueen of Heirloom discusses innovations in direct air capture technology to combat climate change by scaling carbon removal systems. A reception will follow the seminar. More information.

Lecture Series in AI: Danqi Chen, Princeton University

  • Friday, December 6, 10:30 am–12:00 pm.
  • In-person at Schapiro CEPSR, Davis Auditorium. No registration required.
  • Danqi Chen, PhD explores the role of academic research in training efficient, scalable language models for advancing AI capabilities for more accessible and powerful language models. More information.

Climate Change, Conservation, and the Increasing Number of Sargassum Blooms in the Caribbean

  • Friday, December 6, 12:00 pm–1:00 pm.
  • In-person at Hogan Hall, 566 W. 114 St. Registration required.
  • Patrick Gallagher will discuss the impact of climate change on Caribbean ecosystems, focusing on Sargassum blooms and conservation challenges in response to the rapidly changing coastal environments. More information.

Plasma Physics Colloquium with Rob Kolasinski

  • Friday, December 6, 3:00 pm–4:00 pm.
  • In-person at Mudd Hall, Room 644. No registration required.
  • Rob Kolasinski of Sandia National Lab explores advanced plasma-facing materials for fusion energy, focusing on material response to extreme environments. More information.

Science Fair via Madeline Douglas