Teller Lecture Series

Nobel laureate George Smoot of UC Berkeley is the next speaker in the Teller Lecture Series in Interdisciplinary Science.

Smoot’s talk, free and open to the public, is set for 3 p.m. April 12 in 1003 Giedt Hall. His topic: “Cosmic Background Radiation: Window to the Creation and History of the Universe.”

Smoot, an astrophysicist, won the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics as leader of a team that imaged the infant universe, revealing its newborn form and the patterns that have shaped the universe ever since. Smoot’s work helped to change the nature of the quest to understand the origin and evolution of the universe, according to UC Berkeley’s Nobel Prize Web site.

Building in space

Aggienaut Stephen Robinson, who recently returned from his fourth space mission, is due on campus today (April 9) to participate in a forum and give a lecture:

• 10-10:45 a.m. — Open forum for faculty and students, “The Future of Human Spaceflight in America.”

• 11 a.m. — Lecture, “Heavy Con-struction Made Weightless — Build-ing the International Space Station,” in the College of Engineering’s Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series. Free and open to the public.

Both events are set to take place in 1003 Giedt Hall.

Robinson, who received his bachelor’s degree from UC Davis in 1978, worked aboard the space station for two weeks in February. The mission specialist was part of the Space Shuttle Endeavour crew that delivered and assembled the Node 3 module, also known as Tranquility, an observation cupola that offers panoramic views of Earth and other celestial objects, as well as visiting spacecraft.

The mission marked Robinson’s fourth shuttle flight into space and his first visit to the space station.

Statistics synergy

The Statistical Science Symposium, fostering communication and collaboration between statistics and other scientific fields, is scheduled for April 15. The symposium features the Shumway Lectures, to be delivered by Norm Breslow of the University of Washington and David Brillinger of UC Berkeley.

The lectures are set to begin at 2 p.m. in the colloquium room of the Mathematical Sciences Building. A reception will follow, just outside the building, with a poster session to run concurrently with the reception. A dinner is scheduled at 6:30 p.m. at the Gunrock Pub.

Registration and more information.

Greenhouse gas reduction

Can we achieve meaningful green house gas reductions at a reasonable cost in the U.S. or worldwide? What are the costs and benefits of policies designed to reduce emissions?

These are among the topics for an April 15 panel: "The Economic and Regulatory Realities of Greenhouse Gas Emissions." Organizers said faculty, and regulatory and industry experts, will discuss reduction strategies and the economic, political and practical issues raised by regulatory and policy approaches to emissions control.

The featured panelists: Anthony Eggert, commissioner, California Energy Commission; John DiStasio, general manager and chief executive officer, Sacramento Municipal Utility District; and Christopher Knittel, associate professor,
Department of Economics.

The program lists the moderator as Brad Barber, the Maurice J. and Marcia G. Gallagher Chair in Finance, Graduate School of Management, and director,
Center for Investor Welfare and Corporate Responsibility.

RSVPs are due by April 12 to ghg4.15.2010@gmail.com (please include your name in message).

Sponsors: Center for Investor Welfare and Corporate Responsibility, Institute for Governmental Affairs, Energy Efficiency Center, Energy Institute and Davis Net Impact.

’Failed State?’

UC Davis is set to host “Failed State? Crisis and Renewal in California Politics and Culture,” from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. April 16 at the Rec Pool Lodge.

Conference co-sponsors include the UC Consortium for California, the Humanities Institute and the forthcoming UC publication Boom: A Journal of California, co-edited by UC Davis faculty members Louis Warren, the W. Turrentine Jackson Professor of Western U.S. History, and Carolyn de la Peña, associate professor of American studies and director of the Humanities Institute.

More information is available online. No more sign-ups are being taken; the Web site indicates additional spaces may be made available on the day of the event.

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