The Chancellor's Colloquium series continues next week with UCSF biochemist Bruce Alberts, a former two-term president of the National Academy of Sciences, speaking on “Science and the World’s Future.”

The colloquium, featuring Alberts’ talk and a follow-up panel with two UC Davis professors, plus a question-and-answer session with the audience, is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 24, in the Vanderhoef Studio Theatre at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts. Admission is free and open to the public.  See RSVP information below.

Alberts joined the UC San Francisco faculty in 1976 and served as department chair from 1985 to 1990 (and from 1981 to 1982 in an acting capacity).

Now on emeritus status, he has been the editor-in-chief of Science magazine since 2008, and, as of 2009, has served as a science envoy in President Barack Obama's administration. Obama initially selected three such envoys, including Alberts, to build scientific links between the United States and the Muslim world.

Alberts is one of the original authors of The Molecular Biology of the Cell, now in its fifth edition as a preeminent textbook in the field.

Alberts boasts a strong commitment to the improvement of science and mathematics education. As president of the national academy (1993 to 2005), he was instrumental in developing the landmark National Science Education standards that have since been implemented in school systems across the country.

The colloquium program lists the panel as follows:

• Jodi Nunnari — professor and chair, department of Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Dawn Sumner — professor, Department of Geology

The organizers are asking for RSVPs by e-mail to eventrsvp@ucdavis.edu. For more information, call Ceremonies and Special Events, (530) 754-2262.

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES CONFERENCE: The Department of Native American Studies is hosting the 2011 conference of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. The conference is scheduled from Thursday through Saturday (May 19 to 21) at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Sacramento.

The conference website lists these highlights:

• Welcome and blessing — During the opening session, 8:15-9:30 a.m. Thursday, May 19.
• Literary Potlatch — 8-10 p.m. Thursday, May 19.
• Reception — 6-10 p.m. Friday, May 20, at the California State Museum, in conjunction with the new exhibition, California Indians: Making A Difference.

Read the UC Davis news release.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRAZIL: A brown bag is planned next week on higher education in Brazil, with guest speaker Jorge Almeida Guimarães of the Ministry of Education.

University Outreach and International Programs, Graduate Studies and the Department of Entomology are sponsoring the free program.

Guimarães is president of the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, or CAPES (Federal Agency of Support and Evaluation of Postgraduate Education), which is responsible for promoting and evaluating the Brazilian system of graduate education.

CAPES supports many programs to improve quality in higher education, and to promote Brazilian research in science and technology.

Brown bag organizers said Guimarães will present the main activities of CAPES and show the increasing importance of international cooperation to promote high-level study.

The brown bag is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, May 23, in the Institute of Governmental Affairs Reading Room, 360 Shields Library.

For more information, contact Parvin Damania, (530) 754-9707 or padamania@ucdavis.edu.

THE UK-EU PERSPECTIVE ON THE LOW-CARBON ECONOMY: British diplomat and economist Nick Bridge will participate next week in a program titled “Unlocking the Low-Carbon Economy: the EU-UK Perspective,” according to an announcement from University Outreach and International Programs.

UOIP is a co-sponsor with the UC Davis Energy Institute and the Institute of Governmental Affairs.

The organizers said Bridge will explain United Kingdom and European Union energy and climate change policy frameworks, and welcomes discussion about UC Davis research and interest in this area, and views on energy and environment developments and challenges at the state and federal levels.

Bridge is attached to the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., serving as the counselor for global issues in energy, the environment, trade, science and business. Read his blog.

He previously served as the chief economist in the United Kingdom’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and he was involved in the Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change.

The program is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, May 26, in the Institute of Governmental Affairs Reading Room, 360 Shields Library.

THE LAND IS THE SOURCE OF THE LAW: UC Davis next week hosts Christine F. Black for a program centered on her book The Land is the Source of the Law: A Dialogic Encounter with Indigenous Jurisprudence.

The program, comprising a lecture and book signing, is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, May 26, in the Risling Room, 3201 Hart Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

Black, an Australian Aborigine (Kombumerri and Munaljahlai peoples), is a researcher with the Griffith Climate Change Response Program and the Centre for Coastal Management, both at Griffith University in Australia.

In The Land is the Source of the Law, Black elucidates Aboriginal Australia’s classical thinking and its relevance to contemporary issues — drawing her analysis from the writings of three “senior law men."

“This classical thinking reflects more than 60,000 years of jurisprudential understanding, of why it is important to make peace with the earth for long-term viability,” reads a flier for Black’s lecture.

The Department of Native American Studies, the School of Law, and the Women's Resources and Research Center are co-hosting the program.

RESEARCH FUNDING WORKSHOP: University Outreach and International Programs announced a brown bag workshop on research funding opportunities associated with France, Germany and the United Kingdom.

UOIP and the Institute of Governmental Affairs are co-sponsoring the workshop.

The organizers said representatives from various funding sources will provide an overview of their programs.

• France — France Berkeley Fund (a partnership between the government of France and UC Berkeley)
• Germany — Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst, or DADD (German Academic Exchange Service); the Alexander von Humboldt-Foundation; and the German Research Foundation
• United Kingdom — Research Councils UK

The workshop is scheduled from noon to 1:30 p.m. Monday, June 6, in the Institute of Governmental Affairs Reading Room, 360 Shields Library. The organizers are asking for RSVPs by Tuesday, May 31, by e-mail to uoipfacultyresources@ucdavis.edu.

For more information: contact Jennie Konsella-Norene, international funding analyst, (530) 754-9403 or jknorene@ucdavis.edu.

UOIP Faculty Resources