Continuing with our 10th anniversary theme is another Life Science Cafe alumnus here to talk about his work! This month we are so very thrilled to welcome back Dr. Aaron Grade. He will be talking all about his research on our feathered friends and how your backyard could be a haven or a landscape of fear for your local wildlife.

Please join us in learning about his research on Thursday November 18th at 6pm EST. Please register here.

Don’t forget to register for this month’s fish-tastic cafe! Help us continue to celebrate our 10th anniversary with (soon to be Dr.) Lian Guo!

Please join us in learning about her research on Thursday October 21st at 6pm EST. Please register here.

Our first cafe of the semester will make this a spectacular September! Help us kick off our 10-year anniversary with (soon to be Dr.) Emma Dauster! 

Please join us in learning about her research on Thursday September 23rd at 6pm EST. Please register here .

Welcome back to another great (and very special!) season of Life Science Cafe! This year as we are celebrating 10 years of Life Science Cafe we will be bringing back some familiar faces from Life Science Cafe history. Join us as we welcome this season’s speakers all of whom where prominent members and leaders of Life Science Cafe through the years!

Hello,
I hope everyone is enjoying the warmer weather! The Life Science Cafe team are here to announce our last cafe of the semester-The Evolution of Coral Companions with Dr. Raul Gonzalez-Pech! It’s shore to be an interesting one!

Please register here. We’re looking forward to seeing you there!

Hello everyone, 
We’re excited to welcome Dr. Elias Capello for our next Life Science Cafe of the season on this Thursday April 22nd at 6pm EST! Please register here. Hope to see you there!

Also, keep an eye out our for our last cafe of the season on May 20th with Dr. Raul Gonzalez-Pech where we’ll talk about the evolution of corals and their microbial friends! In the meantime, remember to keep your friends close, and your anenomes closer!

Hello everyone, 
We at the Life Science Cafe team are very excited to announce our next speaker of the season: Dr. Yadilette Rivera-Colon!

Please join us in learning about her research on Thursday March 11th at 6pm EST. Please register here. 

For future cafes, please check out the Save the Date tab. Hope to see you there!

Hello everyone, 
We at the Life Science Cafe team are very excited to announce our first speaker of the season: Dr. Li-Jun Ma!

Please join us in learning about her research on Thursday February 18th at 6pm EST. Please register here. 

For future cafes, please check out the Save the Date tab. Hope to see you there!

Thank you everyone for joining us for our latest café ‘Your Child’s Brain: How We Learn to Trust and Navigate Our World’ with Dr Carrie Palmquist! We had a lot of great questions that brought up some resources we would like to share with everyone as well as a video that we were unable to share within our timeframe.

• If you are interested in registering for one of her studies or keeping up with her work here is her website: https://www.amherst.edu/academiclife/departments/psychology/research_labs/child_learning
• If you are interested in participating in other studies: https://childrenhelpingscience.com/
• If you need the assistance of a professional: https://www.umass.edu/sphhs/communication-disorders/center-language-speech-and-hearing
  • “The Center for Language, Speech and Hearing offers a comprehensive range of clinical services for individuals with communication disorders, differences or delays. Speech, language and hearing services provided by the Center include both diagnostic evaluations and treatment sessions and are available to individuals of all ages. The Center accepts referrals from physicians, health care providers, educators and related professionals, as well as from parents, guardians and self-referrals.”
• To learn more about the issues of WEIRD Science and what that means please see an article written by our very own Emma Dauster: http://thatslifesci.com/weird-science/
• And finally, the video we did not get to watch on an example of eye tracking to show the use of letter boards as a tool for individuals with autism:

Thank you everyone for joining us for our latest café ‘What’s bugging the bees?’ with Dr Rosemary Malfi! We had a lot of great questions that brought up some resources we would like to share with everyone.

What effect does Copper Sulfide and other pesticides have on bees?

• This compound is considered to have low toxicity based on lethal dosage studies performed in honey bees (there is a nice summary of toxicity of various agrochemicals from Michigan State Extension https://www.canr.msu.edu/uploads/resources/pdfs/Minimizing_Pesticide_Risk_to_Bees_in_Fruit_Crops_(E3245).pdf ). However, there appears to be at least one study (from Brazil https://entomologytoday.org/2016/04/11/study-shows-leaf-fertilizers-to-be-toxic-to-stingless-bees/ ) showing that solitary bee species may suffer greater impacts with oral exposure (e.g., eating it). Unfortunately, toxicity classifications are almost always based on what is lethal to honeybees, which likely do not represent the sensitivity of other species. With all that said, there is always a balance we are trying to strike between protecting pollinators and protecting our crops from pests and disease. Applying copper at times when a plant is not flowering and applying it in the evening will help to reduce direct exposure of bees to this compound. 

How can we help Pollinators?

How can I safely get rid of carpenter bees without using dangerous chemicals?

• The soda bottle traps are quite effective.
  • You can make your own: https://www.livingsmall.com/carpenter-bees-how-to-get-rid-of-them-with-this-diy-trap/ 
  • Or you can buy them: https://bestbeebrothers.com/products/best-carpenter-bee-trap?gclid=CjwKCAjw8-78BRA0EiwAFUw8LG7flH__pIPHWMsSxw-vAf59mXo0PHOH9S0gRc9hej12Zkxxl9Z4ixoCdZgQAvD_BwE