Jessica Richman: Citizen Science

iPad illustration by Peter Durand

“Citizen science is the process of involving the public in science, and it is desperately needed.” Jessica Richman shares the importance of crowdsourcing scientific research, such as to explore the human microbiome. More at: ubiome.com

Kelly Benoit-Bird on How Sea Creatures Make a Living

Associate Professor, College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University Kelly Benoit-Bird applies acoustics to the study of ecosystems in the open ocean. She has helped develop several new optical and acoustical instruments and has made fundamental acoustical measurements of species ranging from zooplankton to fish, squid, and marine mammals. people.oregonstate.edu/~benoitbk/

Jon Rinn: Hauls junk genes

John Rinn is a biologist at Harvard and the Broad Institute, researching how “junk genes” actually play key regulatory roles in human health and disease. “My name is John Rinn and I drive a garbage truck for the human genome. It is the best job in the world.”

Kári Stefánsson: Decoding genetics

Dr. Kári Stefánsson is recognized as a leading figure in human genetics who studies the fuzzy relationship between genetic mutations and environmental factors. “Where is the line of distinction between nature and nurture? Where is the line of distinction between genes and environment? It really doesn’t exist.”

Joy Reidenberg: Weird Whale

Joy Reidenberg, a fast-talking, energetic anatomist captivated the PopTech audience with her talk, “Why Whales are Weird.”  With one amazing fact after the next (Whales evolved from deer-like creatures! Their spinal movement is more like galloping in the water! They don’t actually spout water! They have mustaches!), she took us through the story of evolution using whales as a model. She explained that evolution is the process to mediate resilience and thus, survival.

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Janine Benyus - Biomimicry

Champion of the Earth honoree and biomimicry pioneer Janine Benyus has transformed the way we think about innovation and design. Benyus challenges us to study nature’s best ideas, then imitate its designs and processes to solve some of our greatest human challenges.

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