Bellarmine University News

Bellarmine University Welcomes Award-winning Author Dava Sobel for Guarnaschelli Lecture

webmaster@bellarmine.edu — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:00:00 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Oct. 21, 2009) – Author Dava Sobel will present the 2009 Guarnaschelli Lecture on Thursday, Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m. in Frazier Hall at Bellarmine University. The lecture is free and open to the public. In her book "Galileo's Daughter," Sobel explores the life of the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei through letters he exchanged with his eldest daughter, the cloistered nun Suor Maria Celeste.

Bellarmine University invited Sobel to speak in recognition of the International Year of Astronomy and the relationship between Galileo and the university namesake St. Robert Bellarmine, both men of faith and reason. Seventeen years before the Vatican sentenced Galileo to house arrest for teaching the Copernican Theory, Bellarmine had warned him against defending the theory on the orders of Pope Paul V. By the time the church sentenced Galileo, Bellarmine had been dead for several years.

Sobel, a former New York Times science reporter, also is author of "Longitude" and "The Planets" and has co-authored five books, including "Is Anyone Out There?" with astronomer Frank Drake.

Sobel received the 2001 Individual Public Service Award from the National Science Board "for fostering awareness of science and technology among broad segments of the general public." Also in 2001, the Boston Museum of Science gave her its prestigious Bradford Washburn Award for her "outstanding contribution toward public understanding of science, appreciation of its fascination, and the vital role it plays in all our lives."

The Guarnaschelli Lecture Series brings leading arts and humanities speakers to the Louisville community. It is made possible by a grant from Dr. John and Marty Guarnaschelli of Louisville. Past lecturers include: Isabel Allende, U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, James Dickey, William L. Shirer, Gwendolyn Brooks, Harold Wilson, George McGovern, Norman Mailer, Joyce Carol Oates, Ken Burns, Richard Rodriguez, Seamus Heaney, Wendell Berry, Leslie Marmon Silko, Wendy Whelan (with Nilas Martins), Peter Matthiessen, William Styron, Kathleen Norris, Allen D. Glenn, John Dunne, Jared Diamond and Salman Rushdie.

Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs and a doctor of physical therapy. Forbes.com and the Princeton Review rank Bellarmine among America's best institutions for higher education, and U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Bellarmine as a top tier university.

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Bellarmine Physics Department Wins NASA Grant to Join the Search for Earth-like Planets

webmaster@bellarmine.edu — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 3, 2009) – What is the possibility of finding another Earth? To date, scientists have discovered more than 400 extrasolar planets -- planets that orbit a star outside of our solar system. But finding a rocky, potentially habitable, Earth-like planet is a key goal that has so far eluded even the most advanced space-based telescopes. NASA, via the Kentucky Space Grant Consortium, has awarded Bellarmine University Physics Professor Akhtar Mahmood and his students a $25,000 grant to assist scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, Calif., on a new space-based mission that will search nearby stars for Earth-sized planets.

The project, known as the SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory (formerly the Space Interferometry Mission), is currently in development. Dr. Mahmood and two students, Ben Draper and Richard Jelsma, will join the JPL team working on the Spectral Calibration Development Unit, a platform for testing the very precise calibration necessary to produce instruments capable of identifying extrasolar planets.

"The partnership with JPL provides a tremendous opportunity for students participating in this project," said Dr. Mahmood. "They will be able to interact and work alongside some of the leading NASA scientists and play a scientific role in this future frontier SIM Lite space mission. This is simply fascinating. It almost sounds like a science fiction project!"

Draper and Jelsma will spend several weeks at JPL, analyzing the resolution and error of the test unit's interferometer measurements. An interferometer combines the light from multiple telescopes to produce the effect of one, much larger telescope. Students also will conduct some of the data analyses at Bellarmine University using a cluster computer.

In its selection of the Bellarmine team and decision to award the grant, the review panel wrote, "The committee felt that this was an impressive proposal and provided an incredible opportunity for students to work on the SIM Lite project."

JPL is developing the SIM Lite Astrometric Observatory under contract with NASA in collaboration with Northrop Grumman in Redondo Beach, Calif. The California Institute of Technology manages JPL for NASA.

For more information about SIM Lite, visit:

Planet Quest

Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs and a doctor of physical therapy. Forbes.com and the Princeton Review rank Bellarmine among America’s best institutions for higher education, and U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Bellarmine as a top tier university.

For more information about the Bellarmine University Physics Department, visit:

Bellarmine University Physics

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Bellarmine Hosts Discussion on the Conflict in Darfur

webmaster@bellarmine.edu — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The United Nations says more than 300,000 people have died in the conflict in Darfur, Sudan, which the United States has recognized as genocide. Bellarmine University will host a discussion on the situation in Darfur lead by Jerry Fowler of the Save Darfur Coalition on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 11:00 a.m. The event will be held in Hilary’s in Horrigan Hall on the Bellarmine University campus. The event is free and open to the public.

Fowler leads the Save Darfur Coalition and is recognized as an authority on the problem of responding to genocide and related crimes against humanity. He taught law at George Washington University, George Mason University and American University. He also served for four years as an officer in the United States Army. Fowler’s publications include "Out of that Darkness: Preventing Genocide in the 21st Century." He also directed a short film "A Good Man in Hell: General Romeo Daillare and the Rwanda Genocide."

The Save Darfur Coalition collaborates with its more than 180 member organizations, directs communications with more than one million Darfur activists, more than one thousand community coalitions and joint efforts with a strong global community in more than 50 countries. For more information about the Save Darfur Coalition, visit:

Save Darfur

Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs and a doctor of physical therapy. Forbes.com and the Princeton Review rank Bellarmine among America’s best institutions for higher education, and U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Bellarmine as a top tier university.

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Bellarmine, UofL event celebrates the heavens

webmaster@bellarmine.edu — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 2009 International Year of Astronomy marks the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first telescopic view of the heavens. Bellarmine University and the University of Louisville are joining the celebration with an unveiling of unprecedented new NASA images of our galaxy and a panel discussion on Nov. 19.

The free event, co-sponsored by the universities, begins at 7 p.m. in the Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium at UofL. At 7:30 p.m., the panel discussion begins in the dome.

Galileo spent the last several years of his life under house arrest because his teaching that the planets rotated around the sun went against the position of the Catholic Church and the science of his day.

The panel of scientific and religious scholars will discuss the history of faith and reason, Galileo's contribution to space science and the next generation of space observation.

Panelists include: James Lauroesch, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, UofL; Rachel Connolly, director, Gheens Science Hall and Rauch Planetarium; Katherine Bulinski, assistant professor of geosciences, Bellarmine University; Akhtar Mahmood, associate professor of physics, Bellarmine and J. Milburn Thompson, chair, theology dept., Bellarmine.

The unveiling includes a giant 6-foot-by-3-foot image that presents a unique view of the galaxy in near-infrared light observed by the Hubble Space Telescope, infrared light observed by Spitzer Space Telescope and X-ray light observed by Chandra X-ray Observatory. This combined image was carefully assembled from mosaic photo surveys of the Milky Way's core by each telescope. It provides the most wide-ranging view ever of our galaxy*s mysterious hub.

The universities will also unveil a matched trio of Hubble, Spitzer, and Chandra images of the Milky Way*s center on a second large panel measuring 3-feet-by-4-feet. Each image shows the telescope*s different wavelength view of the central region of our galaxy that illustrates not only the unique science each observatory conducts, but also how far astronomy has come since Galileo.

Additional information about the Hubble Space Telescope is available at http://hubblesite.org/. Additional information about the Spitzer Space Telescope is available at http://www.spitzer.caltech.edu/. Additional information about the Chandra X-ray Observatory is available at http://chandra.harvard.edu/. Additional information about NASA*s celebration of the International Year of Astronomy is available at http://astronomy2009.nasa.gov/.

Refreshments will be provided and free parking for the event is available on a first come, first served basis beginning at 7 p.m. in the red lot by building 83 on the map at this link: http://louisville.edu/planetarium/visit/BELKNAPmap.pdf. Inexpensive pay parking is available at the Speed Art Museum parking garage, next to the planetarium.

The new images will remain on display for public viewing in Bellarmine's Norton Health Science Center and at the Rauch Planetarium.

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Bellarmine University Students Excel in 2009 Kentucky Academy of Science Competition

webmaster@bellarmine.edu — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:00:00 EST

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Nov. 17, 2009) – Bellarmine University physics and biology students finished strong in competition at the annual Kentucky Academy of Science meeting Nov. 13-14 at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights.

The list of Bellarmine student presenters follows:

Ben Draper won first place in the undergraduate research oral competition in physics and astronomy for his presentation, "Mass Predictions of Charmed and Beauty Baryons."

Richard Jelsma won first place in the undergraduate research poster competition in physics and astronomy for his poster titled, "Measurement of Muon Flux and Lifetime Using a Cosmic Ray Muon Detector." Dr. Akhtar Mahmood mentored the research by both Draper and Jelsma.

Stephanie Kortyka won second place in the undergraduate research competition in agricultural sciences for her oral presentation, "An evaluation of the chemopreventative properties of different pawpaw varieties." Dr. Dave Robinson and Dr. Joann Lau, both from Bellarmine, served as mentors, along with Dr. Kirk Pomper of Kentucky State University.

Shakeeb Ahmad won second place in the undergraduate research competition in health sciences for his oral presentation, "Can two different forms of breast cancer therapy be combined to reduce cell proliferation of both female and male lung cancer cells?" Dr. Lau served as faculty mentor.

Sarah Roebker won first place in the undergraduate poster competition in botany for her poster on "A clinostat for evaluating plant response to microgravity." Dr. Lau and Dr. Robinson served as her mentors.

Catherine Brumm won second place in the undergraduate poster competition in botany for her poster titled, "Bioinformatics analysis of a thaumatin-like protein from Giant Ragweed." Dr. Robinson and Dr. Lau were mentors.

Daniel Eschenbach and Jillian Goines won first place in the undergraduate poster competition in health sciences for their poster on "An evaluation of the chemopreventative properties from Venus Flytrap (Dionaea muscipula Ellis)." Dr. Joann Lau was mentor. Eschenbach is a biochemistry and molecular biology major.

Cristin Samuels made an oral presentation titled, "Characterization of the protein pheromones of the salamander Plethodon cinereus" in the Cellular and Molecular Biology section. Dr. Steven Wilt was mentor. This research was carried out at the University of Louisville Health Science Center during a summer internship funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Christy Read presented an oral presentation titled "Development of stable HeLa cell lines expressing FLAG-tagged Syntaxin-6" in the Cellular and Molecular Biology section. Dr. Wilt was mentor. This research also was carried out at the University of Louisville Health Science Center during a summer internship funded by the National Institutes of Health.

For more information about the Kentucky Academy of Science, visit:

http://www.kyacademyofscience.org

For more information about the biology program at Bellarmine, visit:

http://www.bellarmine.edu/cas/biology/

For information about the physics program at Bellarmine, visit:

http://www.bellarmine.edu/cas/physics/

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