BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN PRODID:iCalendar-Ruby BEGIN:VEVENT CATEGORIES:Academics,Natural & Applied Sciences Division,Biology,Campus-Lif e,Sustainability DESCRIPTION:Water insecurity and water quality will be the focus of two lec tures at Hope College on Thursday and Friday\, Feb. 13-14\, in Winants Audi torium of Graves Hall.\n\nThe address “Making Water Insecurity Visible: New Ways to Think about and Measure Water\,” geared toward a general audience\ , will be presented on Thursday\, Feb. 13\, at 5:30 p.m. The address “What ’s in our water? A journey from basic research to societal scale synthetic biology\,” a more technically-oriented talk\, will be presented on Friday\, Feb. 14\, at 3 p.m. The public is invited to each\, and admission is free .\n\nThe lectures will be presented jointly by Dr. Julius Lucks\, who is a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern University \, and Dr. Sera Young\, who is a professor of anthropology at Northwestern University. Both events are co-sponsored by the Biology Department and the Global Water Research Institute (GWRI) at Hope College through the college ’s Dr. Harrison C. Visscher ’51 and Dr. Robert D. Visscher ’51 Lectureship in Genetics.\n\nLucks’ research has enhanced understanding of the molecular principles that enable biological systems to sense and adapt to changing e nvironments\, and to understanding how the principles can be used to engine er synthetic biological systems that benefit humankind. A focal point of hi s team’s work is RNA – a fundamental component of all living systems that e nacts genetic\, regulatory and catalytic functions by folding into intricat e shapes within cells. His group has discovered new ways in which the compl exity of RNA folding can be distilled into simple rules. Combining the disc overies with cutting-edge cell-free synthetic biology techniques has allowe d his team to design low-cost\, on-demand diagnostic technologies that can detect water contaminants and pathogens.\n\nYoung’s research focuses on obt aining and evaluating high-resolution\, globally comparable data that go be yond physical availability to assess access and use to enhance understandin g of the human health impact of problems with water quality and quantity. She has led the development of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences ( HWISE) and the Individual Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) scales\, the first cross-culturally equivalent way of measuring water access and use (h wise.org). These scales have been implemented in at least 50 countries by m ore than 100 governmental\, policy\, research and civil organizations. The Young Research Group is currently using these scales to estimate the preval ence of water insecurity globally\, and to investigate its causes and conse quences.\n\nThe college’s Dr. Harrison C. Visscher ’51 and Dr. Robert D. Vi sscher ’51 Lectureship in Genetics\, which was created to bring recognized scholars in the field of genetics to campus\, premiered in the fall of 2013 with an address by Nobel Laureate Dr. Thomas R. Cech of the University of Colorado\, Boulder. The biennial lectureship was established by Dr. Harris on C. Visscher and Dr. Robert D. Visscher\, 1951 Hope graduates and twin br others who each pursued careers in medicine. They practiced obstetrics and gynecology together for almost 20 years in Grand Rapids\, and in 1965 init iated an obstetrics and gynecology residency training program at Blodgett M emorial Medical Center and Saint Mary’s Hospital. Harrison Visscher’s care er included 15 years in Washington\, D.C.\, as director of education for th e American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists\; Robert Visscher’s c areer included starting the first in vitro fertilization program in 1982 in western Michigan and serving as executive director of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Harrison Visscher died in December 2013\, whil e Robert Visscher lives in Holland.\n\nThe Global Water Research Institute (GWRI) at Hope College enables water-centered research that seeks to transf orm health and well-being of local\, regional and global communities. The institute’s interdisciplinary collaborative student and faculty research pr ovides improved understanding of water and equips communities to make data- driven decisions about their water use. Launched on World Water Day in 202 2\, the institute is grounded in experience honed at Hope since the latter 1960s in conducting research on water quality and related issues. GWRI inv olves faculty and students from the departments of biology\, chemistry\, ge ological and environmental science\, mathematics and statistics\, political science and religion\, and works with the college’s Global Health Program. \n\nTo inquire about accessibility or if you need accommodations to fully p articipate in the event\, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates re lated to events are posted when available at hope.edu/calendar in the indiv idual listings.\n\nWater insecurity and water quality will be the focus of two lectures at Hope College on Thursday and Friday\, Feb. 13-14\, in Winan ts Auditorium of Graves Hall.\n\nThe address “Making Water Insecurity Visib le: New Ways to Think about and Measure Water\,” geared toward a general au dience\, will be presented on Thursday\, Feb. 13\, at 5:30 p.m. The addres s “What’s in our water? A journey from basic research to societal scale syn thetic biology\,” a more technically-oriented talk\, will be presented on F riday\, Feb. 14\, at 3 p.m. The public is invited to each\, and admission is free.\n\nThe lectures will be presented jointly by Dr. Julius Lucks\, wh o is a professor of chemical and biological engineering at Northwestern Uni versity\, and Dr. Sera Young\, who is a professor of anthropology at Northw estern University. Both events are sponsored by the Global Water Research Institute (GWRI) at Hope College through the college’s Dr. Harrison C. Viss cher ’51 and Dr. Robert D. Visscher ’51 Lectureship in Genetics.\n\nLucks’ research has enhanced understanding of the molecular principles that enable biological systems to sense and adapt to changing environments\, and to un derstanding how the principles can be used to engineer synthetic biological systems that benefit humankind. A focal point of his team’s work is RNA – a fundamental component of all living systems that enacts genetic\, regulat ory and catalytic functions by folding into intricate shapes within cells. His group has discovered new ways in which the complexity of RNA folding ca n be distilled into simple rules. Combining the discoveries with cutting-ed ge cell-free synthetic biology techniques has allowed his team to design lo w-cost\, on-demand diagnostic technologies that can detect water contaminan ts and pathogens.\n\nYoung’s research focuses on obtaining and evaluating h igh-resolution\, globally comparable data that go beyond physical availabil ity to assess access and use to enhance understanding of the human health i mpact of problems with water quality and quantity. She has led the develop ment of the Household Water Insecurity Experiences (HWISE) and the Individu al Water Insecurity Experiences (IWISE) scales\, the first cross-culturally equivalent way of measuring water access and use (hwise.org). These scales have been implemented in at least 50 countries by more than 100 government al\, policy\, research and civil organizations. The Young Research Group is currently using these scales to estimate the prevalence of water insecurit y globally\, and to investigate its causes and consequences.\n\nThe college ’s Dr. Harrison C. Visscher ’51 and Dr. Robert D. Visscher ’51 Lectureship in Genetics\, which was created to bring recognized scholars in the field o f genetics to campus\, premiered in the fall of 2013 with an address by Nob el Laureate Dr. Thomas R. Cech of the University of Colorado\, Boulder. Th e biennial lectureship was established by Dr. Harrison C. Visscher and Dr. Robert D. Visscher\, 1951 Hope graduates and twin brothers who each pursued careers in medicine. They practiced obstetrics and gynecology together fo r almost 20 years in Grand Rapids\, and in 1965 initiated an obstetrics and gynecology residency training program at Blodgett Memorial Medical Center and Saint Mary’s Hospital. Harrison Visscher’s career included 15 years in Washington\, D.C.\, as director of education for the American College of O bstetricians and Gynecologists\; Robert Visscher’s career included starting the first in vitro fertilization program in 1982 in western Michigan and s erving as executive director of the American Society for Reproductive Medic ine. Harrison Visscher died in December 2013\, while Robert Visscher lives in Holland.\n\nThe Global Water Research Institute (GWRI) at Hope College enables water-centered research that seeks to transform health and well-bei ng of local\, regional and global communities. The institute’s interdiscip linary collaborative student and faculty research provides improved underst anding of water and equips communities to make data-driven decisions about their water use. Launched on World Water Day in 2022\, the institute is gr ounded in experience honed at Hope since the latter 1960s in conducting res earch on water quality and related issues. GWRI involves faculty and stude nts from the departments of biology\, chemistry\, geological and environmen tal science\, mathematics and statistics\, political science and religion\, and works with the college’s Global Health Program.\n\nTo inquire about ac cessibility or if you need accommodations to fully participate in the event \, please email accommodations@hope.edu. Updates related to events are pos ted when available at hope.edu/calendar in the individual listings. DTEND:20250214T210000Z DTSTAMP:20260316T211834Z DTSTART:20250214T200000Z GEO:42.787605;-86.103684 LOCATION:Graves Hall\, Winants Auditorium SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:Visscher Lecture in Genetics - Science Talk UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_48534552219103 URL:https://calendar.hope.edu/event/visscher-lecture-in-genetics-science-ta lk END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR