Melina Abdullah (Pan African Studies) delivered a lecture, "Why Black Lives Matter: History in the Making," at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, CA, Oct. 27, 2015. She was also a keynote speaker for an Advocacy Teach In at Loyola Marymount University, Jan. 30, 2016.
José Cruz González (Music, Theatre and Dance) was invited as a director for Hero Theatre's "Festival Irene: Celebrating Maria Irene Fornes with Her Plays, Panels and the Words of Her Students." He will also participate as a guest artist in this festival, which will take place at the Rosenthal Theater at Inner-City Arts in Los Angeles, Mar. 31- Apr. 10, 2016.
Steve LaDochy and Pedro Ramirez (Geosciences) presented a paper with JPL scientists, William Patzert and Josh Willis. The paper, "ENSO & PDO Trends and Phases: Their Influence on California Climate Variability and Extreme Weather - Floods and Droughts," was presented at the annual American Meteorological Society, Climate Variability and Climate Change Conference in New Orleans, LA, Jan. 11-14, 2016.
Jamil Momand (Chemistry and Biochemistry) and Nancy Warter-Perez (Electrical and Computer Engineering) were panel speakers for a joint session titled "Preparing Students in Bioinformatics Challenges, Successes and Opportunities" during the 28th annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, Jan. 9, 2016. The session was organized by Sandra Sharp (Biological Sciences). Momand's photo is shown above.
Emily Moss (Music, Theatre and Dance) was one of five band conductors in a very prestigious line up participating in the California All-State Music Education Conference in San Jose, CA, Feb. 11-14, 2016.
Enrique Ochoa (History) served as a planning committee member and keynote speaker for the Montebello Unified School District's Global Learning Conference at Montebello High School on Feb. 20, 2016
Edith Porter (Biological Sciences) was a co-presenter for a roundtable discussion, "Making the Most of Your MS Program," during the 28th annual CSU Biotechnology Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Orange County, Jan. 9, 2016.
Lauri Ramey (English) delivered the following:
* a plenary lecture titled "Someone's Singin': The Influence of the Spirituals on 20th and 21st Century African American Poetry" at the Forum for Modern and Contemporary English Literature at Central China Normal University, Nov. 26, 2015.
* a keynote lecture titled "African American Poetry Since 1945" at the 4th Annual Convention of the Chinese / American Association for Poetry and Poetics at Shandong Normal University on Nov. 29, 2015.
* an invited lecture titled "Formal Innovation in African American Poetry" at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications, Dec; 3, 2015.
* a paper presentation titled "Theatres of War: Black Watch and The Great Game: Afghanistan" at the Crossing the Boundaries in Drama/Theatre Studies International Symposium at Zhongnam University of Economics and Law, Dec. 5, 2015.
Rene Vellanoweth (Anthropology) spoke about the lone woman of San Nicholas Island in a lecture about the book, The Island of the Blue Dolphins, at the Museum of Ventura County, Feb. 2016.
Nancy Warter-Perez (Electrical and Computer Engineering) will lead engineering students in developing cooperative robotics using search algorithms to revolutionize space exploration as part of NASA Swarmathon Physical Competition, 2015-16. The University is one of 14 minority serving universities and community colleges to participate in this innovative swarm robotics challenge.
Michael Willard (Liberal Studies) was part of a year-long teaching and learning initiative called "Advancing Underserved Student Success through Transparency and Problem Solving," which was organized by the Association of American Colleges & Universities, 2015.
Michelle Windmueller (Special Education and Conseling), retired LAUSD instructional director, served as chair of the ONE Conference 2016: One Community, One Vision, One Integration Outcome, which was co-sponsored by the University's Charter College of Education and the Los Angeles Unified School District, Jan. 30, 2016. More than 300 teachers participated in the second annual conference, which was held at Cal State LA.