Biophysical Society Bulletin | May 2019

BiophysicsWeek

Biophysics Week at Clemson The Clemson University Student Chapter celebrated Biophys- ics Week with several special events. On Thursday, March 28, they hosted North Carolina State biophysicist Mary Elting as part of the Physics Department’s colloquium series. Elting gave a great talk on the mechanics of cell division and the mitotic spindle. During her visit, the chapter also organized a lunch with the Women in Physics group, a seminar with cur- rent biophysics post-docs, graduate students, and undergrad- uates where trainees could ask career-related questions in a relaxed environment, and a special dinner with the student chapter following Elting’s talk. On Friday, the chapter hosted a general public talk with physics professor Hugo Sanabria and bioengineering profes- sor Delphine Dean . Sanabria shared about his research using single-molecule FRET, and Dean talked about her research on the effects of radiation on human tissue. In between the two brief lectures, the chapter used the Clemson University Immersive Space’s equipment to lead a virtual reality tour through the inside of a cell. Afterwards, guests enjoyed pizza and dessert.

NY Capital District BPS Student Chapter Biophysics Week For this year’s Biophysics Week (and first as a chapter), the NY Capital District BPS Student Chapter wanted to improve the visibility of the Society on campus, raise awareness of biophysics to students who may not come in contact with the discipline often, and facilitate increased involvement and discussion among members. To accomplish this, they did three things. First, to increase their presence, and hopefully attendance for future meet- ings and events, they created an Instagram account for the chapter. Second, on Tuesday, the chapter held a “What is Biophysics?” exhibit with two displays. In a display for biological fluores- cence, they demonstrated that differing polarities of solvents and temperature can affect fluorescence, leading to quenching and wavelength shifts. They explained that in experiments, this can help us to see how a protein’s conformation changes under different conditions. The second display was a bacterially produced cellulose pad (engineered by one of our members) that students could touch, showcasing biomechanics and structural biophysics. On Friday, the chapter held their first Biophysics Trivia Night, with food and prizes, during which questions spanned different topics within biophysics.

University of NewMexico Student Chapter For Biophysics Week, the University of New Mexico Student Chapter invited Professor Gaudenz Danuser from the University of Texas Southwestern for a Physics Colloquium at the Department of Physics and Astronomy on March 29th. Danuser is a distinguished professor in cell biology and biophysics and he is also chair of the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics. On that day, the chapter arranged different meetings with him for students, postdocs, and PIs from various departments including the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the Computer Science Depart- ment, the Pathology Department, and the New Mexico SpatioTemporal Modeling Center (STMC). The chapter provided a lunch meeting with Danuser for student members, and dinner at a local restaurant after his general talk. This event provided opportunities for students to communicate with Danuser in person and learn about his current projects. For those who are interested in con- tinuing their career at UT Southwestern, opportunities include postdoctoral positions and summer internships for graduate and undergraduate students. The chapter organized this event in col- laboration with the STMC and Department of Physics and Astronomy who also provided financial support.

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