The College of Science is excited to begin hosting S.M.A.R.T. Talks next month!
S.M.A.R.T = Science & Mathematics Advancing Research & Technology. Formerly known as the Faculty Lecture Series, the series of talks was created to highlight the outstanding scholarly work of COS faculty and bring the UNT community together to discuss scientific breakthroughs and learn about the building blocks of the world around us. All S.M.A.R.T. Talks are free and open to the public.
This fall, our S.M.A.R.T. Talks series is proudly featuring Dr. Aaron Roberts, who will be presenting his talk "Researching Disaster: Understanding the Effects of Oil Spills on Aquatic Life" on Wednesday, September 26, at 4pm in the UNT Union Lyceum. Dr. Roberts is the Associate Director of AERI, an environmental toxicologist, and a professor of Biological Sciences. His laboratory was one of the lead test labs for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the 2010 BP-Deepwater Horizon Spill, and the research behind understanding and protecting aquatic life affected by such catastrophes will be discussed in this engaging "TED Talk" style presentation.
COS Dean, Dr. Su Gao, encourages all College of Science staff, faculty, and students to join us in this important conversation so we might learn from one another and actively strengthen our academic community. Immediately following the talk, there will be a reception from 5-6 p.m. in Room 339 in the Union. We hope you will take this opportunity to join us for revelry and refreshments, mingle with your fellow colleagues, and engage with students, alumni, and board members. A Facebook event with further information can be found here.
ABOUT THE PRESENTER:
Dr. Aaron Roberts is a professor of environmental science in the Department of Biological Sciences and associate director of the UNT Advanced Environmental Research Institute. He is an environmental toxicologist who's research on the fate and effects of environmental contaminants has received more than $3 million in funding from federal, state, and industry sources. His work has resulted in more than 50 scientific publications and been cited more than 1300 times. Sixteen graduate students and postdocs as well as twelve undergraduates have conducted research toward their degrees in Dr. Roberts's lab at UNT over the past 12 years. Dr. Roberts is an expert on the effects of oil spills on aquatic organisms. His laboratory was one of the lead testing labs for the Natural Resource Damage Assessment of the 2010 BP-Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico which resulted in a settlement of $18.7 billion, the largest environmental settlement of its kind in U.S. history. In his talk, Dr. Roberts will discuss his lab's role in the Deepwater Horizon assessment as well as ongoing efforts to better understand the effects of crude oil exposure to better inform future oil spill response.