Math & Cultural

MARIEL VAZQUEZ, UC DAVIS: "KNOTS & DNA"
Wednesday, March 9th from 6:30-7:45 pm at Berkeley City College Auditorium

“I use math and computers to tackle scientific problems dealing with DNA," says Dr. Mariel Vazquez. Most cells in your body have two meters of DNA in them. DNA molecules inside a confined environment such as the cell nucleus, just like your headphones in your backpack, tend to intertwine and tie knots.  Hear about how these knots present a “packing problem,” and the mathematical and computational tools used to tackle it.

Dr. Mariel Vazquez works to explain mathematically the way DNA strands are knotted, among other tricky problems. She is CAMPOS Professor of Mathematics, and of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Davis. While a postdoctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, she received an Exxon Mobil Project NExT Fellowship. She is the 2015 Dorothy Wrinch Memorial Lecturer at Smith College, 2014 recipient of the Mohammed Dahleh Distinguished Lectureship at the University of California, Santa Barbara, a 2012 recipient of the US Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), and a 2011 National Science Foundation CAREER awardee.

Admission is free and open to the public. We encourage you to reserve your seat (at no charge) in advance for early entry! Doors will open at 6:00 pm for RSVP guests, and 6:15 pm for general seating.

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