Explore cutting edge science topics, their latest developments, and their relevance to society through speaker presentations followed by question-and-answer period with the audience.

 

FALL 2024 SCIENCE INQUIRY SERIES

Autumn greetings!  The Fall 2024 Science Inquiry Series kicks off on September 18 when MSU’s Dr. Hugo Sindelar recounts his experience making a documentary film about the 2022 Yellowstone floods and the lessons learned from shared stories that can help prepare for and manage future natural disasters.

Future talks include MSU’s Dr. John Sheppard on October 16 on the issues surrounding Artificial Intelligence and a description of AI applications his lab is developing to support the work of a variety of professionals.  On November 13, Dr. Joanna Lambert of the University of Colorado-Boulder will discuss her research on how life in the human-dominated “Anthropocene” era is impacting wildlife—notably gray wolves—and altering their behavioral interactions with us.

Talks begin at 6 pm in the Museum of the Rockies’ Hager Auditoriuum, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis.  Face masks are recommended but not required.  We hope to see you there!

 

Science Inquiry Series Explores Artificial Intelligence

What is artificial intelligence, and how is it affecting our society today? Dr. John Sheppard, Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at MSU, will address this question in the second presentation of the Fall 2024 Science Inquiry Series.

The talk will be presented in the Museum of the Rockies’ Hager Auditorium on Wednesday, October 16, at 6 pm.  It is sponsored by the Gallatin Valley Friends of the Sciences, co-sponsored by the non-profit service organization Hopa Mountain, and hosted by the Museum of the Rockies.

The series explores cutting edge science topics, their latest developments, and their relevance to society through speaker presentations followed by questions from the audience.  The talks are free to the public; seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.  Face masks are recommended but not required.

Photo courtesy of J. Sheppard

In his presentation, titled “AI and Society: Why It Matters,” Sheppard will discuss the issues around creating an “AI” and what this means for people in the real world.  He will also introduce the work his lab is doing to develop AI systems to effectively support farmers, wildfire managers, physicians, and military pilots in their work.

Dr. Sheppard holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from The Johns Hopkins University.  He is also a Fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers.  Sheppard performs research in machine learning, evolutionary and swarm-based algorithms, ethical and explainable AI, and is actively involved in applying these technologies to precision agriculture and wildfire management.  He has over 200 peer-reviewed publications and two published books, with a third book about to be released.

The presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

 

Keep up on the world of science with this feature offering links to selected online articles in a variety of disciplines.

October’s Featured Article

From Science Alert:
How to see the comet of the century from all over the world

For additional article links, click on the “Science Link” tab above (under the banner).

 

Photo by SpaceX on Unsplash.

Click on the “Initiatives” tab above (under the banner) to learn about current science-based initiatives.  Current topic: climate change.