Luncheon series explores issues in science and technology

By Karen Newell Young

USC College is sponsoring a science and technology luncheon series at the California Club in downtown Los Angeles. The first speaker of the three-part series was Kenneth Nealson, who spoke last November on finding life in unusual places—in ancient rocks and human teeth, for example.

Nealson, the Wrigley Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences, joined the College’s earth sciences department in 2001 to set up the program in geobiology—an area of science that tackles the still largely unexplored domain where the chemistry of life and the Earth’s mineral-metal chemistry intersect. Nealson says the interface between geology and biology has never been properly crossed and is probably one of the most exciting things going on in science today.

The series’ next speaker is Adrian Raine, the Robert Grandford Wright Professor of Psychology. For the past 23 years, Raine’s research has focused on the biosocial bases of antisocial and violent behavior in both children and adults. His research interests include brain imaging, psychophysiology, neurochemistry, antisocial behavior, schizotypal personality and alcoholism.

At the California Club, Raine will share his brain-imaging studies on violent criminals and discuss the implications of violence on society.

The final speaker in the series is Tom Jordan, director of the Southern California Earthquake Center and the W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of Earth Sciences in USC College.

Jordan will talk about—what else?—earthquakes, and what we are doing to prepare for them.