Events
CEMINAR
The most important community-oriented activity we sponsor is CEMINAR, formerly MicroMorning, a monthly seminar series where students and postdocs in the CEMI program present their work. Usually 2 individuals present 20-25 min talks (+ 5 min questions) to fill the hour, but on rare occasions we invite an outside speaker. CEMINAR is primarily designed to provide CEMI students and postdocs with an opportunity to practice giving a formal talk to a friendly Caltech audience. Numerous collaborations have been sparked between labs at Caltech thanks to creative connections made during these seminars. View past CEMINARS
CEMINAR
4:00-5:00pm B180 BBB
5:00-5:30pm Socializing (snacks and drinks will be provided)
UPCOMING
Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at 4:00pm
Location: 4:00-5:00pm B180 BBB (Take the stairs behind the lily pond by the Beckman Laboratories of Behavioral Biology (BBB) building and enter the doors)
5:00-5:30pm Socializing (Snacks and drinks will be provided)
"Microbial enrichment method enables high-throughput metagenomic characterization from host-rich samples, including clinical biopsies"
Natalie Wu-Woods
Ismagilov Lab
Recent studies have revealed the importance of microbial and host interactions in the context of human health, agriculture, and marine ecosystems. High level characterization of microbes in these samples are often difficult due to low biomass of prokaryotes paired with high biomass of host. We have developed a microbial enrichment methodology for use on a wide range of sample types, including saliva, stool, intestinal aspirates, and biopsies. Our method enables high throughput metagenomic characterization of intestinal biopsies, cumulating in MAG reconstruction of bacterial and archaea genomes without prior culturing.
Electrostatic Effects influence Fe-based catalyst selectivity for N2 fixation in protic media
Lucie Nurdin
Peters Lab
In biology, enzymes often employ electrostatic interactions to promote challenging catalytic reactions. These electrostatic effects have emerged as a ligand design strategy for synthetic chemists to design new molecular catalysts with improved activities and selectivities. This presentation will report the successful implementation of electrostatic effects in a tris(phosphine)borane iron complex and showcase how this modification has led to drastic changes in the catalytic performance for the N2 reduction reaction to both ammonia and hydrazine. Overall, the data presented shines light on ligand design and how this strategy can lead to the development of new N2 reduction catalysts.
Social Events
In addition to CEMINAR, CEMI sponsors social events during the academic year:
Fall Poster Sessions: All CEMI labs present one or more posters on their lab’s research. This helps incoming/current students and postdocs remain up-to-date on that latest research projects going on across the campus. One attractive feature of Caltech is that students admitted in any graduate program are welcome to rotate in any lab (as long as the lab is taking students), so this poster session can open up new interests and areas for exploration. It also can spawn new collaborations between labs.
Winter Lectures and Evening Gala: To celebrate the start of the calendar year, we invite a keynote speaker from outside Caltech to give a seminar, plus a few shorter talks by assistant professors or postdocs at Caltech and other local universities. These “Winter Lectures” are open to anyone interested. As a companion event, we hold a formal gathering for a limited number of CEMI sponsors, faculty, and students and postdocs currently being supported by CEMI grants. The evening’s entertainment is organized by a different CEMI lab each year, and the evening culminates with a presentation of the “CEMI Oscars” (we are close to Hollywood, after all…), roasting CEMI members for notable achievements in the past year, all in good fun. View past winter lectures
Spring Happy Hour: In recognition of the fact that sometimes the most inspired ideas come when we least expect them, we promote casual conversation between all members of the CEMI community supplemented with drinks and food at the start of the spring term (no posters required!).
CEMI Spring Celebration of Science: This hour-long science program featured short lightning talks from CEMI graduate students and postdocs followed by time to talk with the speakers and socialize with our CEMI colleagues. The inaugural event was held on May 12, 2021.
Workshops
CEMI occasionally supports training courses at Caltech that provide members of the CEMI community with an opportunity for intensive training in a particular area. Any member of the CEMI community is welcome to suggest a topic for a workshop. Please contact the CEMI administrator if you have an idea. View past workshops