Biology Special Invited Guest - Dr. Crystal Rogers, Nov. 3 at 4pm

You are cordially invited to join the Department of Biology as we welcome our Burroughs-Wellcome Invited Lecturer for 2023 – Dr. Crystal Rogers – on Thursday, November 3 @ 4pm in the new Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building (corner of Evans and 10^th St.).

Dr. Rogers is an Assistant Professor at UC Davis (School of Vet Med, Dept. of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology). Trained as an evolutionary developmental biologist, Dr. Rogers and her team investigate the molecular mechanisms that control the formation, migration, and specification of neural crest cells, which form diverse derivatives such as craniofacial bone and cartilage, pigment cells, and the neurons and glia of the peripheral nervous system. Abnormal neural crest cell development can cause craniofacial clefts, nerve defects, and pigment disorders, among others. Her lab uses avian (chicken, quail, and peafowl) as well as amphibian (axolotl) embryos as research organisms to model human congenital defects related to neural crest development. Their goal is to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive normal development, and to identify environmental exposures that can alter this process. Her talk is titled, “How genes and the environment alter the cells that make the face.”

Dr. Rogers is a delightful, inspiring young investigator and we are excited to hear about her work! She is a NSF CAREER award winner (https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2143217), Co-Editor in Chief of the journal Differentiation (https://www.journals.elsevier.com/differentiation), and one of the 1000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America (https://crosstalk.cell.com/blog/1000-inspiring-black-scientists-in-america). She is heavily involved with teaching effective mentoring practices, promoting undergraduate research, and advocating for underrepresented scientists, particularly through the Society for Developmental Biology.

Learn more about Dr. Rogers and her work on her webpage (https://www.crystalrogersphd.com/), her Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/RogersLabUCD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Escreen-name%3ARogersLabUCD%7Ctwcon%5Es2 — @RogersLabUCD), and on this short video about her favorite research subject, Chonk the axolotl (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxpQ2dJQGbU )

There will be opportunity to meet and greet Dr. Rogers at 3pm with a cookie social in the LSBB lobby. The seminar will begin in person and on-line (https://ecu.webex.com/meet/ablese) promptly at 4pm.