Seminars

Seminars

Presented by the Wichita State University Department of Biological Sciences

August | September | October | November

August 17, 2026

Orientation

• All enrolled students are required to attend

August 24, 2026

Barrett Houchen, MS

• Affiliation: Montrose Environmental Group
• Topic: Unraveling the Ecology of Macrophomina phaseolina in Native Grassland Soils

August 31, 2026

Gavin Rice, PhD

• Affiliation: Kansas State University
• Topic: Drosophilia Evolutionary Biology

Back to page menu

September 7, 2026

Labor Day

• No Seminar

September 14, 2026

Nick Miller, PhD

• Affiliation: Illinois Tech
• Topic: Bugs, Fish, Sequences and Students: Using 'omics and population genetics to study evolution, manage populations, and support undergraduate research

September 21, 2026

Anna Zinovyeva, PhD

• Affiliation: Kansas State University
• Topic: Control of microRNA Gene Regulatory Activity: From Molecular Mechanisms to Disease

September 28, 2026

Chuan-Ju Liu, PhD

• Affiliation: Yale School of Medicine
• Topic: Transforming Musculoskeletal Medicine: From biological discover to novel therapeutics

Back to page menu

October 5, 2026

Keith Harmoney, PhD

• Affiliation: Kansas State University
• Topic: A Silver Lining - Vegetation responses to recent northwest Kansas wildfires

October 12, 2026

Fall Break

• No Seminar

October 19, 2026

Molly Reichenborn, PhD

• Affiliation: Kansas State University
• Topic: From Theory to Practice: Translating grassland research to land management change

October 26, 2026

Katie Waugh, PhDWatkins Visiting Professor

• Affiliation: University of Kansas Medical Center
• Topic: Inflammation as a Developmental Determinant of Health and Disease in Down Syndrome

Back to page menu

November 2, 2026

Rob McMinn, PhD

• Affiliation: University of Kansas
• Topic: From Local Adaptation to Functional Prediction: Soil Bacteria and Their Plant Hosts

November 9, 2026

Kristen Baum, PhD

• Affiliation: University of Kansas
• Topic: Monarch Butterflies in a Changing Landscape: Habitat, stressors, and migration

November 16, 2026

Graduate Student Presentations:

Magdalena Wenger

• Mentor: Dr. Li Yao

Tessa Nolen

• Mentor: Dr. Raj Logan

Maryam Bakhat

• Mentor: Dr. Bill Hendry

Anshu Dangol

• Mentor: Dr. Mark Schneegurt

November 23, 2026

Graduate Student Presentations:

Lilly Johnson

• Mentor: Dr. Greg Houseman

Shelby Eastman

• Mentor: Dr. George Bousfield

Alexa Platzer

• Mentor: Dr. Mark Schneegurt

November 30, 2026

Graduate Student Presentations:

Nitish Giri

• Mentor: Dr. Bin Shuai

Benjamin Cloud

• Mentor: Dr. Li Yao

Marie Brunet

• Mentor: Dr. Raj Logan