Learn The Tools Of The Pornithologist At UC Davis Event

PHOTOS: Gail Patricelli will discuss “Tools of the Pornithologist: Using Robots to Spy on the Sex Lives of Birds” at the UC Davis event; Jeff Mayry, a UC Davis student seeking his masters of fine arts degree, will speak on “Dream House” at the UC Davis LASER event.

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By Kathy Keatley Garvey

DAVIS, CA -- “Tools of the Pornithologist: Using Robots to Spy on the Sex Lives of Birds” by UC Davis professor Gail Patricelli will be among the talks at the UC Davis Leonardo Art/Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) event, set Thursday, Feb. 11 in Room 3001 of the Plant and Environmental Sciences Building.

The event, free and open to the public, will be held from 6:30 to 9 p.m. and will begin with socializing and networking from 6:30 to 7 p.m. It is affiliated with the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded by Diane Ullman, professor of entomology at UC Davis and artist Donna Billick.

Patricelli, a professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology, will present her talk on “Tools of the Pornithologists” from 7 to 7:25 p.m.

Patricelli studies bioacoustics, breeding behaviors and the impacts of noise pollution on birds. Much of the research in the Patricelli lab addresses sexual selection and breeding ecology of greater sage-grouse. This has included detailed studies of courtship behaviors using robotic females and microphone arrays, as well as remote telemetry to address how foraging ecology relates to lekking behaviors. The Patricelli lab has also examined the impacts of noise from vehicle traffic and energy development on greater sage-grouse lek attendance, stress levels, and behaviors.

Professor Patricelli has played an active role in translating research results into recommendations for more effective management of sage-grouse habitat. She received her bachelor’s degree from Whitman College and her doctorate from the University of Maryland, College Park. She did postdoctoral research at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Other speakers are

• Jeff Mayry, a master of fine arts candidate in the Art Studio, UC Davis Department of Art and Art History, who will speak on “Dream House” from 7:25 to 7:50 p.m. He received his master’s and bachelor of science degrees from Sacramento State University.

• Weidong Yang, the founder of Kinetech Arts, a non-profit dance and science company, will discuss “Dancing with Data” from 8:10-8:35. Of his work, involving data visualization services, he says “The multidimensional nature of data demands the ability of ‘seeing’ many dimensions at once in working with data. We expand data visualization to data experience, involving multitude of perceptions, like shape, color, direction, movement, responsiveness. The goal of this work is to create a method of gaining quick and insightful understanding from large data set, building mental model that is difficult to describe by words, through dancing with data.” Yang holds 10 U.S. patents. He has published in more than 20 peer-reviewed publications and performed with several contemporary dance companies. He will be a Jerassi resident artist in July 2016.

• Sharon Bladholm, who fuses art with science on scientific expeditions to the Amazon, will speak on “The Interface Between Art, Science and Conservation” from 8:35-9:00. “My work is profoundly influenced by my participation as an artist, on scientific expeditions to remote and biologically diverse ecosystems of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon on expeditions with the Field Museum, Conservation International and Andes to Amazon Biodiversity Program,” she says. She explores the interfaces of art, science, conservation and nature in her many series of artworks in numerous mediums, including sculptural works in glass, bronze and ceramic. In February she will return to Peru with Project Amazonas

In between speakers, networking and socializing will take place from 7:15 to 8:30 p.m., and “anyone can have 30 seconds to share their work, announce an exhibitor or a show or an idea,” said moderator and organizer is Anna Davidson. She holds a doctorate in plant ecophysiology from the UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences and is currently a master of fine arts candidate in Art Studio, UC Davis Department of Art and Art History.

More information is available on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/events/854193051353509/