Six new members—one from each Academy Class—present their research and answer questions from the audience.

How Ice is Melting and What We Should Do about It - Eric Rignot, University of California, Irvine
Climate warming caused by human activities has woken up the sleeping ice giants in Greenland and Antarctica, elevating risks of multiple meters of sea level rise in the coming centuries. Rignot will discuss how satellites, airborne platforms, robotic devices and advanced numerical models have provided new insights about the mechanics of interaction between ice and climate and revealed that ice sheets started to melt sooner, faster, and on larger scale than anticipated. Rignot represents Class I.

Memory and the Aging Brain - Carol Barnes, University of Arizona
Changes in memory occur over the course of typical aging. More severe memory impairment is characteristic of age-associated neurodegenerative disease. Over the past half-century, many myths about the aging brain have been shattered using systems neuroscience approaches, and rodent and nonhuman primate aging models, to define changes in brain and cognition that are normative versus pathological. Barnes will discuss how these data have driven a conceptual shift away from the idea of passive brain deterioration with time, to the view that the brain is capable of remarkable adaptation across the lifespan. Barnes represents Class II.

Printing Synthetic and Living Matter in Three Dimensions - Jennifer Lewis, Harvard University
Ideas have been communicated for millennia by printing images and words onto surfaces. Now, it is possible to transform ideas directly into three-dimensional objects using printing methods. Lewis will describe how printable inks can be created from soft materials, including polymers, particles, and even human cells. She will then highlight examples of printed synthetic and living matter whose composition, architecture, and function are programmed across multiple scales. Lewis represents Class III.

The Genome as Playground: Jumping Genes and the Evolution of the Immune System - David Schatz, Yale University
The paradigm of a static human genome, identical in each cell of a person's body, was shattered by the landmark finding that segments of chromosomes are snipped and shuffled to create a diverse array of antibody genes. Schatz describes the discovery that the molecular "scissors" enzyme that initiates this process is descended from an ancient transposon—a DNA element that specializes in jumping from one chromosome or genome to another. But what tamed this wayward transposon and its dangerous scissors enzyme during evolution so that they now play safely in the playground of our genome? Schatz's lab answers this question. He represents Class IV.

Improving Equality of Opportunity: New Insights from Big Data - Raj Chetty, Harvard University
Children's chances of earning more than their parents have fallen from 90% to 50% over the past half century in America. Opportunity Insights seeks to reverse this trend and revive the American Dream. Raj Chetty will present findings from his group’s work using big data to determine the factors underlying upward mobility in America, as well their implications for policy. Chetty represents Class V.

Looking Backward, Thinking Forward: Perspectives of a Paleoecologist - Cathy Whitlock, Montana State University
Paleoecology is a discipline that looks at the past to understand how ecosystems have evolved in the face of changing climate, natural disturbances, and human pressure. While history is fascinating in its own right, paleoecology today faces a serious challenge: Is the past still relevant for understanding a rapidly changing future? Whitlock will discuss the approaches developed after the 1988 Yellowstone fires to reconstruct fire history, as well as observations of long-term linkages among fire, people, and climate around the world. These “paleo-insights” provide a new appreciation of ecological resilience and help inform conservation strategies. Whitlock represents Class VI.

No registration required.