Eighth German-American Symposium
Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung – U.S. National Academy of Sciences
June 6-8, 2002
Irvine, California
Sessions:
- Stem Cells and Morphogenesis
- The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
- Controlled Macromolecular Synthesis and Hierarchically Structured Assemblies
- Normal and Abnormal Development of Language
- Robots that Learn
- Culture-Climate-Catastrophe
- Insect Flight
- Extinction of Small Populations
Stem Cells and Morphogenesis
Organizers: Renee Reijo Pera and Jurgen Wehland
Chair: Meri Firpo, University of California, San Francisco
Derivation and Differentiation of Human Embryonic Stem Cells
Speakers:
Jorg Grommoll, Westfälische Wilhems-University Münster
Spermatogonia - The Prime Target for Curing Male Infertility
Stefan Schlatt, Westfälische Wilhems-University Münster
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Organizers: David Weinberg and Matthias Bartelmann
Chair: Robert Lupton, Princeton University
Speakers:
Daniel Eisenstein, University of Arizona
Mapping the Large-Scale Structure in the Universe with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
Eva Grebel, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg
Looking for Fossil Remnants of the Formation of our Galaxy: The Structure of the Milky Way and Its Satellites
Controlled Macromolecular Synthesis and Hierarchically Structured Assemblies
Organizers: Cassandra Fraser and Regina de Vivie-Riedle
Chair: Harm-Anton Klok, Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research
Engineering “Plastics” for Advanced Applications:Controlled Macromolecular Synthesis and Hierarchical Structure Formation
Speakers:
Geoff Coates, Cornell University
Synthesis of Biodegradable Polymers from Renewable Resources
Ulrich Wiesner, Cornell University
Interfacing Soft and Solid State Materials
Normal and Abnormal Development of Language
Organizers: Karl Kandler and Cornelius Weiller
Chair: Beverly Wright, Northwestern University
Nonlinguistic Perceptual Impairments Associated with Learning Problems
Speakers:
David Perkel, University of Washington
Song Learning In Birds as A Model for Human Speech Learning
Christian Büchel, Universität Hamburg
The Importance of Brain Connectivity for Speech and Language
Robots that Learn
Organizers: Helge Ritter and Walter Willinger
Chair: Stefan Schaal, University of Southern California
Real-Time Learning in Humanoid Robots
Speakers:
Alois Knoll, Technische Universität München
Service Robotics and Adaptation
Cynthia Breazeal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Social Skills for Robots that Learn from People
Culture-Climate-Catastrophe
Organizers: Gerrit Lohmann and Chris McKay
Chair: Peter deMenocal, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory
Holocene Climate Variability: Modes, Mechanisms, and Cultural Impacts
Speakers:
Daniel Sandweiss, University of Maine
El Niño Variability and Early Civilization in Coastal Peru
Gerald Haug, ETH Zurich
El Niño, Climate, And Societies
Insect Flight
Organizer: Julio Fernandez
Chair: James Marden, Pennsylvania State University
Speakers:
Fritz-Olaf Lehman, University of Wuerzburg
Force Production by Flapping Biofoils
James Marden, Pennsylvania State University
Diverse Insights from Studies of Insect Flight Motors
Extinction of Small Populations
Organizers: Florian Jeltsch and Chris McKay
Chair: Volker Grimm, Center for Environmental Research Leipzig-Halle
Dealing with the Extinction Crisis: Population Viability Analysis
Speakers:
William F. Fagan, Arizona State University
Theoretical Dimensions of Practical Conservation Biology
Ilse Storch, Technische Universität München
Survival in Fragmented Landscapes: Challenges for Biodiversity Conservation
