Registration Open for USU's 14th Annual Hansen Life Sciences Retreat Oct. 25-26

Registration is open for Utah State University’s 2024 Hansen Life Science Retreat, slated for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26, on-campus in Logan. Celebrating its 14th year, the annual gathering is open to all USU undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, faculty and staff, from varied disciplines, involved in the study of biological processes at the molecular level.

“Each fall, we invite scholars from all departments throughout the university, who are pursuing study and research in the molecular life sciences, to pause their experiments, throw off their lab coats and join us to share ideas and approaches with one another,” says Sean Johnson, associate dean in the College of Science and associate professor in USU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, which coordinates the conference. “This is a gathering to encourage collaborative efforts and celebrate each individual’s contributions in the larger research community.”

The keynote retreat speaker will be biochemist and data visualization expert Janet Iwasa, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah. According to her website, “her broad goal is to create accurate and compelling molecular and cellular visualizations that will support research, learning and scientific communication.”

Iwasa’s award-winning illustrations and animations have appeared in scientific journals, including Nature, Science and Cell, as well as The New York Times. She was named a 2014 TED Fellow, and recognized as one of the “100 Leading Global Thinkers” of 2014 by Foreign Policy magazine and as one of the “100 Most Creative People” of 2012 by Fast Company magazine. Iwasa was a featured speaker at USU’s Science Unwrapped in 2018, during the university’s “Year of the Arts.”

Iwasa earned a doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco for her work on the actin cytoskeleton in the laboratory of Dyche Mullins. While pursuing her degree, she completed 3D animation training at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

Iwasa speaks during the Friday evening, Oct. 25 retreat session, at 5 p.m. in the Emert Auditorium (ESLC 130) of the Eccles Science Learning Center. Her talk is open to the public. Guests attending the talk, but not participating in the full retreat, are asked to RSVP.

The Hansen retreat continues Saturday, Oct. 26, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with research presentations, a poster session and career networking, at the Larry W. and Lindi Miller Champion’s Club at West Stadium Center of the Maverick Stadium, 880 E. 1000 North, on USU’s Logan Campus.

Registration for the full retreat (Friday and Saturday) is $20 per person, and includes appetizers on Friday; breakfast and lunch on Saturday and a retreat shirt. Participants may submit a poster abstract, and should register and request their shirt size by Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024.

The Hansen Life Sciences Retreat honors the memory of renowned biochemist R. Gaurth Hansen (1920-2002), a gifted scientist, teacher and administrator, who spent much of his career enriching Utah State University. A Cache Valley, Utah native, Hansen began his undergraduate studies at Utah State, before transferring to the University of Wisconsin, where he completed bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

Hansen joined USU's faculty as an academic vice president in 1968, and was soon promoted to provost. His efforts contributed to a twenty-fold increase in the university's research budget. In addition to his administrative and teaching endeavors, Hansen published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, and he received many prestigious national accolades. He was named USU Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 1985 and retired from Utah State in 1994.

The Hansen Retreat is supported by USU alum Lars Peter Hansen and Grace Tsiang, along with their son, Peter Hansen.

For more information, contact the USU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at 435-797-0544.