HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE CONFERNCE:

Friday Evening at the Omniplex Science Museum.
Plenary Speaker—Kent Buchanan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology, Oklahoma City University

Saturday Afternoon Explorations—Conference participants will have the opportunity to explore one of many interesting sites around Oklahoma City. There will be planned excursions to the Oklahoma City Bombing Museum, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and the Crystal Bridge. Or you may prefer to go on your own to the Western Heritage Museum and Cowboy Hall of Fame or the beautiful new Oklahoma History Center. For the more adventurous who wish to enjoy the fresh air, you might take in the Oklahoma City Zoo, the Paseo Art District or the ethnic jewel adjacent to Oklahoma City University, Little Saigon.

Saturday Evening—Interactive Native American dancing and Indian taco dinner.


GUEST SPEAKERS:

Plenary Speaker—Kent Buchanan, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology, Oklahoma City University Dr. Buchanan joined the Department of Biology at Oklahoma City University as an Associate Professor in 2006 following seven years as an Assistant and Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. Dr. Buchanan is one of four investigators on a grant from NASA to characterize changes in gene usage and virulence of four organisms during spaceflight. The project is made up of four distinct interrelated subprojects that include the bacterial pathogens, Salmonella and Pseudomonas, and the yeasts, Candida albicans and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Dr. Buchanan's role in the proposed studies is leader on the project dealing with the human commensal and pathogen, Candida albicans and the effects of microgravity and spaceflight on gene expression and virulence of this yeast.

Keynote Speaker - Dr. Shannon Lucid Born in Shanghai, China, in 1943, Dr. Lucid considers Bethany, Oklahoma her hometown. She is an astronaut and veteran of five space missions. Qualified as a mission specialist on Space Shuttle flight crews, she holds the international record for the most flight hours in orbit by any non-Russian, and holds the record for the most flight hours in orbit by any woman in the world. From February 2002 until September 2003, Dr. Lucid served as NASA’s Chief Scientist stationed at NASA Headquarters, Washington D.C., with responsibility for developing and communicating the agency’s science and research objectives to the outside world.