'Machinery of an Algal Cell' Topic for April 15 Hansen Seminar

Utah State University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomes renowned biochemist Sabeeha Merchant to campus Wednesday, April 15, as featured speaker for the 2015 R. Gaurth Hansen Seminar Series.

Merchant, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry and director of the Institute of Genomics and Proteomics at the University of California, Los Angeles, will share cutting-edge research in a system-level approach to understanding photosynthesis and algal biology. She presents “Selective Sub-Cellular Visualization of Trace Metals Identified Dynamic Sites of Fe and Cu Accumulation in Chlamydomonas” at 4 p.m. in Room 046 of the Eccles Science Learning Center. All are welcome.

As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University, Merchant developed the single-celled green alga Chlamydomonas as a reference organism for studying trace metal homeostasis in the context of nutrient deficiency. She joined UCLA’s faculty in 1987 and was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2012.

Merchant is the 11th annual Hansen Seminar speaker. The seminar series honors the late R. Gaurth Hansen, a USU alum who joined the university’s faculty in 1968. A nationally respected biochemist, Hansen served for 16 years as an academic vice president and as Distinguished Professor of Nutrition and Food Sciences and Chemistry/Biochemistry at Utah State. He was named USU Distinguished Professor Emeritus in 1985.

The Hansen Seminar Series is made possible by an endowment established by William Rutter, co-founder and former chairman of the board of the Chiron Corporation.

For more information about the seminar, contact USU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at 435-797-1619.

Related links:

USU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

USU College of Science

Contact: Lance Seefeldt, 435-797-3964, lance.seefeldt@usu.edu

Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu