Month: April 2024

Institute for Systems Biology: Update on the Work of Dr. Sean Gibbons, April 25, 2024

Dr. Gibbons addressed our club on the human microbiome.

GIVE NOW →       Research Roundtable banner   Join Dr. Sean Gibbons on April 25 for our next Research Roundtable   Your body is home to trillions of microorganisms – your microbiome. These beneficial microbes play crucial roles in your overall health, and contribute to digestion, immune system function, aging and more.

ISB Associate Professor Dr. Sean Gibbons is developing an online platform called “My Digital Gut” aimed at giving individuals access to microbiome-informed personalized predictions and interventions. My Digital Gut is powered by novel modeling technology developed in the Gibbons Lab.   Sean Gibbons
Speaker: Dr. Sean Gibbons
Date: Thursday, April 25, 2024
Time: Noon – 1 p.m. PT
Topic: My Digital Gut: Making Nutrition and Healthcare Personalized, Predictive, and Preventive   Our Research Roundtables are free, virtual events designed for a general audience, and are open to all. Attendees have the opportunity to ask questions directly to ISB’s leading scientists.   REGISTER NOW →     Don’t forget, you can always visit our Events Page to stay up to date on all of our upcoming events. Or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) or Instagram.     ISB’s Research Roundtable is a free virtual series open to all. Please register to receive your link to join. If you have questions, email Dominic Lewis at dlewis@isbscience.org.

District Learning Symposium, April 27, 2024

This is a reminder to sign up and register for the District Learning Symposium on Saturday, 4/27, from 8:30 am – 1:00 pm at the Mercer Island Community and Events Center. We kindly ask that you register now so that we can make appropriate preparations for rooms, name badges and the like. We have over 100 Rotarians already registered.

The symposium is open and free to all Rotarians of District 5030. However, all Rotarians that are, or will be in a club director or committee role are highly encouraged to attend. Important to note, that grants training is mandatory if your club plans on applying for either Rotary International or a district grant, the club must send at least two people to the grants training.

We know that there are many events happening this Spring and look forward to clubs sending representatives who are free that morning.

Below is the registration link: https://forms.office.com/r/ANucUiA51P

Program: Brian Baird, “Creating the National Museum and Center for Service,” April 25, 2024

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring former Congressman Brian Baird discussing his efforts to spearhead the creation of a national museum for service. The full title of Rep. Baird’s talk is “Creating the National Museum and Center for Service – Unifying and inspiring America through our shared value of service.”

The program will be presented on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free.

The meeting will be available via Zoom.  Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  The Zoom line will open shortly after 7 a.m.

The Honorable Brian Baird, Ph.D.  served for twelve years in the United States House of Representatives, where he represented the 3rd Congressional District of Washington State, comprising most of Southwest Washington.   Congressman Baird focused on science and technology, energy, mental health, oceans, foreign policy, science diplomacy, fiscal discipline and congressional integrity.   

Congressman Baird was known and respected for taking principled stands, careful study of issues, and the ability to build bipartisan relationships.  He was the primary author of legislation to restore federal deductibility of Washington state sales taxes, saving Washingtonians billions of dollars every year.  He also authored the STOCK act, to ban insider trading by members of Congress, families or staff.   In addition to his work in Congress, Dr. Baird holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, chaired the department of psychology at PLU and was president of Antioch University in Seattle.    

He is married to Rachel Nugent, an economist specializing in global health.  Together with their 19-year old twin boys, their family enjoys skiing, sea kayaking, diving, camping and travel together.  Brian is fluent in Spanish and recently lived in Argentina, where he taught a Fulbright sponsored course on American Government.   He is the founder and chair of the National Museum and Center for Service, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring and inspiring service in ALL its forms through a nationwide network of local exhibitions in schools and communities and in a signature building near the National Mall in Washington DC.

University Sunrise Rotary Club Trip to the Columbia Gorge, May 6-10, 2024

Draft University Sunrise Rotary Geology Field Trip, 2024 Itinerary: 

Monday, May 6:  Drive to (east) Portland: 180 miles (3.5-5 hours estimate)

  • Stay at Courtyard by Marriott Portland East

Tuesday, May 7: Drive from East Portland to Hood River: Total distance, including stops: 80-85 miles. Potential stops:

  • Crown Point State Scenic Corridor (Portland Women’s Forum State Scenic Viewpoint and Vista House) (17 miles)
  • Multnomah Falls (8 miles)
  • Beacon Rock, WA (24 miles)
  • Bridge of the Gods (8 miles)
  • Best Western Plus Hood River Inn (23 miles)

Wednesday, May 8: Stay in Hood River hotel. Approximate total driving distances to listed attractions: 65-75 miles.

  • Mosier Erratic (6 miles)
  • Rowena Crest Viewpoint (7 miles)
  • Columbia River Gorge Discovery Center, The Dalles, OR (8 miles)
  • Horse Thief Butte (10 miles)
  • Best Western Plus Hood River Inn (28 miles)

Thursday, May 9: Hood River to Goldendale: 42-53 miles. Note: Helen Barton’s birthday! 

  • Drive to Goldendale
  • Observatories

Friday, May 10

  • Drive to Seattle: 213 miles (3.5 hours, traffic dependent)
Columbia River Gorge Day Trip Guide (Including a Map)

Program: Charlie Keller, Bellevue College, “Columbia River: Geology and Land Forms,” April 18, 2024

This week, our special speaker was Charlie Keller.  Charlie explained to us how the unique topography of the Columbia River along the Oregon border came to be.

You can find a recording of the presentation here. The passcode is Passcode: XzD9yU@p.

https://zoom.us/rec/share/zT9uEBM_Lq97j4P09V5Y9BOEvwDyPqDwvHovqwgCvYarEtx6ihRQ2nRsqzAfh3Gp.hI9-ulc4tshk9Tbc

Charlie Keller

Charlie has been an adjunct instructor at Bellevue College since 2016. After 35 years as a consulting hydrogeologist and environmental engineer, he now enjoys his time teaching Geology courses including Geology 101 (Introduction to Physical Geology) and Geology 107 (Geological Catastrophes).  He also enjoys advising students, so would like to hear from anyone with any questions about future careers in environmental science or other earth and space sciences; or questions about science and careers in general.

His academic background focused on isotope geochemistry and fossil fuel geology. He obtained a Master’s of Science degree in Geology from The Ohio State University.

He has been interested in STEM education and increasing diversity in STEM fields most of his career.  He also enjoys skiing, fishing, hiking, biking, carpentry, ceramics, photography, kayaking, music, movies, ale, most foods, wine, spirits, comedy, anthropology, and astrophysics.

Program: Dr. Bradley Lane, Interim President, Seattle Central College, April 11, 2024

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring Seattle Central College Interim President, Dr. Bradley Lane.

The program will be presented on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free.

The meeting will be available via Zoom.  Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  The Zoom line will open shortly after 7 a.m.

Dr. Bradley Lane serves at Interim President at Seattle Central College.

Dr. Lane has held a variety of faculty and administrative appointments at the Seattle Colleges, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana, Indiana University, and Vanderbilt University. He has mostly recently served as Vice President for Academic Affairs at Santa Monica College in California.  At Seattle Central, Dr. Lane previously served as Executive Vice President of Instruction, Finance and Planning; Vice President of Instruction; Executive Dean for Academic Affairs; and its Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, in addition to teaching classes in English, Humanities, and Gender and Women Studies across the Seattle Colleges.

In his career, Dr. Lane received a national fellowship on digital learning from the Association of Chief Academic Officers and led many efforts to increase adaptive and competency-based learning and flexible teaching and learning modalities. Among his many accomplishments, he has launched large-scale faculty development programs around increasing equity and developed affinity groups and mentoring programs for faculty of color, and implemented guided pathways equitably through the inclusion of student voices and initiatives that center the experiences of Black and Latinx college students.

He holds a master’s degree in Teaching, Learning, and Diversity from Peabody College at Vanderbilt and a Ph.D. in Communication and Culture and Gender Studies from Indiana University. For fun, he enjoys running, yoga, photography and film, learning new languages, and culinary adventures in the kitchen and around the world.

Program: Tom Fay, Chief Librarian, The Seattle Public Library, August 1, 2024

Join the University Sunrise Rotary Club for a program featuring Seattle’s Chief Librarian, Tom Fay..

The program will be presented in person and on Zoom on Thursday morning with the Zoom line opening at 7:00 a.m.  The formal meeting including the program runs from 7:30-8:30 a.m.  No registration is required, and the program is free.

The in-person meeting will be at the Wedgwood Community Church at 8201 30th Ave NE, Seattle. Doors open at 7:00 a.m. and the program begins at 7:30 a.m.

The meeting will also be available via Zoom. Click here to join the meeting Thursday morning.  The Zoom line will open shortly after 7:00 a.m.

Tom Fay has been The Seattle Public Library’s Executive Director and Chief Librarian since April 2021. Fay previously served as the Library’s Director of Programs and Services from 2015 to 2021, directing the Library’s Public Services and Programs, Collections, Materials Handling, and Information Technology departments at Seattle’s downtown Central Library and all 26 neighborhood branches.

As a native of southern Nevada, Fay’s 40-year career in libraries began as a page for the Las Vegas Clark County Library District. Prior to joining The Seattle Public Library as Director of Programs and Services in 2015, he held roles as the Executive Director of Henderson Libraries in Nevada and the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of Las Vegas Clark County Library District in Nevada.
 
Fay graduated with a Fine Arts degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and a Masters in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. He has been awarded the O’Callaghan Public Sector Person of the Year and selected as Nevada’s Librarian of the Year.
 
Fay enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter in the great outdoors of the Pacific Northwest.

Our Club’s Foundation: Bukobero Health Clinic – Uganda

As a part of Rotary, our club’s foundation is able to partner with other clubs and districts on local as well as global projects. We participated with 43 other Rotary clubs in this project led by Sheila Hosner of University District Rotary. Here’s part of Sheila’s progress report and some images of the planned health clinic at Bukobero, Uganda as well as a photo of the recent stage of construction.

“We raised a total of $103,677! Forty-three Rotary Clubs in four districts contributed and the project also received two district grants. …I can’t thank everyone enough for their contributions…

Below I have shared two drawings of what the building will look like when it is completed and a picture taken just days ago of where we are now. The construction picture on the right corresponds to the perspective of the bottom drawing. We expect the building completed by June or July 2024.”

Our Club’s Foundation: Painting at Escuela Belen

Through our participation in international projects with TINFA (Technology and Information for All), the University Sunrise Service Foundation has made connections with community schools and Rotary Clubs in Guatemala. Principal Flori Acabal of Escuela Belen Elementary School reached out to us recently with an urgent request: could we help with repainting the school while the kids are away, during Holy Week (which was the next week)? 

We connected with the President of Club Rotario de Retalhuleu and their club agreed to participate. Our foundation rushed approval of this request and Principal Flori was able to buy paint and start the project with teacher and parent volunteers.

Here are a few “Before” photos, of the school:

And some progress photos:

Principal Flori expects to finish repainting by the end of this week, 4/8-4/14. She says the kids will be much more enthusiastic about coming to the school with its fresh colors.