ScheduleNobel Conference 59

Doors Open

SESSION 1

Musical Prelude
Gustavus Jazz Ensemble
Lund Arena

Academic Procession and Conference Opening 
Welcome, Rebecca Bergman, President of the College
Nobel Conference 59 Introduction, Lisa Heldke, Director of The Nobel Conference and Margaret Bloch Qazi, Chair of Nobel Conference 59

Lecture by Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, PhD
Professor of Conservation Biology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and Scientific Advisor, Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA)

Break

Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A

Lunch

Lunch Options on Campus

• Pre-order tickets for a hot buffet lunch
• Bring your own lunch and sit at tables set up in the Lund Center Forum (basketball court)
• Eat at the college dining room

Learning Lab

Head toward the Lund Forum (basketball court) to learn more about this year’s topic, through self-directed activities that include seeing live insects, trying crickets, and cockroach races.

Breakout Sessions and Self-Guided Activities

Breakout Sessions

View the schedule and descriptions.
Insects affect our lives in all sorts of ways. These breakout sessions give you a chance to explore some of those ways. Topics range from the expected and familiar (Monarchs and wild bees in Minnesota) to the unusual and unexpected (the roles of insects in literature and film). Here also is your chance to learn about the insect-related music we’re featuring in the conference. 

These events will not be livestreamed, except for "Monarch Butterfly Conservation: Simple Steps to Make a Big Difference."

SESSION 2

Musical Prelude
Gustavus Symphony Orchestra

Fly Psychology 101

Lecture by Shannon Olsson, PhD
Global Director, the echo network; Special Scientific Envoy to India, Danish Academy of Technical Sciences

Break 

The Minds of Insects and Why They Matter

Lecture by Jonathan Birch, PhD
Professor of Philosophy, London School of Economics and Political Science

3:20 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Break 

Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A

Bug Bites Reception
Lund Center, 2nd Floor Hall of Champions
A selection of light nibbles that invite us to think about the relationships between insects and our food. Many of the foods will be familiar favorites, while others might challenge you!This event will include opportunities to consume actual insects, along with foods that insects make possible with their work, including fruits pollinated by insects, grass-fed cheese, and honey. This is a ticketed event that requires pre-registration and payment.

Join us for a live storytelling event with The Moth. The Moth aims to promote the art and craft of storytelling, and to honor and celebrate the diversity and commonality of human experience.

Relax and enjoy the show or plan to tell a story.

For this special one-off StorySLAM, prepare a story to share onstage, or simply join us to listen to the wonderful stories shared by members of our community. Three teams of judges will select one winner, who will progress toward a GrandSLAM Championship. The theme for the night is... insects. 

Prepare a five-minute story about bugging out. Moments that get your spidey senses tingling. Jiminy Cricket, Beetlejuice, Queen Bey, and Ant-Man or Coleoptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera, and Lepidoptera. Making a beeline for someone, or dropping like flies. A caterpillar's metamorphosis from an inching, wriggling crawler into a majestic, flying butterfly. Dreaded encounters with those biting, bloodthirsty pests that lurk at dusk or an awe-filled reverence for those that pollinate, decompose, and make the world go round.

Doors Open

SESSION 3

Musical Prelude
Gustavus Wind Symphony
Lund Arena

Innovations in Insect Science

Lecture by Segenet Kelemu, PhD
Director, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi, Kenya

Break

Latitude and attitude: Environmental and cultural impacts on the perception of insects as food

Lecture by Julie Lesnik, PhD
Associate Professor of Anthropology, Wayne State University

10:50 a.m.

11 a.m.

Break

Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A 

Lunch

Lunch Options on Campus

• Lunch Discussions in Lund Forum
  • Pre-order tickets for a hot buffet lunch in the Lund Center Forum
  • Join a discussion table for an informal conversation led by a Gustavus faculty member. This is a time to meet other attendees and to share your thoughts and questions.
• Bring your own lunch and sit at tables set up in the Lund Center Forum (basketball court)
• Eat at the college dining room

Learning Lab

Head toward the Lund Forum (basketball court) to learn more about this year’s topic, through self-directed activities that include seeing live insects, trying crickets, and cockroach races.

Self-Guided Activities

There are many other self-guided activities to choose from.

• Geology Museum/Nobel Hall Tours
  Visit the Chester Johnson Geology Museum in Nobel Hall of Science.
• Greenhouse
  Visit the Nobel Hall Greenhouse, where biology students will be available to answer your questions about the plants and insects found there. 
• Gustavus Arboretum
  Take a self-guided walk through Minnesota’s biomes, in the Gustavus arboretum.
• Bonnier Multifaith Center in Anderson Hall
  A place for quiet reflection, prayer, meditation or contemplation.

Schaefer Art Gallery Reception 

Gallery talk by the artist at 1:15 p.m.

Diminutive Messengers Exhibit

Location: Schaefer Art Gallery, Schaefer Fine Arts building on the south end of campus
Open to the public free of charge, no ticket required.

In creative conjunction with Nobel Conference 59, Twin Cities-based collage artist Eleanor McGough brings a blend of ephemeral hand-cut paper installations and acrylic paintings to the Schaefer Art Gallery. Working with a mixture of new and recycled materials, and inspired by insect forms, McGough articulates a sense of wonder for the astonishing variety and intricacy of these creatures, along with a sense of foreboding for the messages they convey about the issues at play in our ecosystem.

 “The idea that insects are bio-indicators of ecosystem health fascinates me. Elaborating on the astonishing variety of documented insect forms with my own variations, my work seeks to articulate the critical role these diminutive and ephemeral messengers play in the structure of life, and how their once ubiquitous existence is under threat.”

McGough received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and studied in Brighton, England on scholarship. She is the recipient of two Minnesota State Arts Board grant awards, as well as a Bemis Foundation Residency. 

"Go to the Ant, Thou Sluggard": Insects and Biblical Wisdom

The Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) contains many references to insects. Ancient sages accumulated considerable knowledge of insect behavior based on their observations of the natural world—think of it as an early version of "citizen science." For the biblical writers, insect behavior reflects the orderliness of God's good creation, and it offers lessons for humans about how to live a good, meaningful life. Join Blake Couey, Professor of Religion at Gustavus, for an overview and discussion of the Bible's perspectives on the insect world.
Location: The campus Sukkah located on the South Mall between Christ Chapel, Anderson Hall, and Nobel Hall of Science

Gustavus Student Exclusive: Meet the speakers

Gustavus students have an exclusive opportunity to participate in conversations with the world expert Nobel Conference presenters 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Beck Hall (1st Floor). 
View the details.

SESSION 4

Musical Prelude
Gustavus Wind Orchestra
Lund Arena

(Bio)Diversity

Lecture by Jessica Ware, PhD
Associate Curator of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History

Break

What Happens to a Lonely Fly

Lecture by Michael Young, PhD
Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor, Rockefeller University; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2017

Panel Discussion and Audience Q&A

Nobel Conference 59 Closing remarks