TEDxLSU 2016: Why?
Video production by Digital FX
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Dr. Hector Alila | The Warfare of Cancer: From Carpet Bombing to Targeted StrikesWhen Dr. Hector Alila founded his Baton Rouge-based biopharmaceutical firm, he chose an apt name: Esperance Pharmaceuticals, which translates to “hope” in French. The company is offering hope for one of humanity’s most difficult medical challenges through the development of a new class of targeted anticancer drugs that selectively kill cancer cells without harming normal cells. Esperance has partnered with the renowned University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and attracted venture capital from around the world. Hector, who played a role in the creation of the popular antibiotic Augmentin, graduated from Cornell University with a Ph.D. in physiology and immunology. He has 20 years of management, drug development and research experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry. Today, as President and CEO of Esperance Pharmaceuticals, Hector leads a team using cutting-edge research to develop drugs that have shown early promise in treating a variety of cancers. The work, which was built off of research started at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has the potential to make a lasting impact worldwide.
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Dr. Mark Benfield | The Deep Ocean’s Unlikely AlliesDr. Mark Benfield is diving deep to learn the secrets of the most unexplored and least understood part of Earth: the world’s oceans. Mark has been obsessed with the oceans for his entire life and has spent nearly two decades in Baton Rouge discovering what lies beyond the Louisiana coast. As an oceanographer at LSU’s School of the Coast and Environment, Mark’s research pushes collaborative boundaries by forging relationships between academia and the oil and gas industry through a project known as SERPENT. Using robotic eyes to survey the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, Mark has made a number of deep-water discoveries that are changing science’s understanding of life in the extreme depths of the oceans.
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Sister Judith Brun | The Biggest Obstacle to Social Change: OurselvesWhere some see disparate issues, Sister Judith Brun, CSJ, sees a single solution. Sister Judith has been a force for positive change in the Greater Baton Rouge Area for over 40 years as an educator and humanitarian. A passionate advocate for young people, Sister Judith began teaching in 1972 and served as principal of St. Joseph’s Academy for 25 years. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Sister Judith founded Community Initiatives Foundation to provide one-on-one support for displaced children and families. Since then, she has expanded CIF to address the needs of underserved Baton Rouge neighborhoods through on-the-ground programs like Take Care Baton Rouge. Through these efforts she challenges the traditional model of social support, encouraging collaboration over accommodation and relationships over charity. Community challenges are like a puzzle, and Sister Judith sees people from all different backgrounds as vital pieces for success.
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Vincent Cellucci, Jesse Allison & Derick Ostrenko | An Interactive Poetry Experiment
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Using transcripts from more than 2500 TED talks as data, Vincent Cellucci, Jesse Allison, and Derick Ostrenko combined poetry performance with coding to create an interactive live-streaming poetry web app triggered by audience/user interaction to pull found text from TED Talks—a process they refer to as “creative data mining.” The trio will take you on an ethereal journey with “Diamonds in Dystopia,” an interactive app that will transform the way you think of art, poetry, performance, and code.
For more information on "Diamonds In Dystopia," please visit: http://diamonds.emdm.io/ to read the unique collaborative TEDxLSU poem generated by the audience for this event and http://www.tedxlsu.com/blog/interactive-live-poetry-performance-tedxlsu-2016 to hear more about what's going on behind the curtain and on the iPad. |
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Barton Gilley | The Art of Self-Improvement: Doing What You Love Until It’s Done RightBarton Gilley knows how to get things moving. Literally. A 2008 graduate of LSU’s Fine Arts program, Barton applies his formal art training with his passion for the playful by conceiving and creating animatronic sculptures. Barton’s affinity for art is a family affair; his father Shelby Gilley founded the renowned Gilley’s Gallery, which today continues Shelby’s legacy of promoting artists like Clementine Hunter and other outsider and folk artists. But for Barton, art intersects special effects in the form of sculptures such as the notorious R2-DBrew seen at LSU tailgates and Super Mario Brothers Fire Lotus Flower featured at events for Elevator Projects and the Baton Rouge Mini Maker Faire, among others. Where one person sees a few pieces of scrap metal, Barton sees a character and story that can come to life through a symphony of scavenging, sculpting and electronics.
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Ginger Guttner | Why I Pretend To Be a TigerGinger Guttner’s job is not like most. As the director of public relations for the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine, Ginger’s expertise heralds from communicating the best work of her human and animal colleagues. For over 11 years Ginger has brought humor to LSUVM’s media and publications, and for the past six has brought a voice to Mike the Tiger. By combining informative presentations, current events and behind-the-scenes photos, Ginger lends a fun and accessible voice to one of LSU’s most notable programs. The current president-elect of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana, Ginger’s work day may include anything from fielding questions about why Mike the Tiger opts out of game attendance to scheduling television interviews for LSUVM staff. For Ginger, it’s just another day on the job.
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Kristofer Hill with Julia Chacon | Flamenco: A Coded LanguageFlamenco is an art form that connects the musician with the dancer in an exchange of steps and chords. In this talk, be entranced by the musical stylings of flamenco musician Kristofer Hill and flamenco dancer Julia Chacon and learn how the cultural dance combines singing, dancing, guitar playing, hand-clapping, and finger-snapping to create its distinct musical style -- and to communicate a hidden language.
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Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré | The Call to Resilient Leadership amid Environmental Disaster
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Known as "The Category Five General," Retired Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré gained national acclaim for his role as commander of the Joint Katrina Task Force, leading the recovery efforts for one of the worst natural disasters in American history. A Southern University graduate and Louisiana native, General Honoré used his no-nonsense leadership and mastery of logistics to help accelerate recovery efforts in New Orleans and beyond. Before Katrina, Honoré served as commander of the First U.S. Army, overseeing the training, mobilization and deployment of Army Reserve and National Guard units in the eastern United States. Honoré retired from the Army in 2008 after 37 years of distinguished service. He has remained busy since, currently holding seven honorary doctorates in addition to his master’s degree in human resources from Troy University, Alabama. Today, the Baton Rouge resident is fighting different types of battles here in Louisiana as the founder and director of GreenARMY, an alliance of civic, community and environmental groups. Honoré and GreenARMY have emerged as one of the most vocal advocates on environmental issues in Louisiana, pushing measures to protect the state’s fragile coastline and preserve water aquifers that provide drinking water for much of the state.
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Chris Thomas King | The Blues Was Born in Louisiana, not MississippiChris Thomas King knows the blues. Son of the legendary musician Tabby Thomas, Chris made his own name as a tour de force in the music world and a champion of the Louisiana blues tradition through his global travels. Through his prolific and varied career as a Grammy-winning musician, actor and mentor, Chris has helped spread the word about the blues and its pivotal role in southern Louisiana’s culture. In addition to his musical work, the Baton Rouge native has appeared in television and film, including memorable turns as Delta blues man Tommy Johnson in the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? and as the band leader in the Ray Charles biography "Ray.” He’s also contributed to multiple film soundtracks, including the wildly popular music for O Brother, Where Art Thou? — which earned him a Best Album nod at the 2001 Country Music Awards. When not touring, Chris runs his own recording studio, 21st. Century Blues Studios, in New Orleans. He’s also active in the community, helping to promote the history of Louisiana’s musical heritage by mentoring student musicians through the Tipitina's Foundation Musical Mentoring Program. Follow Chris @ctkmusic.
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Dr. Gary King | Of Mars and Microbes: Earth’s Next ChapterWith every new scientific discovery the wonders of this world — and beyond — continue to add more questions to our quest for knowledge. Dr. Gary King, a graduate of the University of Georgia with a Ph.D. in microbiology, searches tirelessly for answers. His work on volcanic systems’ effects on microbial organisms and bacteria’s impact on gases in the atmosphere, among other things, has led him to studies across the globe. Gary’s work has earned numerous honors and awards, including the LSU Rainmaker Award, Fulbright Research Scholar award, and the University of Maine’s 1997 Presidential Research and Creative Achievement Award. He is a fellow at the American Academy of Microbiology, a Lindbergh Foundation grantee, Glaser Distinguished Lecturer, and a former Clare Darling Distinguished Professor of Oceanography at the University of Maine. Gary is now a Professor of Microbial Biology at LSU's College of Science and his passion for research not only includes learning how microbes affect the Earth, but how they might have survived on Mars in the past or even change the red planet’s future. We will never know everything, but Gary’s work shows that creative exploration is the greatest aid to discovery — not only for our home, but also for the entire universe in which we live.
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David Klanecky | ABCs of Pollution and Your ControlDavid Klanecky understands as well as any local how critical energy is in our lives here in Baton Rouge. Prior to moving to Louisiana, he worked all over the world in roles that focused on our impact on the environment, and he has seen how different cultures approach the tasks of transportation and electricity generation. Today he works with companies to pave the way for humanity’s new relationship with transportation by exploring more effective ways to produce and store energy. Looking at the ever-present challenge of energy storage, he is working to prepare us for the moment when electric cars become the standard in transportation by storing and distributing renewable sources of energy more efficiently. David’s work is on the forefront of tomorrow’s energy paradigm, and he is implementing the solutions for the future in Baton Rouge today.
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Bianca Smith | Real People in Fantasy Worlds: Cosmic Comic Intersectionality
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Mass Comm student by day, comic book writer by night, Bianca Smith is looking to use a medium that many associate with superheroes to become a leading advocate for feminism and intersectionality. A Monroe native, Bianca is a senior studying public relations with a minor in theater. When not in the classroom, she is actively involved with the campus media scene as a promotions assistant for LSU student media, a staff writer for Legacy Magazine, and as a worker with the student-led radio station KLSU. Whether as an aspiring novelist, screenwriter or comic book author, Bianca uses her writing voice and creativity to be a force that changes the perception of female portrayal in the entertainment industry. Bianca is hoping to that her upcoming comic series “Glitz Squad” can be a force to break stereotypes for minority women in the entertainment field. Follow Bianca @biancasmith683.
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Dr. Amanda Exner Staiano | The Serious Fun of ExergamingFor Dr. Amanda Exner Staiano work is all fun and games. As a developmental psychologist at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Amanda’s idea of fun includes researching childhood obesity, early detection of obesity and the chronic diseases that often occur with them. Through “exergaming,” she explores how combining exercise and technology can combat the rising problem of childhood obesity. Her past research includes studying how using the Wii Active gaming system for in-school physical education can lead to changes in children’s weight and health behaviors, including physical activity and eating habits. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States and we need new approaches to address it. Amanda is stirring up the way we think about traditional exercise to reach more children and keep them interested by combining technology they know with the enjoyment that can come along with physical activity. For her, the answer to reducing Louisiana's 33 percent childhood obesity rate is to meet the kids on their own playing field — the virtual one. Follow Amanda @amandastaiano.
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Joseph Tucker | Failure as a Vital Ingredient to InnovationTypically, when the need for athletic equipment arises, most people will turn to their local sporting goods store. If you’re an out-of-the-box thinker like Joseph Tucker, you may opt to invent your own athletic equipment. Using the challenges he faced while marathon training, the athlete-turned-CEO used his ingenuity to produce a hands-free hydration tool. His self-watering mouth guard is pushing the boundaries of sports and fitness technology to help athletes in a variety of disciplines to maximize and maintain their peak performance. A Louisiana native, Joseph stuck to his in-state roots by utilizing the Louisiana Business and Technology Center and Innovation Park located in Baton Rouge. His company Hydra-Guard is looking to not only become a new player in the consumer market but also change the game by innovating how athletes can use equipment to better their training and performance. Follow Joseph and his team @Hydra_Guard.
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