Friday September 21, 2012 – 7:30 p.m. at the Almonte United Church Social Hall
Speaker: Maria de Rosa
Topic: Nano-tech on the Farm
Synopsis:
Can the new fields of nanotechnology and nanoscience help improve the efficiency of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides? Can DNA help us provide nutrients to crops “on demand”? What are the possible risks and benefits of using this new technology? This presentation will look at nanoscale crop inputs and describe the latest work being done around the world in this area.
Speaker’s Profile:
Dr. Maria DeRosa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Carleton University. Her research examines a type of nucleic acid called ‘aptamers’ that can fold into 3D nanoscale shapes capable of binding tightly to a specific target molecule. Dr. DeRosa received her Ph.D in Chemistry from Carleton University in 2003 and was presented with a University Senate Medal. She was awarded an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship to do research at the California Institute of Technology from 2004-2005 with Prof. Jackie Barton, a world-leader in DNA sensor research. In 2005, she returned to Carleton as a faculty member in the Chemistry Department. She was a recipient of the John Charles Polanyi Research Award for new researchers in 2006 and an Ontario Early Researcher Award in 2010.
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