notes: I’m currently working on this. Contact me if you want to help, add content, or have questions. Erin Nishimura
GENERAL INFORMATION
This day-long symposium will feature regional life science advances from the Front Range Worms community. Meet your fellow, local nematologists, learn about cutting-edge research, and enjoy the beauty of Laramie Wyoming in June.
This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Dustin Updike whose lab addresses how stem cells maintain their pluripotency by studying Caenorhabditis elegans germ cells and P granules.
This year’s organizer: Dr. David Fay (University of Wyoming)
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KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dustin Updike
Associate Professor
MDI Biological Laboratory
University of Maine
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REGISTRATION
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SCHEDULE (replace this for 2025)
| Time | Speaker | Lab/University | Topic |
| 9:30 – 9:45 | Breakfast and coffee | ||
| 9:45 – 9:50 | hosts | ||
| 9:50 – 10:15 | Kelsie Eichel | CU Boulder | Cell-extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms of axon initial segment development |
| 10:20-10:45 | Thiago Knittel | CSU | The RNA binding protein RDE-4 is required for loading siRNAs into Argonautes |
| 10:45-10:55 | Coffee Break | ||
| 11:00- 11:25 | Allison Hall | Regis | C. elegans Afadin is required for epidermal morphogenesis and functionally interfaces with the cadherin-catenin complex and RhoGAP PAC-1/ARHGAP21 |
| 11:30-11:55 | Gabrielle Reimann | UWyoming | Class II PI3Ks in C. elegans Membrane Trafficking |
| 12:00 – 1:30pm | Lunch Posters, Taco Bar, Beers | ||
| 1:20 – 2:20 | workshop/panels | Panel: Is it worthwhile to do a PhD/Post-doc Abroad Workshop: Graphical abstract with Illustrator | |
| 2:20-2:30 | Coffee Break | ||
| 2:30 – 2:45 | Ambika Basu | CSU | Guiding mRNA to nuclear periphery: Lessons from imb-2 in C elegans |
| 2:45 – 3:00 | Kaz Knight | CSU | Investigating the role of post-synaptic mitochondria dynamics in activity-dependent plasticity |
| 3:00 – 3:15 | Shae Milne | UWyoming | Phosphatidylserine translocase recruits rme-1 and regulates endocytic recycling |
| 3:15 – 3:30 | coffee and cookies | ||
| 3:30 – 4:30 | Christian Frøkjær-Jensen | KAUST | Large-scale gene perturbation and engineering in C. elegans |
| 4:30 – 5:00 | Hosts | Concluding Remarks Brainstorming | |
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LOCATION – University of Wyoming
Please join us at Avogadro’s Number, a classic Music and Beer student venue in Fort Collins, who shows how Fort Collins has attracted students, alumni and freethinkers for decades.
For those coming from outside of Fort Collins, we will arrange for day parking permits at CSU parking lot 440 just next to the Max Bus Line.
The Bus is free and runs every 15 minutes down Mason Ave. Mulberry or Laurel stops on the Northbound Max Bus both are close to Avogadro’s number.
FOOD
The Symposium will start at 945 am, but plan to come early for coffee. We will have a taco bar for lunch with vegetarian and vegan options, and beverages from Avogadro’s with drink tickets. Be sure to let us know if you need anything specific for food when your register and we will make it happen. Have a seat outside in Avogadro’s patio for lunch but don’t forget to take your beer to the posters, ask questions, learn more about research in the front range, and build community and networks. In the afternoon, there will be another coffee break with cookies. Avogadro’s also has a cafe where you are welcome to purchase specialty coffees and other beverages.
Brainstorming for 2026
After the Keynote address, we will do some brainstorming and ask for your input for the next event in 2025. We’re interested in things like: where should we do it, who will organize it, and what format would we want? We will do this at Avogadro’s or depending on popular vote we can change to another venue in downtown.
Thank you to our sponsors
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