David Bolnick
Professor, EEB
University of Connecticut

Host: Eric May

Innocence in Connecticut & DNA Evidence in Our Criminal Justice System

Presented by Attorney Robert Meredith, the Director of the Connecticut Innocence Project/ Post Conviction Unit and Attorney Joseph E. Lopez, Office of the Chief Public Defender

Robert J. Meredith graduated from Trinity College (Connecticut) in 1987 and Western New England College School of Law in 1994. He has been an attorney with the Connecticut Public Defender’s Office since 1996. As an Assistant Public Defender in Hartford Juvenile Court from 1996 to 2002, he represented indigent children accused of misdemeanors and serious felonies in the criminal session of the juvenile court, the Connecticut Appellate Court, and the Connecticut Supreme Court. As a Senior Assistant Public Defender in the Hartford Judicial District from 2002 to 2018, he represented indigent clients accused of major felonies and capital offenses, including murder, sexual assault, robbery, kidnapping, and assaults involving serious injuries. As a Senior Assistant Public Defender in the Connecticut Innocence Project and Post-Conviction Unit from 2018 to 2020, he was responsible for overseeing the caseload of the Public Act 15-84 juvenile parole hearings, participation in the assessment of innocence claims, and representation of individuals in habeas matters. In November of 2020, he was appointed to the position of the Director of the Connecticut Innocence Project and Post-Conviction Unit.

  Joe Lopez recently retired from the Division of Public Defender Services after 28 years of service. He began his career in the Bridgeport juvenile court, he worked for several years in the Bridgeport GA, and, in 2003, was appointed to the New Haven JD. In 2015, he co-founded a specialized state-wide project that handled DNA-related litigation, where he served as a training and consulting resource to public defenders and assigned counsel. In 2020, he became the Director of the Complex Litigation Unit where he handled murder cases with extensive and complicated forensic evidence and provided training and resources to Division staff as they developed trial strategies and complex motions practice. Joe has significant felony trial experience, including several high-profile matters.   Joe was the recipient of the 2005 Connecticut Law Tribune’s Advocacy Award, the 2024 Thomas Ullmann Memorial Award, and a former Board of Directors for the Connecticut Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association. Joe is a Mark A. Weinstein Clinical Teaching Fellow at the University of Connecticut School of Law and a frequent presenter on legal and forensic science topics.

Please join us for our poster session by the students of MCB 1200, Virus Hunters. Our students found fabulous new phages, and can tell you all about them.

Please join us for the annual Tiny Earth (MCB 2612) Poster Symposium between 10:00 and 11:30 am on Thurs. Dec. 5^th in the BPB atrium. See what novel antibiotic-producing bacteria our students have found this year!

Hosted by Drs. Spencer Nyholm and Patricia Rossi, and course TA Jillian Lewis.

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

University of Connecticut

Announces the

Related Proposal for the Doctoral Degree

Josette Nammour

BS Biology, Suffolk University

Determining BipA’s biochemical role in EHEC pathogenicity and the protein’s involvement in the bacterial oxidative stress response

Thursday, December 5, 2024

1:00 PM

BPB 130

Major Advisor:
Dr. Victoria Robinson

Committee:
Dr. Kenneth Campellone
Dr. Daniel Gage
Dr. Michael O’Neill
Dr. Joerg Graf

Ruiyi Sun
Mellone Lab

Altering Centromere Size in Drosophila Germline

WinS is a low-key, MCB-based (but not MCB-exclusive) social group dedicated to supporting female grad students, postdocs and faculty in the sciences. Connecting to others through such networks can increase one’s professional success and personal contentment (which have additional positive cascading effects), so please consider stopping by - even if only for a few minutes! This meeting will be a general check-in to see how everyone’s semesters went. Note: This meeting is for all women, including cis and trans, and non-binary and gender non-conforming people who are comfortable in a space that centers the experiences of women in science.

*snackluck = snack potluck; please bring a snack to share, if you’d like. (This is optional, so regardless of snack status, you’re still welcome to join us!)

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

University of Connecticut

Announces the

Master’s Thesis Defense

Ian Klepacki
BS University of New Hampshire

Investigating the Effects of Forest Fire on the Microbiome and Mycobiome of T. septentrionalis Fungus Gardens

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

12:00 PM

TLS 263

Major Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Klassen

Associate Advisor: Dr. Sarah Hird

Associate Advisor: Dr. Spencer Nyholm

working copy of defense

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology

University of Connecticut

Announces the

Related Proposal for the Doctoral Degree

Tyler McDermott

BS Pace University
MS Boston University

Characterizing the insertional bias of a non-LTR retrotransposon enriched at Drosophila centromeres

Thursday, December 19, 2024

12:00 PM

ESB 121

Zoom:

Major Advisor: Dr. Barbara Mellone
Associate Advisor: Dr. Rachel O’Neill
Associate Advisor: Dr. Stacey Hanlon
Examiner: Dr. Michael O’Neill
Examiner: Dr. Christine Beck