Over Zoom, Dr. Steve Mackessy discusses the evolution and diversification of snake venoms and their effects, finishing with a discussion of how therapeutics can and will be developed from venom compounds. His lab at U. of Northern Colorado (UNC) investigates fundamental questions in biology using venomous snakes and their venoms as a basic platform. He has published over 200 scientific papers, book chapters and natural history notes, several books, and special editions of several journals, with research including many students, and colleagues from nine countries and other US universities. He has received UNC awards in research and teaching (biomedicine and vertebrate biology), and has a B.A. and M.A. in Biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a Ph.D. from Washington State University.

Presented at Friendly House. Barbara Hilyer was raised as white on the west coast, learning in her 30s that her father came from an accomplished African American family. Finding his sister, she learned their story which inspired her research, while meeting a variety of people in Washington DC, Montgomery, Alabama and Tallahassee Florida who helped her recover what had been lost. Her book “Legacy Lost: Passing Across the Color Line” shares this testament to how individuals lived and thrived over centuries in America’s race conscious society, and how American history has never been good at truth telling. Race is deeply woven into the American fabric and yet we are currently witnessing the attempt to unravel who we are. Barbara Hilyer holds a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership, and taught social studies and US History in public schools in Ashland, Oregon, residing now in Portland.