Las Positas College will host Stanford University Professor Robert Sapolsky, world renowned neuroscientist and expert on stress, who will present a talk, “Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: Stress, Health, and Coping,” on Wednesday, March 21, 7-9 p.m. in the Multi Disciplinary Building Lecture Hall, Room 2420. Tickets are on sale at the Bookstore; early purchase is recommended. Admission is $10; parking is $2.
Sapolsky is a MacArthur “genius” Fellow, a professor of biology and neurology at Stanford University and a research associate with the Institute of Primate Research at the National Museum of Kenya. In 2008, National Geographic and PBS aired an hour-long special on stress featuring Sapolsky and his research on the subject. He has been called “one of the best scientist-writers of our time” by Oliver Sacks and “one of the finest natural history writers around” by “The New York Times.”
In addition to “A Primate’s Memoir,” which won the 2001 Bay Area Book Reviewers Award in nonfiction, Sapolsky has written three other books, including “The Trouble with Testosterone,” “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” and “Monkeyluv and Other Essays on our Lives as Animals.” His articles have appeared in publications such as “Discover” and “The New Yorker.” Sapolsky was awarded Rockefeller University’s Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science for 2008. He currently is working on a book, “Human Aggression, Human Compassion and the Ambiguities of Biology.”
Find out what's happening in Livermorewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“We're really excited about bringing Robert Sapolsky to Las Positas during Brain Awareness Week,” said Las Positas College Psychology Instructor Ernest Jones, Ph.D. “Dr. Sapolsky teaches one of the most popular classes at Stanford.” Sapolsky’s presentation is sponsored by the Psi Beta Psychology Honor Society and the departments of Psychology, Biology and Anthropology.
Jones noted that, each year, the college participates in Brain Awareness Week, a global campaign to increase public awareness about brain research. “Each March, we organize a variety of Brain Awareness Week activities on campus, including the Distinguished Speaker Program, the annual Brain Awareness Fair and exhibits and displays around campus,” Jones said.
Find out what's happening in Livermorewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Brain Awareness Week involves a partnership of more than 1,500 organizations in 55 countries. These organizations include scientific institutions, patient advocacy groups, universities, colleges, governmental agencies, services groups, K-12 schools and other affiliates.
Brain Awareness Week activities are designed to increase public awareness about the wonders of the brain and nervous system, focus national and international attention on the progress, promise, and benefits of brain and nervous system research, and help people of all ages and backgrounds understand more about the “universe between their ears.”
The Las Positas College Department of Psychology brings world-renowned speakers and events to the campus and Tri-Valley community. A frequent Las Positas College visitor was the late Kim Peek, the super-savant who inspired the Oscar winning film, “Rain Man,” starring Dustin Hoffman. Past speakers also have included Dr. John Ratey, best selling author and associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School; William C. Dement, M.D. Ph.D., the world’s leading authority on sleep and regarded as the “Father of Sleep Medicine;” and Temple Grandin, portrayed in an award winning HBO movie and regarded as the world's most accomplished and best-known adult with autism.
For more information, please visit the Las Positas College website at www.laspositascollege.edu or http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/jones/ErnieJones.htm
