IACCB - Fall 2023 Speaker Bios

Dr. Allison Sacerdote-Velat (she/her/hers) is the Senior Director / Curator of Herpetology at the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, conducting research focused on conservation and restoration of local amphibians and reptiles including the wood frog, blue-spotted salamanders, and the smooth greensnake. Allison also directs the Calling Frog Survey, a community science program that trains volunteers to monitor breeding frog populations across the northeastern Illinios and northwestern Indiana regions of the Chicago Wilderness upon which she'll be speaking.

Dr. Anwar Khan holds a PhD in biochemistry from Louisiana State University. His postdoctoral research at University of Illinois-Chicago focused on protein-protein interactions regulating the integrity of red blood cell membranes. He is also inerested in how heme content is regulated in erythroblasts and other cells. Professor Khan is currently a faculty member at Triton College. Aside from teaching biology and biochemistry, he is passionate about giving undergraduate students a chance to do research. Through a new Physical and Life Sciences Undergraduate Student (PLUS) research lab at Triton, he guides students through projects that teach them employability skills while generating valuable research data. He will be speaking about the endogenous heme biosynthesis pathway and transporters involved in regulating intracellular heme levels.

Annemarie Duncan is Argonne National Laboratory's Bioenergy Curriculum Developer. She manages and prepares higher ed instructional content for individuals, schools, and organizations while assisting in other projects supporting bioenergy education. Her curricula enable students to better understand bioenergy science topics and pursue pathways in STEM fields while encouraging diversity, equity, and a sense of belonging for all. Annemarie will be speaking about the BRIDGES bioenergy case study curriculum.