A variety of lectures and events are headed to Iowa State for the spring semester, with featured presentations from both ISU faculty and guest speakers coming to campus. More information on the lectures can be found on the Lectures Program website here.

1. Security and Virtual Reality — Kate McKinley

“Security and Virtual Reality” is the Engineers’ Week Keynote Lecture. Mckinley is a security leader at Facebook Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and has previously worked as a security engineer and developer at companies such as Netflix, according to the Lectures Program website. Her lecture will be at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Alliant Engergy-Lee Liu Auditorium in Howe Hall. 

2. “But You Don’t Look Like You Have an Eating Disorder…” — Sarah Thompson

Sarah Thompson is the Body Image and Eating Disorder Awareness Week Speaker. Her lecture, “But You Don’t Look Like You Have an Eating Disorder … ” will focus on her own experience with an eating disorder as well as “barriers and access to eating disorder treatment, including fatphobia, homophobia and transphobia,” according to the Lectures program website. Her lecture will be at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

3. “The Holocaust through the Eyes of a Child Survivor” — Inge Auerbacher

Inge Auerbarcher survived three years as a child in a a concentration camp in Czechoslovakia. Auebacher will speak about her experience as a Holocaust survivor and immigrating to the United States with her parents, according to the Lectures program website. Her lecture will be at 6 p.m. March 4 in the Great Hall in the Memorial Union.

4. “Designing Secure Fleets of Drones: Possibilities,  Challenges and Limitations” — Borzoo Bonakdarpour

Borzoo Bonakdapour, assistant professor of computer science, will be speaking as part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Lecture Series. According to the Lectures Program website, Bonakdapour will discuss his programming work regarding drone fleets that are both safe and usable for major projects. Bonakdapour’s lecture will be at 8 p.m. March 12 in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

5. “Changing the World through Food”— Fedele Bauccio

Fedele Bauccio, confounder of Bon Appétit management company, will speak about how he and his company have impacted the food industry and how they help create a more sustainable food system. According to the Lectures Program website, his company has made a variety of choices to become more sustainable, such as banning plastic straws. Bauccio’s lecture is part of the 2018-19 Helen LeBaron Hilton Endowed Chair Lecture Series and is helping celebrate 10 years of the Live Green! Initiative. Bauccio’s lecture will be at 7 p.m. March 27 in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

6. “Bringing Our Soil Back to Life” — David Montgomery 

David Montgomery will be discussing his latest book titled “Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life,” and the role agriculture can play in helping solve sustainability issues, according to the Lectures Program website. Montgomery’s lecture is the Pesek Colloquium on Sustainable Agriculture and will be at 7 p.m. March 28 in the Great Hall in the Memorial Union.

7. “The 2018 Barbara E. (Mound) Hansen Lecture in Early Childhood Education” — Karin Lifter

Karin Lifter is a professor in the applied psychology department at Northeastern University in Boston.” [Lifter] directs the Interdisciplinary Certificate Program in Early Intervention, which prepares personnel to serve infants and toddlers with disabilities or at risk for developmental delay as well as their families,” according to the Lectures Program website. Lifter’s lecture will be at 7 p.m. April 9 in the South Ballroom in the Memorial Union.

8. “Human Mating Strategies” — David Buss

David Buss, professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, is known for his research regarding how different human sexes attract mates, according to the Lectures Program website. “Human Mating Strategies” is the Graduate & Professional Student Research Conference Keynote and will be at 6 p.m. April 10 in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

9. “Understanding Second Language Speakers: What REALLY matters?” — Tracey Derwing

Tracey Derwing’s lecture is the Quentin Johnson Lecture in Linguistics. According to the Lectures program website, Derwing is a professor emeritus of Teaching English as a Second Language at the University of Alberta and is also an adjunct professor in linguistics at Simon Fraser University. Her lecture will be at 7 p.m. April 16 in the Sun Room in the Memorial Union.

10. The Art of Fiction: A Reading and Conversation with Margot Livesy

“The Art of Fiction” will now be at 7 p.m. April 25 in the Pioneer Room in the Memorial Union after being rescheduled from earlier in the semester. According to the Lectures Program website, Livesy has written 10 books that includes a collection of stories, and eight acclaimed novels. Livesy will also be at an additional event that afternoon at 2:15 p.m. in the Pioneer Room for a more informal talk about writing.