welcome to opportunities's program hosted by the commonwealth club of silicon valley my name is mary ellen, it is my pleasure to introduce doctor richard dockens evolution mare biologist pounder of the foundation for reason and science. and author most recently of science in the soul selected writings of a passionate rationalist. doctor was voted property magazine number one world sinker, and was on daily telegraphs 100 greatest living geniuses list he earned his degree in zoology and doctorate in animal behavior from oxford university and become university's first professor for the public understanding of science. his best selling books include the selfish gene, blind watch make or and god delusion and sold 3 million copies and translated in more than 30 languages worldwide. ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming richard dockens. [applause] >> okay. are we all can you hear me? that sounds preagdz. not bad. okay. so we have a lot of heavy duty question and things to pond oar tonight so i thought maybe we would start with something a little -- lighter and personal an essay toward

very good to have you, mary ellen.or a lot of folks who have never seen anything like this, and it's been a while since we've seen anything like this, isn't it? >> oh, i think it's a huge event. i mean, the last time an eclipse like this one went coast to coast throughout the united states was actually 99 years ago. i do remember 1970 i was in ohio, and there was an eclipse that went up the east coast, and i got to see just a partial. i was only 8 years old. and what really just strikes me about the whole thing when you think about what was known scientifically 99 years ago or even back in 1970 and to see what, how far we've come, how much we've learned, you know, just proving relativity theory definitely this past year or so with gravitational weight, the detection of that, and to see this astrological phenomenon is just, it's really emotional. that's why i flew from dallas this morning up to nashville so that i could be a part of it. neil: well, if you're an astronaut doing that, all the more kudos to you. would you

we'll begin with her, professor mary ellen curtain, an associate professor with the department of history at american university. she specializes in voting rights and has written extensively on modern african-american and women's social and political history. after receiving her ph.d. in history from duke university, professor curtain worked at universities across the country and abroad while lecturing on american history and focusing her research discipline. in 2000 and 2010, she was awarded multiple public policy fellowships with the woodrow wilson international center for scholars in washington d.c. professor curtain's first book, black prisoners and their world, alabama, 1865 to 1900, her forthcoming book, reaching for power, barbara jordan and the politics of race and sex in america" recounts the life of barbara jordan, a firm defender of voting rights and the first black woman elected to congress from a southern state. the book will highlight congresswoman jordan's key role in the reauthorization bill and long history of campaigning for women and minority suffrage in texas. so i'll

mary ellen miller who is a research engineer in ann arbor. michigan tech, which is actually in the upper peninsula, way up where i was known -- not long ago, getting to know the place. in information technology to solve security, infrastructure, and environmental problems. with the help of nasa, dr. miller has used models and earth observations to predict erosion and run off after wildfires in colorado and california. not all of her work is high-tech. she also spends plenty of time out in the field with more low-tech tools like bucket gauges and a bucket hat. thank you for being with us today, dr. miller. we look forward to hearing your unique scientific insight and water shows are impacted by wildfires. thank you senator stabenow. -- tod the plan aloft lead the panel off, we welcome your comments. committee,of the thank you for the opportunity to discuss and collaborate on reducing wildfire risk. after the events of yesterday, the loss of one of our own, our hearts are heavy and we are sending our condolences to our whole community. it is a

on your first question -- and to mary turn it over ellen. first question about kinds of things have made it possible to reverse periods to fight back, you know, there are shocking this ons to be asking in day and age. i think that, you know, there's bullet. magic people -- people start . anizing they also, you know, try to use the courts. and the other dynamic that though, and i think this is a dynamic that we're going to see, okay, and maybe we're in a couple ee it of places. you havethat --i mean, to organize and you have to use the court, however difficult it is in some respects to use the now, but we have to have real mobilization in helping of laws, butth voter i.d. there is a partisan dynamic which at first kind of can work suppression. but then can be turned. happens there is that if you are a political party, been engaging in a strategy or want to engage in a strategy or make it tough for of people to vote, that, you ontinue know, for a while. but at some point, with population changes and changes, you might think that those people,

she is professor mary ellen professor sociate with the department of history at american university. in voting rights and has written on modern african american and women's history.d political after receiving her phd from duke university, professor at universities across the country and abroad while lecture og american research d focusing discipline. in 2000 and 2010, she was public policy e fellowships with woodrow wilson international center for scholar necessary washington, d.c. professor curtain's first book prisoners and their world," was study of convict labor in the south. forthcoming book "reaching for power, barbara jordan and the olitics of race and sex in america," recounts the life of barbara jordan, offender of rights and first black woman elected to congress from a southern state. highlights jordan's key role in the reauthorization bill of campaigning for women and minority suffrage in texas. so, will give biography of the when he arrives. harvard kennedy school of overnment, harvard trained historians, the professor specializes in voting rights and election law history

mary ellen miller and i'm a research engineer at michigan tech research institute. my ph.d is environmental engineering with a masters in imaging science. thank you foresighting me here today to share any work in post fire remediation. my team has built an online database to rapidly combine earth observations of burn severity with process based model inputs. post fire flooding and erosion compose a significant threat to life, property, and natural resources such our our valuable water supplies. as part of my ph.d program i worked on a very large scale epa project designed to help plan fuel reduction treatments with a goal of protecting our water resources from fire emact. when the project ended i used the data and tools to rapidly predict post fire erosion forest service bear teams in colorado. there, or burned area emergency response teams, just have one week to assess a wildfire scar and decide if they need to make remediational plans or not. so, earth observations of burn severity are critical in the process but i was very surprised to learn from my forest servic

welcome to opportunities's program hosted by the commonwealth club of silicon valley my name is mary ellen, it is my pleasure to introduce doctor richard dockens evolution mare biologist pounder of the foundation for reason and science. and author most recently of science in the soul selected writings of a passionate rationalist. doctor was voted property magazine number one world sinker, and was on daily telegraphs 100 greatest living