People, papers and presentations

The Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) is dedicating a session at its 2017 SNO Conference in tribute to Pedro Alvarez, director of the Rice-based NEWT Center and Rice’s George R. Brown Professor in civil and environmental engineering and in materials science and nanoengineering. The session at the Nov. 5-7 meeting in Los Angeles honors Alvarez’s contributions “to eco-responsible nanotechnology through pioneering research on how engineered nanomaterials interact with bacteria, elucidating their mode of action and discerning potential impacts to microbial ecosystem services.”

Daniel Domingues da Silva, an assistant professor of history, participated in the second International Conference of the Mozambique History Workshop Oct. 26-28 and held at the 17th-century Fortress of Maputo in Mozambique. The conference’s theme was “Slavery, the Slave Trade and the Making of Mozambique.” Domingues is a scholar of slave trade and was invited to deliver a paper on a project he recently developed, “Visualizing Abolition: A Digital History of the Suppression of the African Slave Trade.” Domingues is a new faculty member and teaches upper- and lower-level courses on the history of Africa and the African diaspora.

Kerry Ward, associate professor of history and researcher on comparative slavery and forced migration, moderated a discussion, “Silencing Opposition: Human Rights Violations in Burundi,” at the Rothko Chapel Nov. 2 as part of the chapel’s 2017 Óscar Romero Award Pre-Program. The program, presented in advance of the Nov. 12 award ceremony, focused on the topic of ending mass incarceration. The Rothko Chapel’s Óscar Romero Award recognizes courageous, grassroots human rights advocacy.