Professor Robert Knight served as the Director of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute from 2001 to 2011 and has run a lab in human neuroscience within that institute since 1998. Using electrophysiological techniques, the Knight lab studies the role of the prefrontal cortex in human cognition. After graduating with a BS in Physics from the Illinois Institute of Technology, he earned his MD from Northwestern University, completed his neurology training at UC San Diego, and finished his post-doctoral work at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 2010, Professor Knight helped found the Center for Neural Engineering and Prosthesis, a joint program between UC Berkeley and UCSF focused on brain-machine interfaces.

Brian Pasley, a post-doctoral student in Dr. Knight’s lab since 2010, conceived the lab’s latest publication, which announced the possibility for scientists to reconstruct human speech from recorded brain activity. Both Pasley and Knight hope the research will lead to advances in neural prosthetics for patients with neurological disorders.

After graduating from Berkeley with a PhD in sociology, Leah Carroll returned to UC Berkeley in 2001 as the director of the Haas Scholars Program. Like Professor Kane, Leah became involved with Berkeley Scientific Journal through the undergraduate research programs in the Office of Undergraduate Research. She has guided BSJ since then and served as the staff advisor. Her experience in research and undergraduate education has been an invaluable asset, and her new position as the Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research is a testament to that. Leah’s new book, “Violent Democratization: Social Movements, Elites, and Politics in Columbia’s Rural War Zones,” shows her all-encompassing involvement in research, both in a mentoring and in pursuing her own fields of interest.

Envision the underwater world: vibrant coral, swaying seaweed, and lively creatures abound. However, the postcards and National Geographic covers that try to capture the beauty of this picturesque habitat can only represent it at one moment in time -- in reality, the landscape is hardly static, since many of its animals are capable of body modifications to change their shape and color. To understand the coloration and color vision of sea creatures, UC Berkeley Professor Roy L. Caldwell researches various marine animals such as stomatopods and cephalopods. In an interview with Professor Caldwell on December 13, 2012 BSJ had an opportunity to discuss different aspects of color vision and color change in sea animals with respect to behavioral ecology.

Professor Francis completed his doctoral thesis on the discovery and optimization of transition metal catalysts at Harvard University in 1999 and then moved to UC Berkeley as a postdoctoral scholar under organic chemistry Professor Jean Fréchet, working on DNA-facilitated assembly of polymers and the role of dendrimers in pharmaceuticals. In 2001, Francis began his own research career at Berkeley and has been studying organic reactions for protein modification. He has received numerous awards both for his research and his teaching, including the NSF Career Award and the University Distinguished Teaching Award. He is the faculty advisor for the Decal Chemistry 98, “The Chemistry of Cooking” which routinely receives a packed lecture room and rave reviews from the students. The Decal is accessible to students of all majors, regardless of chemistry background.

Dr. Sharon Fleming has been a professor in the Department of Nutritional Science & Toxicology at UC Berkeley since 1979. After getting her PhD in Food Science and Nutrition from the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon in 1975, her research has followed her interests from cellular and molecular pathways of macronutrients to public health in low-income inner-city communities. Professor Fleming was a co-founder of the Robert C and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health and has also been very involved in assessing risk factors for type II diabetes. Her symposium in 2002 on type II diabetes in children comprehensively reviewed these various risk factors for use in public policy. BSJ interviewed Dr. Fleming just as she was clearing out her office in preparation for retiring from teaching and research at Berkeley to become a professor emeritus.