A professor of freshwater sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be a panelist in a Capitol Hill event Sept. 17 to discuss how federal research money benefits Wisconsin.
Professor Rebecca Klaper will participate in a panel discussion, “The Innovation Connection: How Federal Research Benefits Wisconsin,” which is hosted by the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce on the organization’s 30th annual Milwaukee Night in Washington, D.C.
Klaper will join panelists from the Medical College of Wisconsin, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Marquette University to describe next-generation research being developed by scientists and scholars in the Milwaukee region to address critical problems.
Klaper, who is also director of the Great Lakes Genomics Center at UWM’s School of Freshwater Sciences,specializes in genomic indicators of aquatic ecological and environmental health. Using fish native to the Great Lakes, she examines the health effects of environmental toxins, especially those termed “emerging” contaminants, such as pharmaceutical compounds, pesticides and nanoparticles.
She has served on federal advisory subcommitteesfor the EPA’s Office of Research and Development, and is currently a member of the national Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, funded by the National Science Foundation. Through the center, she collaborates with chemists from around the country studying nanoparticles. Her previous work has shown toxic effects in some fish exposed to certain kinds of nanoparticles.
The panel begins at 11 a.m., Central time, and is available online for free by registering online.
Milwaukee Night highlights the economic and scientific contributions of the Milwaukee region, while acknowledging the work of legislators and staff members who promote the area on a national stage.