<div dir="ltr"><div><p>Dear Faculty, Students, and Staff,</p><p>You are invited to attend our upcoming <strong>Physics & Astronomy Research Talk</strong> on <strong>Tuesday, March 4, 2025</strong>, featuring <strong>Prof. Jung-Shen Benny Tai, PhD</strong>, from <strong>Yale University</strong>.</p><p>📢 <strong>Talk Title:</strong> <em>Heterogeneity in Bacterial Biofilms: Pattern Formation, Adaptive Fitness, and Social Evolution</em><br>📍 <strong>Location:</strong> Physics Reading Room, 3035<br>⏰ <strong>Time:</strong> 10:00 – 11:00 AM</p><p><strong>About the Speaker:</strong><br>Dr. Jung-Shen Benny Tai is a Damon Runyon Fellow in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University. Trained as a physicist during his undergraduate and graduate studies, his PhD research focused on topological structures in liquid crystals and super-resolution imaging in aligned soft materials. Following his PhD, he transitioned to biological systems, with a research focus on the biophysical and quantitative aspects of structured bacterial communities—biofilms. His postdoctoral work has made major contributions to understanding the social evolution of biofilm matrix production, pattern formation, and adaptive fitness in phenotypically heterogeneous biofilms. Looking ahead, his research will explore the physics of living active matter, using bacterial biofilms as a model system.</p><p>Biofilms play a critical role in health, industry, and the environment. Prof. Tai will discuss recent research on biofilm heterogeneity, exploring how spatial structure, cell-to-cell variation, and matrix dynamics influence bacterial survival and adaptation.</p><p>We hope you can join us for this engaging discussion. Please feel free to share this with anyone who may be interested.</p></div><div><img src="cid:ii_m7tkm0z10" alt="Copy of Physics Colloquium (26).png" width="594" height="768" style="margin-right: 0px;"><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:10pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:"Book Antiqua",serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(46,116,181)">Thank you,</span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-family:"Segoe UI","Segoe UI Web (West European)",-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,Roboto,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;font-size:15px;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:11pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:"Lucida Handwriting","Apple Chancery",cursive;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(23,78,134)">Arianna Mejia </span><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:9pt;line-height:inherit;font-family:Candara,Optima,sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(23,78,134)"><i>(formally Mondragon)</i></span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit;font-family:"Franklin Gothic Medium","Avenir Next Condensed Medium",sans-serif;font-size-adjust:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black">Travel & Events Coordinator</span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black">UC Riverside<b> |</b> Physics & Astronomy</span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:black">3047 Physics Building <b>|</b> Riverside, California 92521</span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,114,196);background-color:silver"><b>In-person office hours:  Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8AM-5PM</b></span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><span style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:rgb(68,114,196);background-color:silver"><b>Remote: Monday, Wednesday</b></span></p><p style="color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:11pt;font-family:Calibri,sans-serif;margin:0px"><img style="border:0px;font:inherit;margin:0px;padding:0px;vertical-align:baseline;color:inherit;width:140.24pt;height:20.99pt;min-height:auto;min-width:auto"></p></div></div></div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