“Monarch + Milkweed” at the Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts

By Julie Newton | May 3, 2019

Notice the petals are made from a saw blade!

The mission of Science Art Wonder (an Emory and Georgia Tech partnership) is to “partner scientists and artists together to create visual art to teach others about on-going research in Atlanta.”

Dr. Jaap de Roode, Raymondo, and I have collaborated on “Monarch + Milkweed” to interpret de Roode’s research on how monarch butterflies self-medicate to protect their offspring from an epidemic, deadly parasite.

According to Dr. de Roode’s website, “The de Roode Lab team has made a fascinating discovery: that female butterflies infected by this parasite choose to lay their eggs on a specific variety of milkweed that helps their offspring avoid getting sick. De Roode hopes that this insight could lead to new approaches in medications for human beings in the future.”

Our giant steel milkweeds host monarchs in their life-cycle phases from egg; caterpillar; chrysalis; to butterfly. The purple flowers represent swamp milkweed, the normal host plant for Monarch eggs, and the orange flowers are Tropical Milkweed with which the butterflies self-medicate. Much of the steel was harvested from the old railroad tracks that have become the Atlanta Beltline.

Dr. de Roode has a fascinating TED talk on his research: www.ted.com/talks/jaap_de_roode_how_butterflies_self_medicate.

Meet the Team

Jaap de Roode

Dr. Jaap de Roode is Associate Professor of Biology at Emory University.

Raymondo is an artist and arts educator who currently teaches “Design with LEGOS” for the Decatur City Schools Enrichment program. He is known for his metal sculpture and installations. His (donated) line drawings of Shakespeare, a Beatnik, and Frankenstein have been a popular contribution to the Emory Libraries’ free, hands-on, coloring and fan-making activity at the Decatur Book Festival.

In addition to working as Assistant Conservator for the Emory Libraries. I also conceive, create, and curate solo and collaborative works of art and exhibitions. I like to facilitate free, hands-on, stress-relieving art events on the Emory campus and at local festivals which engage creativity and conversation.

This project is sponsored in part by a grant from the Emory College Center for Creativity & Arts.

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Chris Dehner, Senior Enterprise Information Security Risk & Compliance Specialist, Enterprise Security

By Wade Moricle | May 3, 2019

“I’m impressed with the professionalism and expertise of my teammates.” Chris Dehner

Chris Dehner is the new senior enterprise information security risk and compliance specialist in Enterprise Security. Prior to his new Emory work, Chris spent over six years at Kennesaw State University working in the UITS-Office of Cybersecurity as the principal data security analyst. Before jumping into the world of information security, he worked in a wide range of fields including legal, university student life, marketing, corporate communications, etc.

Born in Connecticut, but having lived in four US States and a Canadian Province, Chris received a bachelor’s degree in history from Kennesaw State University and a master’s degree in history from Georgia State University. He also holds the Certified Information Systems Auditor certificate. “Everyone loves auditors, right?”

“I’ve been married to my beautiful bride, Meganne, for 13 years,” says Chris. “We have six children (five walking around and one due in October).” In addition to being a busy dad, Chris also has interest in film, reading, cultural debates, and table-top, role-playing games.

“I’m impressed with the professionalism and expertise of my teammates,” says Chris. “They have been incredibly welcoming and patient as I get to understand the Emory culture and business processes.”

You can reach him at cdehner [at] emory [dot] edu.

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LITS recent headlines and upcoming events

By Wade Moricle | May 3, 2019

Headlines & Events graphic banner

Recent LITS headlines:

Upcoming LITS events:

(go HERE for more information for each event)

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What is LEAP!?

By Wade Moricle | April 26, 2019

The first annual LITS Employee Appreciation Party (LEAP!) is being held in the Cox Hall Ballroom on May 14 from 11:30 to 1:30, where we will honor our LITS colleagues with awards for outstanding service and significant contributions. Hosted by Rich Mendola and organized by the PATH (People, Awards, Town Halls) Committee, LEAP! will feature a plated lunch, followed by a presentation by Emory Historian, Gary Hauk.

. There will also be door prizes and giveaways.

Because there is a plated lunch, you must register to attend. Please register by April 30 at http://emorylib.info/leap. 

The PATH Committee also coordinated the reformatted LITS Town Hall, held on November 14. Our Significant Contribution awards will be presented at the LEAP! event rather than our annual Town Hall meetings. Both the committee and the two events were developed in response to a division-wide survey from last year.

The goal for this event is to create a lively experience in which ALL LITS employees are invited to attend, as opposed to the previous luncheon format in which only service award winners and their managers would attend. In addition, the committee saw that the old service award format was too similar to the separate Service Awards Luncheon, organized by Emory HR, and held this week.

photo of a partyImmediately following LEAP!, please join us downstairs for the annual LITS Game Day in the Computing Center at Cox Hall. LITS Game Day will feature Team Trivia, a Texas Hold ‘Em Poker tournament, Virtual Reality, Cornhole, Just Dance, and various popular video games and board games. Also note that even if you are unable to register and attend the LEAP! party, you are invited to participate in LITS Game Day as it is a “drop-in” event and we therefore don’t have a specific limit on seating.

 Once again, please register today as LITS says “Thank You!”

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Cloud Infrastructure Migration Planning (CIMP) database workshop

By Ramya Bommareddy | April 26, 2019

The LITS Database Administration Team and members from the LITS Systems and Storage Teams engaged with Smartronix consultant John Griffin in a one-and-a-half-day workshop focused on database migrations to AWS. This workshop provided an opportunity to explore database migration strategies in depth, validate some of our findings, and receive guidance as we prepare to design and support databases in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

John is the cloud data services lead and senior data architect at Smartronix. Migrating databases can be a challenging task, often requiring application downtime while data is moved from the source database to the target database. Based on his expertise with cloud migrations, John shared his best practices and tips to minimize application downtime during migrations. During the workshop, there was a deep dive into the AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) along with the pros and cons of using it.

We learned that we can use the AWS DMS to easily migrate or replicate existing databases using the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS). The workshop also covered topics such as RDS design considerations and how to plan database migrations. Amazon RDS is available on several database instance types – optimized for memory, performance or I/O – and provides six familiar database engines to choose from, including Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB.

RDS, also known as database-as-a-service, creates significant operational efficiencies and simplifies the management and administration of an enterprise database portfolio. The suitability of each database for migration to RDS is an important element of the migration assessment phase. The team discussed use cases where there are exceptions to using RDS and the available alternate approaches such as building databases on AWS-hosted virtual machines. John reminded us of the importance of considering using database-native tools when possible and to complement them with tools that AWS offers.

Participants during this Mar 11-12 workshop were Dhruv Gami (SMX) and John Griffin (SMX), Ramya Bommareddy, Sriram Chari, Andrew Chin, Jim Houghton, Ike Ikegwuonu, Sergey Kamenetskiy, Mike Lewis, Naiqi Li, Anand Mahajani, Mark Parten, Jocelyn Ramirez, Steve Siegelman, and Ramona Tucker.

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LITS Green Notes for April

By Dawn Francis-Chewning | April 26, 2019

Chattahoochee Riverkeepers at the Emory Farmer’s Market

Through April 30, the Chattahoochee Riverkeepers will have a table at the Emory Farmer’s Market to help us learn about what’s so important about the Chattahoochee and what we need to be doing to protect it for future generations. Opportunities abound for getting involved with cleanup and so much more.

Oxford Organic Farm’s CSA Program

Oxford is back at the Farmer’s Market and they are delivering their Spring CSA (community supported agriculture) boxes of produce through June 27.  The summer season runs from July 11 through August 29, and the Fall season starts on September 12 and goes until November 14. Sign up at oxford.emory.edu/CSAsignup.

You can read a recent article about the Oxford Organic Farm in a piece called, “We grow food – and food for thought.”

Move Out – Commencement – Staff Fest

We are closing in on the final chapter of the Spring Semester and lots of help is needed to make it end in recycling at every turn. Sign up to help be the change that gets Emory to the goal of 95% Landfill Diversion by 2025. (Date posted 5/9 for the First year Quad along with Dobbs, Alabama and the Complex).

Commencement is another remarkable opportunity to be Emory ambassadors in so many ways. On Monday, May 13, work from home to help with parking and traffic congestion if you are able, or bring your best smile and walking shoes to be an usher, information person, Coke slinger, etc.

To sign up: Chair Rodeo 5/8 and Graduation 5/13 or contact event management directly at commencement [at] emory [dot] edu, sustainability reps at the bin stations for graduation AND receptions across the campus.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle . . . Repair

Re-think the Reduce/Reuse/Recycle hierarchy; think about how you can fix it before you replace it. There’s a site called IFIXIT where you can fix many things for a fraction of the replacement cost. Repairing something can be as simple as taking it apart and cleaning it (like a portable fan), and some things might require a Phillips head screwdriver to remove a panel that lets you access a dryer belt for replacement.  Check it out and save big money while also keeping things out of the landfill.

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Nina Rao, Audiovisual Conservator, Digitization and Digital Curation

By Wade Moricle | April 26, 2019

“I’m looking forward to working with the collections and further developing my skills.” – Nina Rao

Nina Rao is the new audiovisual conservator in the Digitization and Digital Curation department. Before coming to Emory, she was at CARE USA, a nonprofit fighting global poverty, for three years.  As Archivist at CARE, she implemented a new collections management system and digital asset management infrastructure. Prior to CARE, she worked at UCLA Film & Television Archive for five years, mostly in Public Programs, where she ran a monthly film series and coordinated film bookings, rights clearances, and national tours of Archive restorations.

Born and raised in Framingham, MA (and consequently a diehard Red Sox fan), Nina earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and media studies from Tufts University as well as master’s degrees in moving image archive studies from UCLA and creative writing from the University of Arizona. 

In her spare time, Nina enjoys reading, baking, home-brewing beer, and spending time with her husband and pets (two cats and a puppy who is still learning to leave the cats alone). She was the captain of CARE’s bowling team and speaks a moderate amount of Portuguese, which she learned while practicing the Brazilian art of capoeira for several years.

“I’m very happy to be part of Emory,” says Nina. “The environment here is great, and it’s exciting to have the opportunity to work with such a wide range of audiovisual materials.  I’m looking forward to working with the collections and further developing my skills.”

You can reach her at nina [dot] rao [at] emory [dot] edu.

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