Webinar | Interspecies Communications

ASEM presents the next webinar on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Interspecies Communications:
Profound Implications for Engineering Ethics

Thursday, 26 August 2021

12 - 1 pm ET

ASEM welcomes back Dr. Berne for this premium discussion. Log in to your ASEM Member account to access the member-exclusive* discount (Free!)

Natural scientists are beginning to observe and document the capacity and activities of animal and plant species to sense and convey information across what was once assumed to be the boundary of communication between species. In this talk, Prof. Rosalyn Berne highlights some of the current research findings, and individual human experiences with this phenomenon, including her own. Of particular concern to Berne’s research and writing is what these various studies and personal experiences might suggest in terms of engineering practices.

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About the Presenter

Rosalyn W. Berne, PhD is a Professor in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of Virginia’s Department of Engineering and Society where she has been a faculty member since 1999. As a scholar, Berne explores the intersecting realms of emerging technologies, science, fiction and myth, and the links between the human and non-human worlds. Her research and writing span considerations of ethics in engineering practice, biotechnology and nanotechnology, and ethics in engineering education. Published under her name are two academic books -- Nanotalk: Conversations with Scientists and Engineers about Ethics, Meaning, and Belief in the Development of Nanotechnology (2006) and, Creating Life from Life: Biotechnology and Science Fiction (2014); numerous conference papers and journal articles; Waiting in the Silence: A S novel with an ethics focus (2012); and two award winning books in the genre of body-mind-spirit: When the Horses Whisper (2013) and Waking to Beauty (2016). 

On leave from UVA from 2009-2011, she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs for the Institute for Shipboard Education. On leave from UVA from 2018-2020 Dr. Berne served as Director of the Center for Engineering Ethics and Society at the National Academy of Engineering, and as PI of the Online Ethics Center (OEC). In September 2020 the OEC was transferred from the NAE to UVA and Dr. Berne continued as PI and director of the OEC.  She is an advisor to the “Engineering One Planet” project of the Lemelson Foundation; advisor to the Kern Family Foundation KEEN (Kern Engineering Entrepreneurship Network) project titled “Educating the Whole Engineer: Engineering Fundamentals, Character Education, and Entrepreneurial Mindset; and serves on the Ethics Committee of the American Society for Engineering Education.