(Maciej Lisicki)
The kitchen can be a powerful place to learn about some surprising natural phenomena, according to physics professor Dr. Maciej Lisicki from the University of Warsaw (Poland). In an upcoming public lecture at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at the University of Guam CLASS Lecture Hall, Lisicki will highlight several culinary processes involving the movement of matter, such as emulsion and stabilizing foam in bread, and how they are guiding the way to new discoveries.
Lisicki is one of 900 faculty around the world to be selected for this year’s Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program — the U.S. government’s flagship program of international education and cultural exchange. During their year as Fulbright scholars, they travel to institutions throughout the United States studying, teaching, and conducting research in their discipline while gaining international insight and networks for their research.
“Guam and UOG do not have many opportunities to engage Fulbright scholars,” said Dr. Maika Vuki, interim associate dean of UOG’s College of Natural & Applied Sciences. “Having someone whose field is physics and at the same time can engage a wider audience is quite remarkable.”
Lisicki holds a doctorate in colloidal science, or the study of mixed substances, and explores the dynamics of everything that flows. His research has covered topics ranging from how bacteria swim to the physics behind brewing the perfect espresso.
“If you are following the trend of the physics discipline worldwide, there is a general decline in student interest and research. These types of opportunities and events are what we need in STEM — to inspire curiosity that relates to our everyday experience,” Vuki said.
Accompanying Lisicki will be his spouse, Dr. Agata Górska-Lisicka, a lawyer and public policy scholar who is pursuing a graduate certificate in international security at Harvard Extension School. She will also be giving a guest lecture on her doctoral thesis topic of deradicalization programs and countering and preventing violent extremism. Górska-Lisicka completed her doctorate at the Warsaw School of Economics.
Her lecture will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 22, in the UOG CLASS Lecture Hall.
The lectures are free to attend. For more information, contact Dr. Maika Vuki at (671) 735-2006 or vukim@triton.uog.edu.
