Spring 2026 Seminar Series

Tuesday, January 13th, 2026 – 3571 WIMR
- Rob Nickells, Professor and Frederick A. Davis Chair of Ophthalmology (Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, UW–Madison)
The other eye is not a control! - Colleen McDowell, Associate Professor (Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, UW–Madison)
Role of sensory nerve innervation in aqueous humor outflow homeostasis
February, 2026
There will be no seminar this month so that we can bring you the MERI-at-a-Glance event on Friday, February 13th from noon- 2 p.m.
Tuesday, March 10th, 2026 – 3571 WIMR
Special Seminar: Three ~15-minute research talks by our Kenzi Valentyn Vision Research Award recipients.
- Madison Dillerud, Graduate Student (Neuroscience, UW–Madison)
Dissecting the Molecular Basis for Age-dependent Loss of Human Photoreceptor Terminal Motility - Wei Lin, Graduate Student (Electrical & Computer Engineering, UW–Madison)
High speed low light imaging and applications for the eye - Andrew Schultz, Graduate Student (Neuroscience, UW–Madison)
Synaptic ribbons: Molecular devices that shape the first stages of vision
Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 – 1360 Biotech
Special Seminar: Three ~15-minute research talks by our 2025 MERI-sponsored StoryForm Science Communication Course Participants
- Zoe Howard, Research Intern (Psychology, UW–Madison)
Texture Semantics is Robust to Scaling - Zeinab Shirbaghaei, Postdoctoral Researcher (Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, UW–Madison)
Choroidal Mast Cell Activation and Inflammatory Processes Mediating Outer Retinal Degeneration - Neha Sriram, Graduate Student (Neuroscience, UW–Madison)
3D motion processing in the brain
Tuesday, May 12th, 2026 – 3571 WIMR
- Karen Schloss, Associate Professor (Psychology, UW–Madison)
Color semantics for visual communication - Anna Chinni, Graduate Student (Psychology, UW–Madison)
Color Semantics in Figure-Ground Organization