Presenter: Jeffrey H. Weisburg, Ph.D., Specialist Professor, Department of Biology
Punk rock usually conjures images of teenagers or young adults (you know, the dregs of society) with spiked, colorful hair, tattoos, piercing, wearing ripped jeans, Doc Martin combat boots, dancing violently to bass-pounding music in a hot and sweaty, small music venue. Ph.D. in the sciences, engineers, and pre-med students are the furthest thing that comes to mind. Three lead singers of landmark punk bands have Ph.D.s in biology; Milo Aukerman of the Descendents (Biology), Greg Graffin of Bad Religion (Zoology), and Dexter Holland of the Offsprings (Molecular Biology). Several other punk rock artists also have graduate degrees in biology and engineering. This leads to the scientific question that needs to be examined and answered: What is the connection between punk rock and science? Is there something in the water? Is it genetics? Is it a chemical reaction that occurs when two people in the circle pit collide? All possibilities for this question will be investigated.