November 8, 2002

LOCAL GROUP ATTENDS NOBEL CONFERENCE
AT GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS COLLEGE

Individuals from Iowa Lakes Community College attended the 38^th annual Nobel Conference® Oct. 1-2 at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn.

This year’s conference, titled “The Nature of Nurture,” focused on the ancient question of the role of heredity and environment in child development. It addressed the most important forces in shaping a child’s personality, gender identity, and cognitive abilities, including the role of parenting and brain development. A panel of seven child development experts showed how the past 30 years of research in developmental psychology, behavior genetics, cognition, and neuroscience have begun to clarify how life experiences contribute to individual development in conjunction with biological makeup. The presenters were Nobel Laureate Eric Kandel, Avshalom Caspi, Jerome Kagan, Eleanor Maccoby, Robert Plomin, Judith Rapoport, and Thomas, Murray.

Faculty from Iowa Lakes included: Mike Bosch, Doug Dingel, Darwin Grimm, Robert Klepper, Mary Larscheid, Doug Lietz, Terry Neary, Don Schouten, Kathy Skelly, Tony Stubbs, Marsha Swanson, Patti Tedesco, Jim Weipert and Ann Wimmer. Honor Students included Aaron Beaver, Angela Bodle, Megan Brechwald, Danielle Clouse, Jessica Eveleth, Heather Glazer, Amy Goldtrap, Karen Hiles, Brenda Kahler, Heidi Karels, Amber Lindell, Lyudmyla Lysenko, JoAnn McNally, Chelshe Merron, Patricia Miller, Nathan Monroe, Jason Nichol, Mandy Oleson, Tim Passer, Jamie Pedersen, Lindsay Reiter, Brittany Rinne, Megan Rochette, Brianna Sanculi, Jessie Schlachter, Marcia Smith, Sara Williams.  Childcare Students who attended were Dana Halvorson, Kay Kaiser, Jodi Merideth and Amy Jo Nitchals.

Each year, about 6,000 people attend the internationally recognized conference, including students, educators, and professionals in various fields from throughout the nation. The Nobel Conference is unique in that it presents science and ethics to a mass audience, and it was the first formal lecture program in the world (outside of Sweden and Norway where Nobel Prizes are awarded) to have the official authorization of The Nobel Foundation. Next year’s Nobel Conference at Gustavus is on evolution (“The Story of Life”) and is set for Oct. 2-3, 2003.