YouTube sex education host Laci Green to speak at USF

The host of the Internet's most popular sex education show is coming to the University of South Florida for a free lecture on Tuesday, Nov. 15. Laci Green, a recent college graduate, has been named one of the most influential people online by Time Magazine and draws 5 million monthly viewers from around the world to her YouTube show "Sex Plus." Green also hosts and writes MTV Braless and produces an educational series for Planned Parenthood. She's particularly passionate about sex education and sexual violence prevention, and she's expected to bring those topics to USF. Her lecture is open to the public, but seats are first-come, first-served, with priority to students. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. for her 8 p.m. lecture in the Marshall Student Center's Oval Theater.

Forum at UT on whacky weather

Intense, unpredictable weather is changing the way we live today. A panel of experts will discuss "Weather Gone Wild" after a screening at the University of Tampa on Monday, Nov. 14, as part of the Sustainability Connections Film Series. The screening and discussion, which are open to the public, will take place from 6-9 p.m. in the Reeves Theater in Vaughn Center. Food and beverages will be provided.

Researchers to discuss ways to boost area startups

After a year-long examination of Tampa Bay's entrepreneurial ecosystem, University of Tampa researchers are revealing their findings. They've looked at the local startup community to identify challenges and ways to improve, and at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 15, they'll present their results at the Lowth Entrepreneurship Center in the Daly Innovation and Collaboration Building on campus. With a $150,000 grant from the entrepreneurship-focused Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, researchers surveyed local entrepreneurs and created a model for making the local startup world stronger, in Tampa Bay and beyond. The project went beyond the traditional mode of examining the entrepreneur, looking instead at the ecosystem surrounding the new venture. To attend the presentation, contact Jake Van Loon, research assistant, at (860) 716-4560 or jacob.vanloon@spartans.ut.edu.

UT guest to speak on the importance of awe

Turns out the feeling of awe is a biological necessity. Researcher Michelle Lani Shiota comes to USF in Tampa on Thursday, Nov. 17, to explain why awe is not a mere emotional luxury, but a fundamental part of human functioning and well-being. Her empirical research shows that experiencing art, music, nature and literature have deeper, evolutionary functions. Shiota, who runs the Shiota Psychophysiology Laboratory for Affective Testing (SPLAT Lab) at Arizona State University, will speak from 6-8 p.m. at C.W. Bill Young Hall.