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Prof. Karl Heinz Hasenstein

Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence in the Arts, Rhetoric and Science 

Dr. Karl H Hasenstein is an Endowed Professor and Slemco/LEQSF Regents Professor of Science, Department of Biology at University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He is a world-class Gravitational Plant Biologist with wide-range of scientific and artistic interests. 

Dr. Hasenstein grew up in a little town in Germany and attended the University of the Saarland in Saarbrücken. He studied Biology, Physics, and Chemistry and received his diploma (equivalent to M.S.) in 1977. After receiving his Ph.D. in 1982, he worked as post-doc in the laboratories of David Rayle (San Diego State University) and Michael Evans (Ohio State University) before accepting a faculty position at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1988. Dr. Hasenstein is a recipient of “Distinguished Professor Award” from ULL in 1999, "Chance Endowed Professorship in Biology" in 2007 and “Slemco/LEQSF Regents Professor of Science” in 2015. 

Dr. Hasenstein’s background in Physics and Chemistry, in addition to Biology enabled him to become a unique, interdisciplinary scientist. He and his team of scientists have been participating in the Life Sciences program at NASA for three decades. Although, a decade worth of research that led to a flight experiment was lost with the Columbia shuttle, Dr. Hasenstein continued his studies on parabolic flights and a Space-X3 flight. He trained more than 15 graduate students and seven postdoctoral researchers; his research work was presented in more than 180 talks or posters; he gave more than 60 lectures at national and international venues. He received more than six million dollars in grant support from NASA, NSF and DOE and published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. Among other things, Dr. Hasenstein was the recipient of 2009 Founder's Award, from American Society for Gravitational and Space Research (the highest award given by the society) and served as an Editor for COSPAR Advances in Space Research; he is currently Associate Editor for Life Sciences in Space Research. 

As a free-lance photographer, Dr. Hasenstein used his artistic talent extensively in science. During his time as a Basler Chair, he will present a series of four public lectures reflecting a general theme of “Creativity – Bridges between Arts and Science.” His lectures will explore various aspects of biology that depend on creative problem solving, and outline the journey of an engaged scientist.

Click here to listen to a recent interview with Dr. Karl Hasenstein.