Hopeful Futures: Future of Pets

Will AI allow us to communicate—really communicate—with our pets in the future? Will genetic tools allow us to prevent and cure diseases or bring beloved companions back to life through cloning? What will be the nature of our relationships with our pets, and what do we hope it will be? Join us to explore these and other questions with a panel of experts:

• Carlos Goller is a Teaching Professor in Biological Sciences. He studies molecular microbiology, metagenomics and other topics relevant to the future of pets.
• Margaret Gruen is an Assoc. Professor of Behavioral Medicine in NC State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Principal Investigator of the Thinking Pets Program and former Co-director of Duke Canine Cognition Center.
• Alper Bozkurt is the founder and Director of the Integrated Bionic MicroSystems (iBionicS) Laboratory at NC State, where his team explores novel bionic interfaces with cockroaches, sphinx moths, plants, mussels, birds, canines, horses, lemurs and humans.
• Meredith Spence Beaulieu, medical and veterinary entomologist and program manager for the Global One Health Academy, will facilitate the conversation to consider current issues and opportunities related to the future of pets.

Before the panel discussion, stop by for Pause for Paws and to check out the Libraries’ robotic therapy pets and to learn about sensor technology that can monitor and improve pet health.

The “Hopeful Futures” series is part of the Long View Project and is co-sponsored by the Libraries, the Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs, the Global One Health Academy and Wicked Problems, Wolfpack Solutions.