A workshop focused on life science research being conducted in the mountain region will be offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in Western Carolina University’s A.K. Hinds University Center.

WCU and the western office of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center are co-hosting  the workshop. It is part of the biotechnology center’s “Science in the Mountains” series, will feature a couple of keynote addresses in the University Center theater.

Laura Georgi, a pathologist and research scientist for the American Chestnut Foundation, will speak at 9:15 a.m. on “New Tools for a Monumental Task: Application of Biotechnology to Restoration of the American Chestnut.”

Bruce Budowle, executive director of the Institute of Investigative Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center, will deliver a 1:30 p.m. address focusing on “Forensic Genetics and Molecular Methods for Assessing Biodiversity: A Look at the Past, Present and Future.”

A series of eight talks will be delivered throughout the day by faculty members and researchers from WCU and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Poster presentations will be given by students and faculty members from WCU, Appalachian State University and the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

The workshop is open to everyone and registration is free. Lunch and refreshments also will be provided for free. The deadline for registering is Thursday, April 5. For more information or to register, go to the website http://events.signup4.net/molecules.