POP Talks

Power of Possibility Talks

Embark on an expedition into the unknown! What is even possible? We don’t know yet, but we’re thrilled to find out.

Each year, we join eight intrepid faculty as they venture beyond the familiar, revealing new facets of the world we thought we understood. For one extraordinary hour, they challenge everything you thought you knew during POP Talks — the Power of Possibility Talks. Our researchers unearth questions you didn’t realize needed answering and redefine the boundaries of possibility.

POP Talks 2026 will take place:

3:30-4:30 p.m. Pacific time
Thursday, Nov. 5
International Ballroom of the Bruce M. Pitman Center
U of I Live

In-person student attendees will be entered to win two $1,000 scholarships.

2026 POP speakers

Barrie Robison, Ph.D., biological sciences

Barrie Robison believes most people who work in higher education didn't take their jobs to fill out forms. Yet across universities, skilled staff and researchers spend hours copying information between systems, checking the same details twice and chasing paperwork. Robison thinks artificial intelligence can take on that work, creating more time for people to spend on the parts of their jobs that they signed up for.

As director of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences at U of I, he works with employees to find where AI helps and where it doesn't. He and his team then build the systems and infrastructure that integrate AI where it makes sense.

A professor of biological sciences with a career spanning genetics, evolution, data science and video game design, Robison is comfortable working where disciplines collide. That interdisciplinary experience has become critical in exploring the nearly infinite applications of AI in higher education.

Leda Kobziar, Ph.D., wildland fire science

Wildfire smoke carries more than gases and ash. It can also carry living bacteria and fungi — potentially transporting them long distances and into new environments. Leda Kobziar studies this hidden life in smoke and what it could mean for the health of people, plants, animals and ecosystems.

Kobziar works in the emerging field of pyroaerobiology, the study of how fire moves microbes through the air. She and her collaborators use drones, field experiments and laboratory research to collect smoke and trace the organisms traveling within it. By revealing smoke as a biological pathway, Kobziar is expanding what scientists know about wildfire and uncovering questions that could reshape how we understand its effects.

Marz Everett, Ph.D., computer science

Marz Everett wants intelligent machines to do more than reach the right answer. She wants people to understand how they got there. At University of Idaho’s Center for Intelligent Industrial Robotics, Everett develops practical uses for artificial intelligence, machine vision and connected sensors in agriculture and manufacturing.

Her work includes systems that help growers monitor field and vineyard conditions, detect plant diseases and make informed decisions using real-time data. With a research direction in explainable artificial intelligence, she also explores how to make an AI model simpler and their output clearer to the people relying on it. By bringing transparency to complex technology, she is helping to build tools that people can understand, trust and put to work in the real world.

Tom Jacobsen, UI Extension

Tom Jacobsen is showing students that the future of farming may be built as much with code as with soil. A University of Idaho Extension educator, he brings robotics into eastern Idaho classrooms to introduce young people to the technology transforming agriculture.

Students in Jacobsen’s program build and program automated irrigation robots that test soil moisture and deliver water when plants need it. Along the way, they learn how sensors, 3D printing, data collection and troubleshooting connect to real agricultural challenges. By combining his background in soil health and horticulture with hands-on technology, Jacobsen helps students see themselves as the problem-solvers who will shape what farming becomes next.

Joshua Bailey, Ph.D., movement sciences

Why can two people perform the same jump, squat or run but face different risks of injury? Josh Bailey studies the mechanics behind human movement to find out. Using motion-capture technology, strength testing and measures of how the body interacts with the ground, he looks for patterns that could reveal when movement becomes risky or is just impressive.

Bailey applies that research to a variety of athletes (collegiate D1, dancers, recreational runners and ROTC cadets), examining how factors such as intensity, fatigue and training demands change the way they move. His goal is to identify warning signs before injuries happen and use them to shape smarter, more individualized training. By understanding how the body absorbs force and responds to stressors, Bailey is working to help people perform at their best while staying healthy.

Colin Xu, Ph.D., psychology

Mental health treatments can look effective on average while working very differently from one person to the next. Colin Xu digs into the data behind those differences, using statistical models to better understand depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders.

Xu studies how symptoms change during treatment, which factors may predict whether a treatment will help and what large clinical studies can — and cannot — tell us about individual patients. His current work also examines the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and negative health outcomes among military service members and their families. By finding the people hidden within the averages, Xu aims to make mental health research more precise, transparent and useful.

Nicholas Coombs, Ph.D., public health and statistics

A healthcare service can exist on a map and still be out of reach. Nicholas Coombs studies the financial, geographic and social barriers that keep people from receiving the care they need, with a particular focus on rural communities and people facing mental health challenges.

With a background in public health and statistics, Coombs combines large-scale data with the experiences of patients and healthcare providers to understand where health systems fall short. His research examines challenges ranging from cost and provider shortages to whether available services fit a community’s needs. By turning those findings into a clearer picture of access, Coombs helps identify practical ways to bring effective care within reach.

Andy Kliskey, Ph.D., landscape architecture

Andy Kliskey studies what communities need not only to withstand change, but to shape what comes next. He brings together data, maps and local knowledge to help communities decide how to prepare for pressures on the landscapes and resources they depend on.

Kliskey’s work spans rural and Indigenous communities from New Zealand and Alaska to Idaho. Today, he leads collaborative research into how population growth, a changing climate and new technology could affect Idaho’s water and energy systems. By inviting communities into the research process, Kliskey helps turn complex models into practical choices about how people can meet their needs now without limiting the choices available to future generations.