Nerd Nite @ Live in Ann Arbor
Details
Nerd Nite
Talks start at 7:00pm. These events are sponsored by the Ann Arbor District Library. Parking is $1.65/hr in the city parking structures. The surface lot across from the venue is $2.50/hr.
Gather ‘round for an evening of informed and informal talks from a friendly neighborhood expert! We’ll have three speakers, each presenting on a different topic and sharing interesting facts that you never knew you never knew! Past Nerd Nite speakers have led deep dives into topics from the legacy of Louis Pasteur, to the origin of elements, to how a trumpet works, to a dissection of romance novel tropes. So bring a friend, grab a drink, and enjoy an evening among fellow nerds. Be there and be square!
SPEAKERS
Here at Nerd Nite, we love having our experts talk about super niche topics. But sometimes, it’s nice to go back to the basics. In the spirit of cold and flu season, Nathalie Catchings will be Going Viral with an introduction to viruses, so you can finally understand why you should not take antibiotics when you have a cold!
Nathalie is a DNA scientist by training, having worked for large biotech companies, forensic labs, and academic labs. Really, she loves nerdy stuff and telling people about science, so Nerd Nite is a perfect fit. She’s also looking for work projects around scientific communication, find her after her talk if you have something in mind!
Then it’s time to sit criss-cross applesauce while librarian Sara Wedell tells us the story of Margaret Wise Brown & the Runaway Bestseller that Ruined One Kid’s Life. Once upon a time there was a free-spirited genius named Margaret Wise Brown. She lived, she loved, she traveled, and she died when she was far too young. She also wrote children’s books that completely redefined the genre. This is the story of Margaret Wise Brown, how she helped to free kid’s books from the dungeon of fairy tales, and how Goodnight Moon ruined a kid’s life.
Sara is a librarian who loves the story behind the stories – she is currently reading The Power Broker by Robert Caro and she can’t shut up about it. Ask her about Al Smith!
Liked the diseases from the first talk and the history of the second talk? Well, Kara Gavin will pull it all together with The Two Sides of Polio at U-M. Seventy years ago, U-M was in the world spotlight because of polio vaccine news. But polio history at U-M extends back more than 100 years – and continues to today. Can we use this history to fight vaccine hesitancy?
Kara is a science writer at Michigan Medicine with an interest in medical history.