Science on Tap - Oregon & Washington

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Menopause is becoming a buzzword! How do we separate the science from sensationalism?

Find out in this fascinating tour through the world of hormone fluctuations, ovarian aging, and medical interventions. We’ll cover:

• Perimenopause vs menopause
• The impacts of menopause vs the effects of getting older
• Why hormone therapy went from favored to feared overnight, and what we’ve learned since
• How menopause affects our risks for chronic diseases
• Hormones: good for long-term health? Some safer than others?
• What non-hormonal therapies are there?

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
A vast and delightfully diverse journey through the sex lives of animals.

For too long, science has ignored and obscured the multiplicity of animal sexual behavior. With vivid, often funny, and always beautiful watercolor illustrations in a work of graphic nonfiction, artist Perrin Roosevelt Ireland examines how animals express and have sex.

Go on a wild biodiversity ride from queerness, infidelity, and divorce to consent, sexual cannibalism, and sex change. She interviews researchers at the edge of this new science and brings readers along as she learns the latest discoveries.

In vivid comics of seahorse dads, polygamous albatross, and gender-fluid barnacles, Poking the Squid illustrates for us a vibrant and erotic earth that we are just beginning to grasp. By illuminating and celebrating animal diversity, she asks us to embrace our own.

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Every winter, the amphibians of northwest Portland enter a real-life game of Frogger. Most drivers on U.S. Route 30 never notice the small, slimy critters leaping across the asphalt on rainy nights. But for northern red-legged frogs, the stakes are high—reach the water to lay their eggs, or die trying.

In response to their plight, biologists are using innovative solutions to help frogs and other vulnerable wildlife cross roads. With the help of buckets and bulldozers, over a decade of conservation efforts have inspired a growing community of amphibian enthusiasts in Portland. In the summer of 2024, they broke ground on their biggest venture yet: a tunnel for frogs beneath Route 30.

Less than two years later, the project is shaping up to be an early success story. Along the way, scientists are using specialized technology to document northern red-legged frog behavior and develop strategies to protect this common, yet cryptic species.

Join us to learn about the challenges our amphibian neighbors face and how we can help overcome them, while gaining a glimpse into the fascinating lives of frogs.

EVENT DESCRIPTION:
When and how will a volcano erupt in the future? Say…Mount Baker (a very-high-threat volcano in Washington State)?

Volcanic eruptions are fueled by the magmas stored beneath the surface, so if we want to better prepare, we have to dig deep (literally). In this talk, we will explore “how to think like a volcano” by looking closely at how ‘magma factories’ operate.

When a magma cools and solidifies, it can form crystals that can sometimes preserve zones like the rings of a tree. Zoning patterns can therefore record the changing magmatic environment, including temperature changes, physical interactions between magmas, and time.

Using crystal cargo in erupted material, we will address:

• What causes magmas to escape the crust and erupt on the surface?
• How long does it take for magma to exit the crust?
• Can we improve our “stopwatches” between the moment volcanic unrest is detected, and the moment we need to respond to an impending eruption?

We’ll take a close look at the Cascade volcanoes in our very own backyard, zooming in on the active Mount Baker in WA state.