Botany

**Advance ticket sales have ended but plenty of additional tickets remain available at the door.** [Profs and Pints DC](https://www.profsandpints.com/washingtondc) presents: **“Owl Wisdom,”** an introduction to the biology, habits, and conservation of various owl species in our region and beyond, with Steve Sheffield, professor of biology at Bowie State University, curator of mammals and birds for the Natural History Society of Maryland, and president of the Maryland Ornithological Society. [Advance tickets: $13.50 plus sales tax and processing fees. Available at [https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-owl-wisdom](https://events.ticketleap.com/tickets/profsandpints/dc-owl-wisdom) .] Who wants to learn about owls? If you are fascinated by these hunters of the night, you’ll love spending an evening with Steve Sheffield, a biologist who extensively studies owls and works to conserve them. He’ll start by covering the different types of owls in our region and elsewhere, and the ways in which their bodies and their sizes represent physical adaptations to their environment. He’ll especially focus on the owl species of the United States and Canada, describing their biology, ranges, preferred habitat and prey, behavior, and vocalizations. You’ll learn how and why field biologists study owls and how owl researchers from around the world assemble periodically to discuss their work. We’ll consider owls' value to ecosystems and, especially, humans and human-dominated landscapes where they serve as especially efficient killers of rodents and other crop-harming pests. Dr. Sheffield will talk about the many years he has spent researching owls, with much of his work focused on their exposure to environmental contaminants and how they’re affected. Being top predators, owls serve as sensitive bioindicators of contamination throughout the food chain. Much like canaries in coal mines, they function as an early warning system alerting us to potentially dangerous levels of toxicity. We don’t just study them for their own good, but ours as well. (Doors: $17, or $15 with a student ID. Listed time is for doors. The talk starts 30 minutes later.) Image: Burrowing owls in Florida (Photo by travelingwayoflife / Creative Commons).

Are you interested in learning more about our club? Why not attend a meeting or visit us at one of our upcoming community service projects? We’d love to meet you!

**Join Nova Scribes for an in person Scribe Circle** to practice graphic recording together and build the kind of community that makes solo work feel a little less solo. We'll spend the heart of our time graphic recording a former Nova Scribes talk on visual practice as well as spend some time reflecting on our work and sharing real time feedback. **Who is this for?** Graphic recorders, visual practitioners, sketchnoters and anyone who listens, thinks, and draws at the same time. Whether you've been doing this for years or you're still finding your style, you're welcome here. **No prior experience with the group required.** Bring your paper and markers - a few foam boards will be available. The fee covers the price of the venue.

**Note 630 start time.** Loop around Lake Accotink. **Meet at Lake Accotink Park carousel parking area.** Trail is fairly flat, paved and gravel, easy, brisk walking. A few steep sections Views of Lake Accotink About 4 miles. We will leave promptly at **630 pm**, please arrive early so you are ready. We walk briskly, not this is not an evening stroll. There are rest rooms at the meeting spot. Make sure to bring water. We will meet at the traffic circle near the carousel. Goggle maps calls it Lake Accotink Park. You can park at the Hemming Ave lot, or under the railway bridge. the lot at the carousel is small and usually full.

Regularly scheduled walk to see birds and sights.

Title: What Is Progress? Knowledge Aggregation, Living Textbooks, and the Automation of Scientific Discovery Date: June 20 2026 Noon - 14:00 EDT Summary: Our collective knowledge infrastructure — the textbooks, professional training resources, and literature syntheses that define what professionals across disciplines believe to be true — is quietly accruing a structural liability. Compounded confirmation bias, stacked citation-by-citation into the foundations of formal knowledge, means that breakthroughs can take decades to reach the classrooms, clinical workflows, and decision-making frameworks where they matter most. Meanwhile, the deepest friction is rarely acknowledged: before any field can build meaningful consensus on "why" or "how" a phenomenon occurs, it must first establish honest, consolidated agreement on "what" has actually been observed. That prior step is routinely skipped, assumed, or fragmented across siloed literatures that never cross-pollinate. This talk introduces a framework called "Knowledge Aggregation" — with two distinct but complementary ambitions. The first is descriptive transparency: algorithmically mapping what has been said, measured, and documented across a problem space, without imposing causal interpretation or narrative. The second traces the boundary between empirical observation and explanatory claim, building systems that can separate the "what" from the "why/how" — because consensus on mechanism cannot be meaningfully constructed until consensus on phenomenon is first established. Both ambitions are now within reach. By composing tools already at our disposal — large language models, classical NLP pipelines, public data repositories, and engineering-grade automation frameworks — it becomes possible to model knowledge itself, rather than merely imitate individual experts. One concrete expression of this is automating the writing of living textbooks: compressing the lag from bleeding-edge discovery, through replicated evidence, all the way to professional training resources. But the deeper aspiration reaches further — toward automating the discovery of scientific insights that have never previously been conceived, by systematically surfacing hypothesis combinations that no single siloed researcher would have had the cross-disciplinary vantage point to even ask. Drawing on ongoing systems biology and computational research — with ME/CFS research demoed as a use case for what siloed, fragmented knowledge infrastructure costs in practice — this talk maps the conceptual architecture, the real-world friction, and the data science toolkit for building it. Speaker: As a systems biologist at heart, Sam specializes his biomedical research on interactions and connections in biology - rather than just one domain of expertise. He wears many hats and collects skill sets across disciplines, with degree studies and industry experience acquired across Chemical Engineering (BSc), Bioinformatics (MSc), Systems and Synthetic Biology (M2), Biomedical Sciences (MSc), and beyond. Even more important to him than niches or fields of work, comes down to the synergistic approaches that allow us to move beyond reductionism. The notion that a question can only allow for one answer, is inherently reductionist. By resisting many norms in science and engineering which can get overly reductive, his current role as Principal Investigator of Research for DMV Petri Dish (501(c)(3) non-profit local to the DMV region) embraces computational frameworks that aide scale-up and automation - not only around the processes which already exist with established workflows, but also taking a keen interest in attempting and accomplishing ambitions which have never been perceived to be possible previously. Sam carries a passion for the synergy of computational biology - fused with wet lab validation. This way, one can build a beautiful knowledge base in the theoretical sense, and then test to see if said computational prediction might actually be able to stand in the real world with wet lab validation. Translational modeling starts to become possible once biological experiment design can be iteratively looped alongside computational model design, optimization, and analysis - empowering the design of a better wet lab experiment, followed by a better computational model, back and forth until science is done!

Please be sure to RSVP here! https://stampede.proanimal.org/events Join your fellow animal lovers and DC Animal Protection to discuss what’s happening in the animal advocacy scene in DC! This series is a weekly meetup, with guest speakers from all of the major animals rights orgs. We’ll host non-profits such as Pro-Animal Future, International Council for Animal Welfare, DC Voters for Animals, The Humane League, Mercy for Animals and Direct Action Everywhere as well as local grassroots groups like the DC Coalition Against Foie Gras and sanctuaries. We’ll also have special sessions related to health, nutrition and mindfulness! We encourage anyone who is interested in helping animals to attend- no need to be vegan! Come learn about our rich variety of local activism. With protests, outreach, wheat-pasting, signature collecting, leafletting, lobbying, tabling etc. there’s something to match everyone’s comfort level and skill set. Coffee, bagels and community will be provided! Feel free to bring any extra treats to share (no animal products please.) Hope to see you soon! :) Note: Unfortunately, animals are not allowed at our venue. Please leave your furry friends at home.

# Old Town Ace Hardware Group Grow Event No backyard? No problem. Join us at Old Town Ace Hardware for a beginner-friendly indoor gardening event where you’ll learn how to grow fresh herbs, greens, and vegetables indoors year-round using simple hydroponic and soil systems. Whether you live in an apartment, condo, townhouse, or just want fresher food closer to home, this event will show you practical ways to grow indoors using modern grow lights, compact systems, and easy starter methods. ## What You’ll Experience ✅ Live indoor gardening demos ✅ Beginner-friendly hydroponic systems ✅ LED grow light education ✅ Seedling starter bundles ✅ Harvesting & maintenance tips ✅ Soil vs hydroponic growing explained ✅ Community Q&A with local growers Modern indoor systems make it possible to grow herbs and greens year-round in compact spaces using LED lighting and vertical growing methods. *** ## Featured Indoor Growing Systems You’ll see: * LetPot countertop growing systems * Elfsys vertical hydroponic systems * Beginner seedling bundles * Indoor LED grow light setups Indoor Garden Market currently offers seedling bundles and year-round growing systems designed for small-space indoor food production. *** ## Perfect For • Apartment & condo residents • Beginner gardeners • Families & kids • Wellness-minded locals • Sustainability enthusiasts • Anyone curious about hydroponics *** ## What You’ll Learn -How much light indoor plants really need -Beginner-friendly crops to start with -How seedling bundles speed up success -How to harvest continuously indoors -Soil vs hydroponic growing basics Leafy greens typically need 40–50 watts of grow lighting per square foot, while vertical hydroponic systems help maximize production in small indoor spaces. *** ## Why Indoor Food Growing? Small indoor systems can help households grow fresh herbs and greens year-round while reducing dependence on outdoor space and seasonal weather. Even compact spaces can support productive indoor gardens using LED lighting and efficient systems. *** ## Community-Focused & Beginner Friendly This event is designed to help local residents: ✅ Learn together ✅ Ask beginner questions ✅ Explore systems hands-on ✅ Connect with the indoor growing community The goal is simple: Help more people learn how to grow food indoors successfully. *** RSVP today and join the Group Grow movement. Visit **[indoorgardenmarket.com](https://iwantagreenthumb.com)** to learn more, and RSVP now for a fun afternoon of herbs, learning, and indoor gardening! Thank you, Clift --- Chief Community Grower at indoorgardenmarket.com

It is irresistible, to enjoy a Spanish and Portuguese convo with appetizers, glass of wine and rail drinks. ***GRAB A DRINK AND YOU ARE ALL SET TO FLEX YOUR LANGUAGE CAPACITY. YOU NEED TO GET AT LEAST A DRINK OR FOOD :) To get the event going and show support. We know that you like our events. P.S. : We have non-alcoholic drinks as well.*** We have a tiny venue and we hit capacity often and early arrival is suggested. We have the discretion to decide entry. HOW IT WORKS : We will try to assign tables for each represented languages and will direct attendees to their respective tables accordingly. Rules to abide : 1. Event is free and 21+ (bring ID). 2. Be respectful to your counterparts and give them a chance to exchange with others as well. 3. We all are native speakers of one or two languages and be willing to help others and try to accommodate as much as possible. 4. If you don't speak the other person's required language, LEAVE THEM ALONE. 5. Rude or aggressive members are removed from the group at an organizers discretion. 6. This is a face-to-face language exchange event. DO NOT try to arrange an online meeting, by using the comment box or direct message. 7. Most of our members complained about people writing in the comment box. Since it sends notification to all attendees. If you have any questions, send a message to the organizers. Don't write in the comment box. 8. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for solicitation. We don't allow anyone to run their own agenda at the Event. If you are interested to promote/sponsor/collaborate; contact us via ([info@merevents.com](http://info@merevents.com)). 9. When you get there, we will greet you and take you to your respective group. 10. Don't be shy of your local languages. We have diplomates assigned to different countries, who would love to practice your languages. 11\. Be patient for the first 30 minutes\, up until we form your respective language group\. 12\. We will have a registration station and check you in\. 13\. This is mainly a social for Intermediate/Advanced/Native Speakers\. It is not as such to learn a language\. Beginners\, if you want to learn a language\, reach out to us \(info@merevents\.com\)\. We have a school and will arrange you a class\. ***AFTER THE EXCHANGE, WE HIT THE DANCE FLOOR! BRING YOUR DANCING SHOES, WE WILL DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!***

We are NPS Weed Warriors and Arlington Regional Master Naturalists and you should volunteer with us on Sunday, May 17 to learn about nature and remove invasive plants from everyone's favorite urban island. Meet us at the entrance to the bridge (on the parking lot side, look for the sign) at 10:00 and bring your garden gloves and loppers/pruners if you have them. If not, we can provide gloves and tools. Wear long sleeves and pants and don't forget a water bottle. We will have tasks ranging from easy (cutting English ivy and honeysuckle vines from trees) to hard (sawing down bush honeysuckle). Parking at TRI can be tight if it's a pretty day. When the parking lot is full, you can park in Rosslyn and take the trail down. If you can bike or walk or take public transit, that's wonderful. We'll see you there! Erica, Stephanie, and Heidi P.S. If you can't wait until then to RIP (Remove Invasive Plants!), go here to find more volunteer opportunities in Arlington parks: [Volunteer to Restore Native Habitat – Arlington Regional Master Naturalists (armn.org)](https://armn.org/volunteer-opportunities/)

It is irresistible, to enjoy a Spanish and Portuguese convo with appetizers, glass of wine and rail drinks. ***GRAB A DRINK AND YOU ARE ALL SET TO FLEX YOUR LANGUAGE CAPACITY. YOU NEED TO GET AT LEAST A DRINK OR FOOD :) To get the event going and show support. We know that you like our events. P.S. : We have non-alcoholic drinks as well.*** We have a tiny venue and we hit capacity often and early arrival is suggested. We have the discretion to decide entry. HOW IT WORKS : We will try to assign tables for each represented languages and will direct attendees to their respective tables accordingly. Rules to abide : 1. Event is free and 21+ (bring ID). 2. Be respectful to your counterparts and give them a chance to exchange with others as well. 3. We all are native speakers of one or two languages and be willing to help others and try to accommodate as much as possible. 4. If you don't speak the other person's required language, LEAVE THEM ALONE. 5. Rude or aggressive members are removed from the group at an organizers discretion. 6. This is a face-to-face language exchange event. DO NOT try to arrange an online meeting, by using the comment box or direct message. 7. Most of our members complained about people writing in the comment box. Since it sends notification to all attendees. If you have any questions, send a message to the organizers. Don't write in the comment box. 8. We have ZERO TOLERANCE for solicitation. We don't allow anyone to run their own agenda at the Event. If you are interested to promote/sponsor/collaborate; contact us via ([info@merevents.com](http://info@merevents.com)). 9. When you get there, we will greet you and take you to your respective group. 10. Don't be shy of your local languages. We have diplomates assigned to different countries, who would love to practice your languages. 11\. Be patient for the first 30 minutes\, up until we form your respective language group\. 12\. We will have a registration station and check you in\. 13\. This is mainly a social for Intermediate/Advanced/Native Speakers\. It is not as such to learn a language\. Beginners\, if you want to learn a language\, reach out to us \(info@merevents\.com\)\. We have a school and will arrange you a class\. ***AFTER THE EXCHANGE, WE HIT THE DANCE FLOOR! BRING YOUR DANCING SHOES, WE WILL DANCE THE NIGHT AWAY!***

**NOTICE: The park is open until 8:45 PM for Sunset Closing** **This is copied from the website:** Savor the beauty of Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in the soft glow of twilight. During these special extended hours, the gardens remain open until 8:45 PM, offering a peaceful and picturesque setting to unwind, take an evening stroll, or simply enjoy the changing light as day turns to dusk. **Admissions will end at 8:15 PM,** and the gardens will close promptly at 8:45 PM. Regular garden admission ($5–$9) and memberships apply. We will meet at the visitor center. Bring Water, a tripod, comfortable shoes, fully charged batteries, and empty cards There is no specific route in this park. Folks are free to wander around the trails in the park at their own pace. Check out Rob Trek's video from May 16, 2021: https://youtu.be/QwNR_TuxM4Y For dinner, after the field trip around 8:00 PM, we will head to The Virginian Restaurant, 169 Glyndon St SE, Vienna, VA 22180 Share only your very best, most interesting shots after the field trip, and keep it down to between 5 and 10 photos. Beauty, conservation, education, and discovery flourish throughout the year at this 95-acre complex of large ornamental display gardens and unique native plant collections. Walking trails, lakes, more than twenty varieties of cherry trees, irises, peonies, an extensive shade garden, native wildflowers, gazebos, birds, butterflies, seasonal blooms, and foliage create a sanctuary of beauty and nature. [https://www.nvrpa.org/park/meadowlark_botanical_gardens/](https://www.nvrpa.org/park/meadowlark_botanical_gardens/) By sending in an RSVP and joining this meetup event hosted by the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup, I am also agreeing to the terms of the following release and waiver of liability, which shall be binding on my heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns. In consideration of my (and my child’s) participation in the Virginia Beltway Photography Meetup, I do hereby release, discharge, and hold harmless the Organizer, its members, officers, directors, employees, and the leader(s) of this event from any and all liability by reason of any damage, loss, expenses, or injury arising from my (and my child’s) participation in this event, including that caused solely or in part by the fault of any and all of the above-named parties.

MCKS PRANIC HEALING® Level I In PRANIC HEALING® Level 1, you learn the basics of working with your energy aura, including learning to "scan," or feel the energy, to "sweep," or clean away congested energy, and to "energize," or supplement areas in your aura that have a pranic deficiency. PRANIC HEALING® has been taught to doctors, nurses, massage therapists, acupuncturists, chiropractors, shiatsu practitioners, and many others in the healing field. It has allowed them to heal confidently and consistently in the shortest learning time possible. These professionals find PRANIC HEALING® very effective and easy to apply. Other topics covered in PRANIC HEALING® Level 1: Energetic anatomy: You will learn to work with the network of chakras, meridians and auras to accelerate the healing processes of your body. Preventive healing: You will learn to remove the negative energetic patterns of a disease to prevent it from fully manifesting as a physical ailment. Self-Pranic healing: You will learn to apply these healing techniques to accelerate your own healing. Step-by-step techniques for ailments related to your: respiratory system, e.g., asthma,; circulatory system, e.g., heart ailments; gastrointestinal system, e.g., irritable bowel syndrome; musculoskeletal system, e.g., arthritis and back pain; reproductive system, e.g., menstrual problems. You'll also learn how to address common problems as migraines and sinusitis. Additionally, you'll learn to apply distant healing to loved ones who are not present in the room with you. All PRANIC HEALING® courses are "experiential," which means that you learn by actually performing the techniques and exercises in class - on yourself and those around you. During class, all the principles will be explained thoroughly and you will practice the techniques exhaustively so you will be confident in your ability to produce positive results when you finish the course. This is Day 2 of 2 Attendance at day one is required to attend day 2. The Course text book is Choa Kok Sui, "Miracles through Pranic Healing" Please bring this with you to class. PRANIC HEALING® Level 1 is a prerequisite to all other GMCKS courses. For those interested to review the class...Review fee is only $75!! LOOK AT THIS!! Review for FREE when you bring a new student to class with you.

Main Library, Meeting Room 2B Join us for a welcoming evening of reflection, gentle music, and meaningful conversation. We’ll begin with a short grounding moment, followed by a brief reading from spiritual or philosophical traditions, and an open reflection circle where participants can share (or simply listen). Libera Animae is an interfaith community focused on inner growth, creativity, and authentic connection. All backgrounds are welcome.

Welcome to Drunken Philosophy, a casual, curious, social discussion club. Come grab a drink and a seat at The Oracle. **Optional topic for this meetup: Where is everybody?** In 1950 the physicist Enrico Fermi was talking about aliens over lunch and asked a question that still has not gone away: if the universe is so vast and so old, and even a fraction of those billions of stars have planets, where is everyone? By the numbers the galaxy should be crowded with civilizations. Instead we look up and hear silence. That gap between "they should be everywhere" and "we see no one" is the Fermi Paradox. One of the most unsettling answers is the idea of a **Great Filter**: somewhere on the road from dead chemistry to a galaxy-spanning civilization, there is at least one step that is almost impossible to get past. Maybe the filter is behind us. Maybe life starting at all, or simple cells becoming complex, or intelligence ever evolving, is the freak accident, and we already cleared the hard part. Or maybe the filter is ahead of us, and advanced civilizations reliably wipe themselves out before they spread. Here is the part that messes with people. If we ever found life somewhere else, even pond scum on Mars, most people would call it the greatest discovery in history. But it might be the worst possible news. It would mean life is common, the early steps are easy, and the hard step is still in front of us. So the eerie silence overhead might actually be the best sign we could ask for. **Questions to wrestle with:** * Is it better to be alone? Would you rather we find alien life and learn we are not special, or find nothing and quietly improve our odds of surviving? * Where do you bet the filter sits, behind us or ahead of us, and why? * If it is ahead of us, what is it? Nuclear war, climate collapse, AI, something we cannot even picture yet? And can we do anything about a filter we cannot see coming? * Two principles pull opposite ways here. The principle of mediocrity (the Copernican principle, Sagan's "no privileged place in the universe") says we are ordinary, so what happened on Earth probably happened everywhere, which makes the silence scream louder. The anthropic principle says of course we find ourselves somewhere life was possible, since we could not observe anything else, so our being here may say almost nothing about how common life is. Which lens do you trust, and does the silence still demand an answer once you account for observer selection? * And if we did confirm life out there and had to accept we are not special, what would that do to belief in a higher power, and would shedding (or keeping) that belief help or hurt our odds of pulling together as one species? * Does any of this change how you live, or how humanity should be spending its time and money right now? As always the prompt is optional. Come for the conversation, stay for the drinks, and bring your own questions.

Who else is ready to sit outside? Join us for a casual chat over coffee & tea at Grandview Grind! Come out and meet some new people, enjoy your favorite drink, and make some new friends!

Let’s meet and wander the galleries! General admission on Sundays is free.

Start your week the right way with Manic Mondays. Giving you an enjoyable Bachata lesson with a push of cool moves. The second hour has Beginner/Intermediate Salsa on 1. You must understand basic Salsa skills to participate. 730pm-830pm Bachata Cool Moves 830pm-930pm Salsa On 1 (Beginner/Intermediate) 15 for One Class 20 for Both Free Parking & Plenty of Dance Space. Viva Dance Columbus 2809 Festival Lane Dublin OH 43017

Granville Land Lab 2025 Burg Street | Granville MEADOWS FOR MONARCHS PROJECT Learning Landscapes Tour + Community Science at the Land Lab Wednesday, July 1, 2026 9 a.m. - 12 noon: Program 12- 12:30: picnic lunch *meet at shelter house near Granville Intermediate School playground* Free. Registration Required so we know to expect you,[ click here https://www.lickingpollinatorpathway.org/land-lab-tour](https://www.lickingpollinatorpathway.org/land-lab-tour) Want to make your own wildflower meadow? Residents of licking county can sign up for this free program to receive free seed and training https://www.lickingpollinatorpathway.org/meadows **ABOUT THE EVENT** Join Pollinator Pathway for a morning at the Land Lab, a ~100-acre prairie and outdoor learning space just steps from Granville Intermediate School. This event explores how schools and other campuses can create living classrooms and contribute to community science. * **Tour the Land Lab:** Award-winning environmental science educator Jim Reding will lead guided tours through prairie, wetlands and other restored habitat, sharing the story behind this nationally-recognized space and the students and partnerships who helped make it happen. * **Contribute to Community Science with iNaturalist App:** Learn to identify and document plants, pollinators and other wildlife using iNaturalist. Dr. Karen Goodell, professor of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology at The Ohio State University at Newark and one of Ohio's foremost experts on native bees will share how to use this powerful tool to learn about the natural world while contributing to scientific research. * **Connect & Collaborate:** The morning program concludes with an optional BYO picnic lunch and networking at the Land Lab shelter house, overlooking the prairie. **🌸Anyone passionate about conservation and outdoor learning is welcome🌸** **WHAT TO BRING, WEAR & PREPARE** * **Download the iNaturalist app (the new one vs. the "classic" one) & create an account prior to the event if you don't have one already.** * **Sunscreen** * **Water bottle** * **Insect repellent** * **Hat** * **Comfortable closed-toe shoes suitable for uneven terrain** * **Light-colored clothing.** * **Long pants and socks are encouraged.** * **Please bring a reusable water bottle** * **Packed/picnic lunch.** **Picnic table seating will be available at the shelter house overlooking the Land Lab**