We’re bringing the late summer heat with three amazing talks! Who needs antibiotics when you’ve got viruses to fight on your behalf? Sounds too good to be true? How about the REAL nudies under the sea? Who knew sea slugs could be so dazzling? And how do you teach kids to talk? Perhaps more importantly, how to you get them to stop talking? So many questions, so little time. Come on down for all the answers you never knew you wanted on September 17th, 7pm at the Rickshaw Stop. Tickets just $15! What a bargain, what a deal!
Phage Against the Machine: A History of Bacteriophages
By: Yug Varma
What’s a phage? How come I’ve never heard of it before? And how will phages save us from superbugs? Join Yug as we explore the brief history of bacteriophages, one of nature’s deadliest creatures that thankfully doesn’t hunt us. As we learn how the most momentous events of the 20th century shaped the fate of phages, we will learn what the future could hold for this enemy of our enemies.
Yug Varma is a biochemist and microbiologist who studies the microbiome and has been obsessed with phages for 20 years. He has a PhD from Johns Hopkins University and conducted research at UCSF. He now leads a phage startup that is trying to change how we treat chronic bacterial diseases. When he’s not cooking or fermenting things, he reads and sings to his beloved dog Xena.
Please Send Nudes: Fancy Slugs of the Sea
By: Tiffany Alcock
The ocean is full of vibrant, colorful marine life, but few are as fantastically arranged and strikingly decorated as the gastropod molluscs known as nudibranchs. Found worldwide and at virtually all depths, nudibranchs really get around! Get (your feet) wet with this dive into the bizarre body parts, sexy dance moves, and fabulous outfits of sea slugs.
Tiffany is a life-long water babe, who knew she would one day be a diver after taking a Discover Scuba class at age 10. Having logged 65-70 dives in chilly Monterey, CA, she daydreams of returning to warmer waters like Bali or Hawaii, but also would like to dive each of the Great Lakes. Tiffany spends her “dry spells” between dives teaching pottery, doing crafts, and playing board games.
How to Teach Kids to Talk (and How to Deal with Them When They Do)
By: Amanda Maillet
Some pet peeves and pro tips from a speech therapist who’s spent the last decade and a half negotiating with toddlers and teaching others how to do the same. We’ll go through some bad advice, better alternatives, and the brain science behind how we as humans learn to communicate.
Amanda has a BA in Linguistics from the University of New Hampshire and an MS in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from San Francisco State University. She currently works as Speech Therapist and especially loves early intervention (birth-age 3). Parents come to her absolutely terrified that their toddler isn’t talking yet and then come in a few months later absolutely exhausted because now they have learned how to argue. Thankfully, before becoming a speech therapist, she spent many years working as a nanny and learned, the hard way, what actually works and what absolutely does not when trying to reason with someone still very much acclimating to their own existence.