Seattle
we just started a brewery to meet more dogs
Previous topics:
December 15th:
🪱 Violet Sorrentino - NSF GRFP Awardee, MCB Program Doctoral Candidate, Fred Hutch Cancer Center
How tiny worms can help us understand the human brain
Our complex nervous system contains two key cell types: neurons and glia. The human brain contains hundreds of billions of these cells, so when something goes wrong and the brain no longer functions properly, it can be difficult to identify what’s happening at a molecular level. In this talk, you’ll learn how the Singhvi Lab is using tiny worms as a simplified model for the human brain to reveal insights about neurological health, aging, and disease – and potentially fuel new options for therapies.
😷 John Huddleston, PhD - Staff Scientist, Fred Hutch Cancer Center
Forecasting the future of flu
Every winter, flu viruses find a way to escape our existing immunity, sickening, hospitalizing, or killing us. The Bedford Lab tracks global flu virus evolution in real time, identifying genetic changes that appear to allow flu viruses to most successfully reinfect people. Genetic data alone can’t tell us why some viruses are better at escaping our immunity than others. Fortunately, a new experimental method from the Bloom Lab measures how well recent viruses escape current human immunity. By combining genetic and experimental data in computational models, we can predict the genetic changes linked to immune escape and use those predictions to inform better vaccine design.
November 17:
🌾 Dr. Caroline Strömberg
Professor in UW Biology @uwbiology & Curator of Paleobotany at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture @burkemuseum
"How grasses took over the world"
Grasses are all around us, whether in the form of lawns, golf courses, wheat fields or the contents of your popcorn bag. Yet few people think of grasses as an evolutionarily extremely successful group, or wonder how they came to be so ubiquitous in less than ~30 million years. This talk will explore what we know about the evolutionary history of grasses and grassland ecosystems and how it related to climate change and animal evolution.
☁️ Aakash Manapat
Graduate student, UW Atmospheric and Climate Science @uwatmossci
"How clouds control our climate"
Clouds are ubiquitous features of Earth's weather. However, their mundaneness hides a surprising level of complexity. Join me to learn about why scientists still struggle to understand clouds, and why clouds represent a major uncertainty when trying to understand climate change.
October 6:
What is JEDI Education? Come learn about it from two teacher educators. We will use all the banned words like justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (shh... don't tell) and discuss why every student needs a JEDI teacher.
Join us for this discussion with Drs. Stacey Hardin and Jodi Newman, faculty in the UW College of Education. We have a good feeling about this!
September 22:
Dr. Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, STEM Education Consultant
"Pop(corn) Science: Talking Science in the Movies"Jacob Clark Blickenstaff, Ph.D., STEAM educator and author of Blick on Flicks for the National Science Teaching Association will share ways parents, educators, and film-loving adults can take advantage of movies to engage kids with science concepts. Come let your nerd flag fly in conversation about science and movies. Feel free to wear your movie merch and bring your questions!
August 25:
🐳 Briana Abrahms, Assistant professor, UW Department of Biology Center for Ecosystem Sentinels
Where the Wild Things Go
What do large carnivores in Africa and whales in the Pacific Ocean have in common? They both roam across vast distances and inhabit environments that are rapidly changing because of people. In this talk, we'll learn about how wildlife scientists track where these wild things go and study how they are coping with our changing planet. Lastly, we'll talk about how we use this information to support wildlife conservation.
🖊️ Sally James, medical and science journalist
How news about science gets made (mangled)
The journey from a discovery in a lab to a headline is fraught with danger. Confusion, exaggeration and misunderstanding lurk on the path. Let me explain and help you spot these problems or explain to your community.
This event is also part of the Summer Fight for Science campaign with @standupforscience @sufsseattle - if you think that science is an important part of society, this is for you!
July 28:
Our Super Sciencey Summer continues on July 28, with three talks from graduate student researchers in @sefs_uw!Masha Vernik, UW School of Environmental and Forest SciencesResilience in Diversity: Climate Change and Seed Selection Among Organic Farms in Western WARobin Ruhm, UW School of Environmental and Forest SciencesThe Hidden Cost of Gold: Mercury Accumulation, Forest Degradation and Ecosystem-Wide Effects Spread Far Throughout The AmazonGus Wettstein, UW School of Environmental and Forest SciencesBeyond Prediction: Climate Adaptation as Future-MakingThis event is also part of the Summer Fight for Science campaign with @standupforscience @sufsseattle - if you think that science is an important part of society, this is for you!
July 7
How Science Works
Carl Bergstrom (Prof, UW Biology) and Kevin Gross (Prof, NCSU Statistics)
When our high school and college teachers talked about how science works, they usually focused on the so-called scientific method, stressing observation, data analysis, and hypothesis testing. What they didn’t talk about much is how science works as a social process. What are the norms and institutions that govern scientific activity? What incentives do they create for individual researchers? How do those incentives shape the questions that scientists ask and the approaches they take? How do scientists work collectively to develop ever-improving models of the physical world? What constitutes “good” science? What qualifies as expertise? How is scientific consensus formed—and what is it in the first place? By understanding how the science operates as a social process, we gain a deeper understanding of why science works and why scientific consensus is trustworthy. If that understanding were more widely shared, perhaps we would not be dealing with the all-out assault of science, medicine, and public health that we are facing today in the United States.
June 23
Kacey Rosenthal
Putting the brakes on aggressive breast cancer
Kacey Rosenthal is a PhD candidate in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Washington. She studies an aggressive form of breast cancer using techniques like making cells glow in the dark so that doctors can understand better how to stop it from growing and spreading. She will talk about finding a way to put the brakes on this type of breast cancer in the hopes of helping patients live longer and healthier lives.Also, we could use another speaker on this date!
Contact us if you're interested in speaking at a future Smarty Pints! info@burkegilmanbrewing.com
June 9
Hey, did you hear that the president’s budget request includes massive funding cuts for scientific research? We sure did!
So on Monday, June 9th, a special edition of Smarty Pints is hosting five UW researchers for a panel on how recent federal actions are changing the landscape for science and research. Come learn what’s up and why it matters! Monday, June 9th at 6:30! And, buy your scientist friends a beer. They’ve been on a wild ride.May 26Andrea LiusIt's Time To DieAndrea Lius is a PhD candidate in the Department of Pharmacology who studies a process in the cell that can make cancer more aggressive. In her James Bond-themed talk, she compares cancer cells to secret agents like Bond—while both of which may seem invincible, they have characteristics that can make them vulnerable. She shares how cancer biologists like herself can expose and target these vulnerabilities to find new ways to kill cancer.