Smarty Pints is a celebration of science and beer!

Usually the third Monday of every month, 630PM
Clever people tell us about their work. Sometimes scientists, sometimes engineers, sometimes artists!

Are you a clever person who would like to present a 30 minute talk on what you do? Reach out at info@burkegilmanbrewing.com
 

Upcoming Smarty Pints Topics:​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

April 20

 

Spring has sprung, so we’re bringing you pollinators and weed(s) for Smarty Pints this month! On April 20 we’re back with more timely talks, on how changing snow conditions affect plants and their pollinators and on the chemistry of cannabis, beer, and essential oils. See you at 6:30 in the taproom!

🐝 Prof. Berry Brosi
Professor, UW Biology & Executive Director of MeadoWatch
“Climate-driven plant-pollinator timing mismatches: does biodiversity provide backup?”

Pollination is essential for plant reproduction, biodiversity, and agriculture. Scientists are increasingly worried about timing mismatches between plants and their pollinators, driven by climate change. Plants and insects use different environmental cues (temperature, day length, snowmelt) to time when they bloom and when they become active, and climate change is increasingly causing these cues to fall out of sync.

Most research on this problem has focused on individual plants in isolation, which tend to show negative effects from mistimed pollination. But in nature, most plants are visited by multiple pollinator species and vice versa—so could that biodiversity act as a buffer against these mismatches?

To find out, we conducted a study in the Colorado Rockies, where snowmelt largely controls when plants bloom. We experimentally manipulated snowmelt in large plots containing multiple plant species and many individuals of each. Come to the talk to find out what we discovered about how pollinators responded—and whether the plant pollination suffered!

⚗️ Jim Roe
Analytical Chemist, SoRSE Technology
“Volatile compounds in cannabis, essential oils, and beer”

What’s the chemistry behind your favorite smokes, scents, and suds? We’ll discuss terpenes and other -enes, -ones, and -ols that you definitely did not forget after that o-chem final back in college. Jim Roe has made a career out of chemistry instrumentation and analysis, from a research scientist managing the UW Chemistry department’s instrument lab to a field service engineer for equipment spanning the alphabet (GCMS, HPLC, FTIR… holler for your favorite). He has consulted on setting up cannabis laboratories around the Pacific Northwest, and currently works in research and development for water-soluble emulsions of cannabinoids, terpenes, hop oils, and other compounds used in food, beverages, and topicals.
 

 

May 18
Mount St. Helens night!

🌋 Prof. Harold Tobin
UW Earth and Space Sciences & Director of Pacific Northwest Seismic Network
Geology of Mount St. Helens – 1980 eruption and now

🌱 Dr. Eric Wagner
UW Biology & Center for Ecosystem Sentinels
Ecological recovery of Mount St. Helens
(he literally wrote a book on it!)

 

June 15
👂 Aoi Hunsaker
UW Psychology
How we and our fishy ancestors hear sound

🦭 Ellen Weatherford
“Just the Zoo of Us” podcast
Man Vs Pinniped at the Ballard Locks​​​​
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