Nerd Nite SF #120: LSD Art, Redwoods, & Fish Research

Event Details

Nerd Nite SF #120: LSD Art, Redwoods, and Fish-Mediated Epilepsy Research!
7 pm doors
$15
All Ages

*All attendees must be fully vaccinated and be able to show proof (via card, phone, or QR code). Let's keep everyone safe and sound during this return to live entertainment! *

The lineup for all you nerds this month is a doozy! We'll take a rollercoaster ride through the twists and turns of Mark McCloud's mind as he tells us stories of his in-home museum of blotter art comprised of over 33,000 LSD sheets collected over the decades. If that's not fishy enough for you, don't worry. There will be actual fish featured in a talk about how zebrafish are helping neuroscientists study rare epilepsies. Also, no one knows fog as well as San Francisco in August, unless you're a redwood tree. We'll bond over fog and learn how redwoods rely on it.

Finding Danio: Can transparent zebrafish help us see through diseases?
Small freshwater fish called zebrafish (Danio rerio) help researchers across the world study human diseases and develop treatments for disease. Why is the zebrafish such a powerful research model for human disease? Is it actually more closely related to humans or zebras? Come find out in this talk that will guide you through "Finding Danio"
Dr. Venkatraman is a research scholar at UCSF and currently uses zebrafish as a model system to study rare pediatric epilepsies. Through her research she hopes to advance our understanding of these rare epilepsies and help discover a treatment.

The Institute of Illegal Images by Mark McCloud
Artist and San Francisco staple Mark McCloud will take us on a trip through his personal collection of LSD blotter housed, well, in his house. Born in Detroit, raised in Buenos Aires, but a resident of the Mission since the 80s, he has dedicated his life to making and preserving blotter art in order to pay homage to the substance that he says saved his life.

The California Redwood: Way cooler than you thought (& also cooler than you!) by Ryan Kenneally
Redwoods are cool in both senses of the word. Chilling quietly in cold foggy forests but also unique and interesting, these spectacular trees define a rare and endangered ecosystem that contributes to the amazing biodiversity found in California. Redwoods harness the fog to transform coastal habitats into the most lush forests in the state, working collectively to reach larger sizes than any other tree on Earth. Clear your brain fog with a beer and let's learn about what makes these trees so special and fascinating!
Ryan Kenneally is a PhD student in Plant Biology at UC Berkeley, and previously worked as a Sustainable Agricultural Systems volunteer with the Peace Corps. He is passionate about all things plants, but especially the California Redwood.

As always, follow DJ Alpha Bravo’s set list of songs chosen to complement our evening’s talks @djalphabravo*

Nerd Nite SF is a monthly lecture-in-a-bar series where we invite interesting people - scientists, historians, game designers, mimes, etc. - to give short talks on their expertise to tipsy nerds. We strive to be playful, entertaining, sometimes a little inebriated or salacious, but always deeply educational. Join us!https://sf.nerdnite.com/