Tix: squareup.com/store/nneb

Join Nerd Nite East Bay to see how humans can manipulate the Martian atmosphere, learn how Chevron shaped modern Richmond, and discover how to track ancient whale migration with fossil barnacles!

NNEB 2019 October Poster

 

 

Shaped By Chevron: How Oil, WWII and Migration Created Richmond

In an echo of the corporate towns of America’s past, learn why Chevron was built in Richmond or, more accurately, how Chevron built Richmond around the massive oil refinery. See how World War II and the second Great Migration bifurcated Richmond, and learn how Chevron Richmond’s control over city development and media amplified the division between Richmond and North Richmond and moved the center of Richmond city life from downtown to a 1970s mall overlooking the Bay.

Mia Renauld completed her thesis on the development of Richmond and received her PhD in Sociology. At the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute she collaborated with community organizations to develop low-cost do-it-yourself scientific monitoring tools. Mia has worked as an environmental justice advocate for organizations including Education For A Sustainable Living Program, ran a half marathon on a broken foot, and has over thirty plants, all with names like Fernie Sanders and Minerva.

Resurrecting the Martian Atmosphere for Human Life

Mars is humanity’s most obvious and viable escape from a future inhospitable Earth, but the leap from our world to the Red Planet will require a nearly inconceivable amount of work on the Martian atmosphere. Learn why Mars was once warm and wet, with majestic flowing river and beautiful lakes, and what happened to make modern Mars so cold, dry, and incompatible with human life. Then hear about current projects that are preparing Mars for human colonization, why terraforming is crucial to the reformation of Mars’ atmosphere, and why human life on Mars will require digging a channel one billion times the size of the tunnel between England and France.

Rob Lillis has worked on four Mars mission science teams and is the Associate Director for Planetary Science at the UC Berkeley Space Sciences Laboratory. He is interested in why the atmosphere leaks away from Mars and how that has changed the Martian climate. Robert loves rugby, politics, sci-fi, horror movies, and terrible cheesy European techno music.

Using Fossil Barnacles to Track Ancient Whale Migration

Learn how fossil barnacles can be used to track the migration of prehistoric whales and answer questions about ancient and modern whale behavior. See how barnacles give us crucial insight into the morphological evolution of whales and how they can identify hot spots of productivity in the ancient oceans. Learn how fossils suggest Pleistocene Panama was once party central for ancient leviathans, discover how whales change behavior in response to changes in Earth’s climate, and see how modern barnacles accurately map whale migration.

Larry Taylor is a PhD Candidate in Paleobiology at UC Berkeley focusing on the use of barnacle isotopes to track prehistoric whale migration. Outside of academic life, Larry is a mountain junkie and is frequently found scampering up high peaks in the Sierra Nevada or Rocky Mountains.

With music from DJ Rubberband Girl, drinks from Club 21, eats available for purchase, and info from the great Oakland Public Library.

Tix: https://squareup.com/store/nneb/

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