Poster by Rebecca Cohen.
Category: Uncategorized
NNEB 51: NorCal Neon, Sailor Moon, Stem Cell Trials
NorCal Neon!
From Advertising to Art
Super Senshi Sorority
Out of the Mouths of Babes
Nerd Nite East Bay #49: Asteroid Law, Dragonflies, and Cognitive Dissonance
Poster by Rebecca Cohen.
Join Nerd Nite East Bay’s Expert Speakers on Monday Jan 30th for
Buying Your Own Moon Base!
Dragonfly Nymphs!
Your Brain on Calories and Cognitive Dissonance!
Mingle from 7-8PM with games of New Year’s Resolution Bingo for prizes, have savory pies from The Pie Shop and macaroons from Shades of Sugar while KALX’s own Rubberband Girl plays tunes, and grab a drink to enjoy as the talks begin at 8PM.
Experience your own cognitive dissonance by being there and being square. Early bird tickets just $8, tickets $10 at the door.
Club 21, Oakland Facebook Tix
Office Hours
We’re off in December, but welcome your feedback as we plan next year’s shows. Dropy by anytime. We’ll have a few pitchers of beer to share, give out some “thank you” tokens, & just look forward to chatting with you.
Friday 12/16/2016 6PM-9PM Telegraph Beer Garden, 2318 Telegaph, Oakland FREE fb
Nerd Nite East Bay #48: Stoicism, Supernovae, and Social Determinants of Health
Poster by Rebecca Cohen.
Ease out of post-Thanksgiving torpor with Nerd Nite East Bay. An evening of drinks and education begins with Seamus O’Donnell’s exploration of stoicism. Virtue is based on knowledge, so we continue with Astronomy on Tap’s Jeffrey Silverman’s discussion of dark energy. If we figure out what’s out there, perhaps we can figure what to do here: we conclude the evening with alumnerd Sharon Osterweil’s dive into the social determinants of health.
Starting at 7PM, we’ll have food from Miss Arepita, tunes from DJ Citizen Zain, and Detention Mad Libs by Ann-Marie.
Rick, Rebecca, and the Oakland Public Library pardon no turkeys.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 11/28/2016 Doors (+food,drink,"Detention" preshow) at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) We will strive to allow some purchases at the door for $10 (cash or card), but we sometimes sell out. fb
Stoicism: How an Ancient Philosophy Can Turn Us All into Laughing Vulcans by Seamus O’Donnell
Philosophy is often thought of as the exclusive playground of philosophy students and their professors, but what about the rest of us nincompoops? In ancient Greece and Rome, those who studied different schools of philosophy did so in order to live their lives by a particular model. Stoicism was such a school, one that is highly misunderstood today. The model it offers promises us a way of living that is still applicable today: one that eliminates stress, anger, and the frustrations of modern life…it probably won’t deliver all its promises, but it certainly does take the edge off. What Stoicism can do is offer different perspectives, teach acceptance of imperfections, and demonstrate an updated Vulcan model for living: to live well and prosper.
Seamus O’Donnell is a paramedic that works in the Bay Area and got his degree in Politics (Not Political Science) from UC Santa Cruz. He occasionally considered graduate school, but hates paperwork. Getting into an ambulance, he had the intention to help people, drive fast, and look cool… but mostly he does paperwork. Drat.
Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Runaway Universe by Jeffrey Silverman
Some of the most energetic and fascinating objects in the Universe are exploding stars known as supernova. These colossal outbursts result from the deaths of stars and for a time can outshine the entire galaxy in which they’re found. Observations of distant supernova provided the first evidence that the expansion of the Universe is speeding up with time, rather than slowing down. This wholly unexpected phenomenon is likely due to a repulsive “dark energy” and has become one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in modern science.
For over a decade, Jeffrey Silverman used some of the biggest telescopes in the world to observe and study supernova, both as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin and as a graduate student at UC Berkeley, where he got his Ph.D. in 2011 working with Prof. Alex Filippenko. Jeff was born and raised in Anaheim, CA, just down the street from Disneyland, and has bounced between CA and TX his entire life. His latest move was from Austin back to the Bay Area to enter the wonderful world of tech as a data scientist. Jeff has given numerous public presentations (including ones at Nerd Nites in Austin and Houston) about astronomy and Disneyland and co-organizes Astronomy on Tap Bay Area, which is a free, recurring event that features accessible and engaging presentations by astronomers on a wide variety of topics.
An Apple a Day (and a High School Diploma) Keeps the Doctor Away by Sharon Osterweil
The social determinants of health are the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and play. But why do they matter? It’s exciting to think that getting to the gym a few extra times a week will help us live longer—and it might—but our environment and the opportunities we were afforded by accident of birth are better predictors of lifespan than the rate at which we eat donuts. Learn about what your zip code says about your health.
Sharon Osterweil works in end-of-life care, using her knowledge of how to live longer, healthier lives to help terminally ill adults die with dignity. Previously, she worked on projects related to the social determinants of health, conducting home visits with vulnerable patients in the East Bay. She is a San Francisco native who defected to NY for several years before moving to Oakland.
Nerd Nite: Science at the Cinema [SOLD OUT]
Coming soon to a theater near you: Nerd Nite and the Bay Area Science Festival take over the Alamo Drafthouse for a special night of science, history, and booze! Celebrate the New Mission Theater’s 100th anniversary in all its newly restored glory, as we get a thrill out of cult film, put mosquitos under the microscope, learn how live performance is made from discarded 16mm film, and hear the gory details on old SF’s grizzly bear vs. wild bull fights—plus much more! Enjoy some of our favorite Nerd Nite alumni returning with all-new talks, while you sit back and enjoy the Alamo’s food and drink service. And did we mention cocktail robots will be taking over the bar? Be there and be square!
Due to circumstances outside of our control, the Alamo has rescinded their previous offer to host our cocktail robots. We deeply regret this and are working to make it right.
Presenters:
- Joshua Grannell (a.k.a Peaches Christ)
- Peter Conheim and Maximillian Godino of Wet Gate, 16mm Performance Ensemble
- Woody LaBounty and David Gallagher, Western Neighborhoods Project
- Katherine Petrin and Alfonso Felder of the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation
- UC Davis Biologist Walter Leal and KQED Deep Look
This event is 18+.
Wednesday 11/2/2016 Door+cocktail robotsat 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Alamo Drafthouse's New Mission Theater, 2550 Mission St, SF (near 24th St BART) Advance tickets were $15+service fee. We sold out.
Nerd Nite East Bay #47: Spooktacular Lectures and Drinks
Don’t be scared. Nerd Nite East Bay may be a week earlier than normal this October, but we’ve got you covered with a Halloween-themed show. Strephon Taylor will show how Jack Pierce created Frankenstein. Then, Joe Chen from Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics will descibe Zombie research. Finally, Egan Hirvela will explore suspense horror in video games. Oh. And there will be a costume contest.
Starting at 7PM, we’ll have a last brilliant barrage of sound from DJ Ion the Prize, and Detention by Ann-Marie. Come dressed as your favorite scientist, or science experiment. Prizes will be awarded!
Rick, Rebecca, Sarah, and the Oakland Public Library will always pick “trick”.
Also: 10/24 is the last day to register vote and the non-partisan League of Women Voters of Oakland will be tabling all night.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 10/24/2016 Door+drinks+detention at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) Advance tickets are $8 [or less for early nerds]. Your CC statement will denote these come from Drinkified Learning, LLC. We will strive to allow some purchases at the door for $10 (cash or card), but we sometimes sell out. tix fb
Jack Pierce the Maker of Monsters by Strephon Taylor
Jack P. Pierce was a true artisan. While it would be hard to imagine anyone in the Western world being unfamiliar with his work, practically no one knows of him. A love of Halloween and horror led filmmaker Strephon Taylor to pursue a decade of research on the man behind the creation of famous movie makeups such as Frankenstein and the Wolfman. In support of “Jack Pierce, The Maker of Monsters,” his presentation will provide uncommon and new details into the life of this behind-the-scenes movie great!
Strephon Taylor is an East Bay, CA native who cut his teeth in the arts world as a teenager fronting thrash metal band Sacrilege B.C., designing flyers, record covers, and logos for other bands, and designing foamcore wall displays to advertise the latest album releases from a Tower Records art department. November Fire was born later, celebrating all things horror and Halloween, and the business soon grew to include far more than just its signature black shirts with white graphics with a new production company releasing its own CDs and DVDs.
They Are Getting Closer…To Killing You, Eating You, and Turning You: Zombie Research Has Arrived by Joseph Chen
Stem cell research is advancing like never before, but so is the looming Zombie Apocalypse! In the past, injecting biologics (like home-grown stem cells) into the heads of brain-damaged people seemed like Sci Fi, but now that reality as arrived. But the brain-damaged individual that you’ve brought back…well, It’s looking at you funny…It’s drooling a little…It’s shuffling towards you menacingly…wait…stay back…Get Away From Me!!!…Aaarrrrrrgh!
Joe got his PhD from Rutgers University focusing on endocrine disruptors, did his postdoctoral training at UCSF where his work centered on identifying adult stem cells in the human endometrium, then moved on to the Gladstone Institutes of Virology and Immunology to work on HIV, and is now a Senior Investigator at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics, with a focus on emerging infectious diseases such as Zika, as well as using viruses as therapeutic agents.
What’s That Around the Corner? – A Look at Survival Horror in Video Games by Egan Hirvela
Since the early 80’s, horror survival been a popular sub-genre of video games. From the earliest text games to the ultra modern console and PC titles available today, fans can’t seem to get enough of jump scares, low ammunition and Things That Shouldn’t Be to run away from. This talk will look at the history of horror survival games, why they are compelling to players and how they differ than regular action games.
Egan Hirvela has been a video game designer for over two decades. He’s worked for many big companies over the years, and have worked on several AAA titles (namely Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Assassin’s Creed 3 and Guild Wars 2). Currently, he is also a Fellow speaker with Odd Salon. This will be his first Nerd Nite talk.
Nerd Nite East Bay #45: Snakes, Breast Massage, Adoption
Poster designed by Jeanette Yu.
In this month’s Nerd Nite, you will learn about the importance of certain slithering reptiles, about the benefits of breast massage, and about the history and practicality of adoption!
Doors/bar/food are at 7. Where do those delicious eats come from this month? Platecraft will bring the savory and Natty Cakes will bring the sweet. Ann-Marie Benz’s Detention (our social program before the talks) starts at 7 too. More on what she’ll have in store for you on our social medial channels.
As always: Rick, Rebecca, DJ Ion the Prize, and the Oakland Public Library will be wondering “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?”
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 8/29/2016 Doors (+food,drink,"Detention" preshow) at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) Advance tickets are $8 or less with discounts offered in our social media channels. Any left for the door will be $10. Your CC statement will denote these come from Drinkified Learning, LLC. We will allow an extremely limited number of people to enter after we can estimate no shows for $10 (cash or card). tix fb
‘The Only Good Snake is a Dead Snake’ and Other Myths About our Reptilian Cousins by Alex Krohn
Alex will talk to us about his favorite animals: snakes. Snakes hold a unique place in many people’s hearts. From their deification in cultures across the world to the estimated 1.8 million snake bite envenomations per year, snakes have been revered, feared and vilified simultaneously for most of humankind’s existence. From a scientific perspective, we will clear up some common misunderstandings of snakes, learn about the beauty and importance of snakes in the wild, and discover how truly intimate the relationship between humans and snakes has been over millions of years of evolutionary time.
Alex is a herpetologist studying evolution at UC Berkeley for his PhD. He has published multiple scholarly articles on reptiles and amphibians, and regularly goes around the world looking for snakes in his free time.
Breasts: Handle With Care by Anna Sadovnikova
Boobs are really important! Feeding an infant only breast milk for the first 6 months of life has the single largest potential impact on child health of any preventive intervention! Even though 80% of new mothers in the US begin breastfeeding in the hospital, less than 20% make it to the the recommended six months. Many mothers stop breastfeeding because of plugged milk ducts, engorgement, and breast pain. Breast massage can alleviate, improve, or prevent all of the aforementioned complications, but there is no standardized, evidence-based resource for breast massage tips and tricks. Anna and the LiquidGoldConcept team have identified numerous breast massage techniques in from academic literature and YouTube. Join us to find out how, when, and why these techniques work.
Anna Sadovnikova is a MD/PhD/IBCLC student at UC Davis and the CEO and co-founder of LiquidGoldConcept. LiquidGoldConcept is developing a mobile health application, MomKit–The Breast Massage Toolkit, to teach health provider and empower mothers. Anna enjoys practicing yoga, taking naps, drinking coffee, eating, exploring the world with her husband, and, of course, taking about mammary glands to anyone and everyone who’ll listen.
The Stork Exchange by Jennifer Tharp
Jennifer Tharp is older than she looks. She finds that smearing vaseline on the mirror helps with that.
In her professional life, Jennifer advises startups and multinationals including eBay, Genentech, Cisco and Nikon on difficult governance problems. She is a recognized expert in project and program management, data privacy, agile development, strategic planning, cyber-security and corporate governance. She serves on the global board of directors of PMI, Project Management Institute, and that’s why she’s never here. She’s written the seminal (heh, i said seminal) text on sustainability and project management, and teaches random things at UC Berkeley.
But none of that has anything to do with why she’s here today. She found out that she was adopted as an adult and that turned her world upside down. She’s been working on trying to understand that, and she is excited to share some of the weird things she’s learned in the process.
With ongoing thanks to:
Nerd Nite East Bay #44: Probability, Science Songs, and Juvenile Justice
Poster designed by Jeanette Yu.
Grab tix to our July 25th show! Last month’s sold out show, sponsorship by the always incredible East Bay Express, and a fantastic lineup featuring everyday probability, the history of juvenile justice, and the amazing band The Ten Thousand Ways all point to why you should snatch up your tix in advance. Or, as The Ten Thousand Ways put it:
We’re glad you’re here and learning stuff while getting drunk
And we hope you’ll do it all again next month
You’ll get a drink or two
We’ll talk nerdy to you
About when one plus one is more than two (synergy! Buzzwords!)
Doors/bar/food are at 7. We’re pleased to feature Chickpea Chick and Shades of Sugar. Ann-Marie Benz’s Detention (our social program before the talks) starts then too. This month: Games of Chance.
As always: Rick, Rebecca, DJ Citizen Zain, and the Oakland Public Library will ensure the good are odd.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 7/25/2016 Doors (+food,drink,"Detention" preshow) at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) Advance tickets are $8. Any left for the door will be $10. Your CC statement will denote these come from Drinkified Learning, LLC. We will allow an extremely limited number of people to enter after we can estimate no shows for $10 (cash or card). tix
Probability, Outside the Textbook by David Aldous
Can probability contribute to “science fiction” style issues like the Fermi paradox?
Were there improbably many candidates for the Republican Presidential Nomination in 2012 and 2016? How can I give an exam which can be graded objectively, even though no-one will ever know the correct answer to any of the questions? How many topics like this, from my UC Berkeley course, can I cover in 20 minutes?
David Aldous likes the description “aging gentleman scholar” rather than “math nerd”. Aside from research, teaching and advising the 400 UCB Statistic majors, he reads The Economist and science fiction, putters around the garden, and plays killer volleyball with people half his age.
Songs About Science: Emergence and Getting By With a Little Help From Your Friends by The Ten Thousand Ways [Trisha Stan and Greg Bentsen]
We’re glad you’re here and learning stuff while getting drunk
And we hope you’ll do it all again next month
You’ll get a drink or two
We’ll talk nerdy to you
About when one plus one is more than two (synergy! Buzzwords!)
Then we’ll sing a song
It’ll be about science
We’ll take a Beiber hit
And we’ll science that shit
It might get weird (real weird)
We hope that you’ll join us
Don’t disappoint us
Bring your friends (or your tinder date)
It’s July 25 yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
The Ten Thousand Ways writes original folk/americana songs and performs creative covers. Ridiculous music in the style of pop songs based on recent papers? Miley Cyrus + reproducibility? Yes!
Trisha and Greg are also two of the co-hosts of the podcast Gogggles Optional and are both passionate about science and science communication.
The United States Government is a Shitty Parent:A Brief Amateur History of the Juvenile Justice System by Cat Willett
How did a program meant to keep American children from an Oliver-Twist-like existence evolve into the juvenile justice system we know today? Have teenagers ALWAYS existed?Are superpredators real? Can a court raise a kid? Come learn how a program meant to protect youth spawned the foster care system, juvenile jails, and the concept of adolescence from a professional do-gooder with absolutely no background in law.
Cat Willett is definitely not a lawyer. She is, however, a nerd for all things youth justice and works in the Richmond community, offering restorative practice and mental health first aid trainings. In her spare time, she spends more time in public libraries than may actually be reasonable, and is perfecting her breakfast taco recipe. It has been recommended, on more than one occasion, that she talk less about prisons in her OK Cupid profile.
With thanks to:
Nerd Nite East Bay #43: Grunt, Food Lab, Useless Machines [SOLD OUT]
Poster designed by Jeanette Yu.
Your East Bay lecture-in-a-bar series powers into the summer! Mary Roach will discuss her new book, Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War. Then, J. Kenji López-Alt will share some myths about cooking steak and his James Beard-winning book The Food Lab. Finally, self-proclaimed queen-of-shitty-robots Simone Giertz will share the why behind her art.
As usual, doors/bar/food (GCG) are at 7. As is Ann-Marie Benz’s Detention (our social program before the talks). This month, we’ll build some shitty robots!
We’ll also have Alameda’s Books Inc. out with copies of both Mary and Kenji’s books. Please support this great local independent bookseller and enjoy the two amazing works.
Finally: Rick, Rebecca, DJ Ion the Prize, and the Oakland Public Library will eat nachos with our pants off.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 6/27/2016 Doors (+food,drink,"Detention" preshow) at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) Advance tickets were $8. They sold out this month. Your CC statement will denote these come from Drinkified Learning, LLC. We will allow an extremely limited number of people to enter after we can estimate no shows for $10 (cash or card). fb
Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War by Mary Roach
How can science keep human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war? Find out in Grunt. From how the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team studies hearing loss and survivability in combat to the fashion design studio (neither zippers nor velcro make great fasteners for a sniper), Mary Roach takes a light-hearted look at very serious business.
Mary Roach is the New York Times best-selling author of five works of nonfiction including Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. She lives in Oakland.
Steak Myths from The Food Lab by J. Kenji López-Alt
Just in time for summer grilling, Kenji will teach us how to cook proper steaks. He’ll explore some common misinformation surrounding the process and subject some popular cooking superstitions to experimentation. When should you sear your steak? When should you salt it? Does the starting temperature matter? How about the specific cut or how many times you flip the steak? How can you tell when it is finally done? Do you really have to let it rest before tearing into it. These carnivorous conundrums will be answered.
J. Kenji López-Alt is an alum of MIT and America’s Test Kitchen. He is currently the managing culinary director of Serious Eats. His book The Food Lab explores better cooking through science and, weighs more than two average tri-tips put together, and won a James Beard Award.
The Importance of Building Useless Things by Simone Giertz
Have you ever tried teaching yourself something but lost the motivation early on? If you’re not a super human, you most probably have. This presentation is about how non-superhuman Simone Giertz, taught herself hardware hacking by building fun, but virtually useless, things.
Simone Giertz is an inventor who’s been given the dubious title “Queen of Shitty Robots” by the internet. She runs a Youtube channel about robotics and DIY electronics and her videos have been seen over 100 million times.
Nerd Nite East Bay #42: A-Bombs, Bugs Bunny, Cholera
Poster designed by Rebecca Cohen.
Spend your Memorial Day with Nerd Nite East Bay. Alumnerd Vincent Tanguay will explain how nuclear weapons work, our own Rebeca Cohen will talk about the history of Bugs Bunny, and former Doctors Without Borders volunteer Patrick Maguire will talk about how it isn’t just MDs who fight epidemics; a bit of engineering helps too.
As usual, doors/bar/food (Lumpia Co.) are at 7. As is Ann-Marie Benz’s Detention (our social program before the talks). We will study the complexities of paper airplanes. Make airplanes out of our pre-printed paper, our blank paper, or bring you own airplane. We’ll spend time making the planes, then see which type goes the farthest.
Rick, guest DJ Rubberband Girl, and the Oakland Public Library will get that wascally wabbit.
Be there and be square.
This event is 21+.
Monday 5/30/2016 Doors (+food,drink,"Detention" preshow) at 7 pm, talks start at 8 pm and end by 10:30 pm Club 21, 2111 Franklin St, Oakland (two blocks from the 19th St BART) Advance tickets are $8 (or less if you take advantage of our Early Nerd discounts) and are available until 3PM the day of the show or until they sell out. Your CC statement will denote these come from Drinkified Learning, LLC. Any door tickets will be $10 (cash or card). tickets fb
Atomic Bombs for Dummies by Vincent Tanguay
This past January, North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear weapon test and claimed it detonated a hydrogen bomb. This controversial claim has sparked debate over the nature of the test: was it a fission bomb, a fusion bomb or maybe something in between? Let’s explore the difference between these different devices, how they work and how they are made. We’ll discuss some of the scientific breakthroughs that led to the bomb from the late 19th century to the Manhattan project. Unfortunately, because of the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, there will be no live demos.
Vincent Tanguay, Ph.D. (has been known as “Dr. Explosion”) has a background in explosives and detonations. In his former life, he worked as a scientist in a Canadian National Lab.
Devil May Hare (The Evolution of Bugs Bunny) by Rebecca Cohen
Who is Bugs Bunny, really? Cartoon character, cultural icon, skilled drag performer, intergalactic basketball star… Bugs has played many roles in his 75-year history (76 in July). This talk will examine Bugs’ early history, specifically how the character came into existence and how he evolved from almost unrecognizable origins to become The Rabbit we all know and love. Along the way, we’ll get a healthy dose of close textual analysis surrounding the Bugs-Elmer dynamic, because Rebecca didn’t get that master’s degree in Film Studies for nothing, folks.
You probably already know Rebecca as co-boss of Nerd-Nite East Bay. She also writes and draws webcomics and is kind of a little bit internet famous for that. She definitely made that thing about feminism and/or cats you saw on your Facebook feed. Check out her Twitter (@gynostar) for links to all the comics stuff. With a BA in English from Cal, an MA in Film Studies from NYU, an MST in elementary education from you don’t care where, and a bartending certificate, Rebecca’s hobby is collecting useless pieces of paper. Her day job is the pursuit of educational equity through the Oakland-based nonprofit Aspire Education Project (donations pls?). While she has introduced and watched many Nerd Nite presentations, this will be the first Nerd Nite talk Rebecca’s ever delivered herself.
Fighting Cholera with Engineering by Patrick Maguire
Cholera outbreaks kill tens of thousands of people every year, and infect millions more. Providing medical treatment for cholera patients, while crucial, is only one part of effectively combating outbreaks. Just as important are effective logistics, construction, and sanitation – moving tons of medical supplies around the world at the first hint of an outbreak, hiring and training hundreds of staff, and quickly building sanitary treatment centers from scratch that don’t result in more infections than cures. Come learn how plastic sheeting, 2x4s, and hydrogen chloride save lives, and why Doctors Without Borders needs engineers as well.
Patrick Maguire is one of those extremely rare individuals – a software engineer in the bay area. Prior to selling his soul, he got a degree in civil engineering, taught science as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania, and worked with Doctors Without Borders and a technical and construction logistician, first in South Sudan and then Haiti. He looks forward to the day when people will stop assuming that as he worked for Doctors Without Borders he must be a doctor.