In our last event for 2017, speakers talk about gut bacteria, growth of the social economy and creative artificial intelligence. Watch this space for detailed speaker bios and talk summaries.
Our friends at Mr Wow’s Emporium will be hosting us with cold beers while we learn.
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
at Mr Wow’s Emporium
97b Smith Street, Fitzroy
Doors 7pm/$5
*Presentation 1
A microbial world within us: Are these bacteria our friend or foe?
by Dr Shakuntla Gondalia
Description: Our bodies are home of trillions of microorganisms, that play a critical role in our digestion, synthesis of vitamins and immune functions. Immediately after birth we colonised by different bacteria, this colonisation is hugely affected by the way of exposer and keep on changing throughout the life. This talk will include what these microbes are and their role of gut microbiome in health and disease conditions with evidence, What happen if the symbiotic relation with is microbiome is disturbed, What factors can affect this relation and how it can be restore? It will leave you with many questions to yourself that can be answered by your own experiments.
Bio: Dr Shakuntla Gondalia is researcher at Centre for Human Psychopharmacology at Swinburne University, Melbourne. Her research interest is in exploring the field of gut microbiota for human health particularly psychological. She is engaged in animal and human clinical trials to establish the role of gut microbiome in certain health conditions.
*Presentation 2
Profit or purpose: coffee, social enterprise and the future of the private sector
by Whitney Stacey and Matt Teluk
Description: We find ourselves at a time in which societies are increasingly rejecting established political and economic norms. In this turbulent post-Trump, post-Brexit era, what role does business now have to play? Whitney Stacey and Matt Teluk, Co-Directors of Monochrome Coffee Co., lead us on an exciting journey into the future, where ‘profit’ and ‘purpose’ go hand-in-hand. Our voyage will see us investigating big issues such as: What is ‘social enterprise’ and why on earth do we not have a legal definition? How do we foster a thriving social enterprise ecosystem? What is the ‘B Corp’ movement, and who are these crazy people using business as a force for good? And, most importantly, What can you do? This presentation promises to be fun, enlightening and sprinkled with coffee geekiness! Whitney and Matt will also share about the journey that led to them running one of the nation’s first social enterprise coffee companies.
Bio: Whitney Stacey and Matt Teluk are Co-Directors of Monochrome Coffee Co.Monochrome Coffee Co. is a social enterprise coffee company, bringing ethically-sourced organic single origin Tanzanian coffee beans to Aussie coffee-lovers. All of their profit goes towards supporting education in East Africa through Monochrome International (a not-for-profit that Whitney and Matt also run). Monochrome Coffee Co.’s vision is that young people around the world are empowered and enabled to lead bold social and economic movements that transform the communities around them. Whitney and Matt are committed that the role of business is redefined such that success is measured by positive contribution to society, and that the world comes to expect no less than the highest commitment by business to doing good.
*Presentation 3
How can we make Melbourne cooler?
by Stephanie Jacobs
Description: Heatwaves are the deadliest natural disaster in Australia causing more deaths than earthquakes, tropical cyclones, floods and bushfires combined. The health risks from heatwaves are also higher in cities because they are hotter than rural areas. This raises the question, how can we keep cities cool during heatwaves? By using a weather model we can alter the city of Melbourne to try and reduce the temperature. This includes simulations where all the roofs in Melbourne have been painted white and when gardens have been planted all over the city. This talk discusses the advantages and disadvantages of some different strategies and how likely they are to affect human health and save lives during such deadly events.
Bio: Stephanie Jacobs is a climate science PhD student at Monash University. She has been researching the impacts of weather and climate on human health for seven years while studying at the University of Melbourne and Monash University. Her research interests include urban adaptation, heatwaves, air pollution and thunderstorm asthma. Stephanie also works part-time as a Climatologist for the Bureau of Meteorology writing website information on all things El Niño and La Niña.