Nerd Nite is pleased to announced that February’s event will be held in conjunction with The Research Bazaar. Hosted at the University of Melbourne, we will once again bring you three awesome speakers while we congregate with other Nerds in outdoor tents.
Find us at the plaza lawn outside the Alice Hoy and Sidney Myer Asia Centre, at University of Melbourne. Doors 7:30pm, no cover.
Back to the lectures at hand:
*Presentation 1
Bionic Vision
by Isabell Kiral-Kornek
Description: Can I have night vision? See what’s behind me? Get a laser eye? The University of Melbourne is building one of the world’s first bionic eyes.
Bio: Isabell is working in a team of about 200 researchers across Australia to bring vision back to blind people. She will talk about how the bionic eye works, who it will help, and what Australia’s first patients were able to see. Come along to have your questions answered.
*Presentation 2
Cephalopods! The Impossibly Awesome Invertebrates
by Aerie Shore
Description: An abundance of recent scientific research has cast illumination on the remarkable intelligence, curiosity, and physical adaptations of the noble cephalopod. Join Aerie for a comprehensive tour of the biological, anatomical, and behavioral magnificence of these fascinating creatures. Camouflage techniques, bizarre mating habits, and physiological mechanisms influencing modern robotics will be enthusiastically explored. Well-deserved emphasis is placed upon the octopus.
Bio: Aerie Shore studied marine and animal biology at Santa Barbara City College in the United States. She recently participated in the Faculty of Science Northern Hemisphere International Scholarship at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, which ultimately led her to Australia in the name of scientific inquest. In addition to academic pursuits, she is an avid cephalopod enthusiast and spends an alarming amount of time researching these majestic creatures recreationally.
*Presentation 3
A salty tail of sails, sharks and an elusive spiny pacific crayfish.
by Tane Hunter
Description: This talk will center around a day in Tane’s life sailing across the South Pacific from Ecuador to New Zealand. The discussion will touch on various aspects of oceanography such as the formation of coral atolls, aggressive shark behavior and nocturnal crustacean.
Bio: Tane Hunter is a Co-founder of Future Crunch, an organization that promotes entertaining science communication about radical technology and scientific discoveries that are transforming the world around us. Also a bioinformatician, he currently works at the Royal Children’s Hospital clinically diagnosing genetic disorders. His past research has been in biomarkers for ovarian cancer at the Peter MaCallum Cancer Centre and The University of Melbourne. He is an avid sailor, former sommelier, ex-national US mountain bike champion, and enjoys gallivanting around in nature.