Nerd Nite Pittsburgh

Post Gazette Article for our opener

Local Pittsburgh paper on page 28 

Nerd Nite went back to Spirit January 23rd with our first of many themed nights! All three speakers for this one were from the Carnegie Museum of Natural History.  Event went great for our 5th sold out show!  Speakers were.  Soon (or now!) you can see these talks and others on our youtube channel.

1) Matt Lamanna is the dinosaur paleontologist at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He’s been fascinated by dinosaurs since he was four, and not much has changed, mentally speaking. Presenting: Stupid Shit in Jurassic Park

2) Dr. Chase Mendenhall is an ecologist and evolutionary biologist with degrees from the University of Wyoming and Stanford University. Mendenhall’s research emphasizes the role cooperation plays in the natural world to create cells, build bodies, and determine behaviors that challenge traditional narratives of what it means to be an individual, a male, a female, or part of a family or group. Using novel mathematical frameworks, Mendenhall incorporates altruism and cooperation into existing theories of natural selection. His research uses cooperative behavior birds evolve to successfully raise offspring to empirically test hypotheses. Presenting: Sex Ed

3) Jen Sheridan, PhD, is a tropical community ecologist and curator of amphibians & reptiles at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Sheridan’s superpowers are being able to identify a Simpsons episode applicable to any situation in life, and almost never getting bitten by mosquitoes (which is very handy in her field work). While trekking for hours over rough terrain in Borneo to count frogs, she often asks herself what business a kid from Detroit has being out there… Presenting: Frogs: who are they, and what are they doing here?

Next Nerd Nite will be November 15th!  This one will be a collaboration with the Carnegie Science center.  Once a month they do 21+ nights to have access to everything without having to fight with children to see the exhibits.  Their next one is November 15th and we’ll be doing a Nerd Nite series right in the middle!

You can RSVP on their Facebook page and click here to see everything they’ll be doing and get your tickets!

Three important notes:

1. We are not selling separate tickets.  It’s part of the 21+ night ticket.  This also means coming to 21+ night doesn’t mean you have a reserved seat for our show since the auditorium will not fit everyone.  When you get to the science center be sure to check in with them about when doors will be opening.
2. Because of the change in venue, rather than getting new speakers we will be using three we have had before.  One will be giving a new talk, but if you came to our July 25th event you have already seen two of these.  However, if you didn’t we called back some crowd favorites so it will be a great show!
3. We will still be doing a networking ice breaker afterwards!  It will be trivia based on the talks and there will be prizes!  However, it will not be in the same auditorium like it is at Spirit.  We’ll announce what room to go to next at the end of the show if you’d like to play!

So without further ado, the three talks that will be happening are:

• BS in SPACE: An Astronomical Adventure Through Cosmic Misinformation: Ralph Crewe, Program Development Coordinator and host of SNaQ (Science News and Questions) podcast
• Chinese Marriage Markets: A Guide on How to find your Adult and Woefully Single Child a Spouse: Nicolette W.M. Wong, Pitt Anthropology PhD Student and Oxford trained Sociologist
• Computer Vision, Artificial Neural Networks, and How the Brain can Inspire A.I.: Rorry Brenner, Robotics Research Scientist and Nerd Nite coordinator

Nerd Nite Pittsburgh is a lecture series that’s a mix between a TED talk, a happy hour, and freshman orientation.  Speakers present for 15 minutes on a variety of topics related to science and technology, popular culture, history, and other nerdery with a vibe that’s as entertaining as it is academic!  Audience members can ask questions and it’s followed up by an entirely optional orientation-style networking game.  If you like alcohol, learning about random and interesting things, and meeting other nerds this is for you!  Doors open at 6:30, show starts at 7:00.  If you have a topic you are passionate about and you’d like to be a speaker at a later event get in touch at ! Get your tickets for September 5th!

Speakers for September will be:

Shyaporn Theerakulstit is an actor, writer, YouTuber, cosplayer and general “nerd about town.” He has given talks on Godzilla biology and how to become Batman at Nerd Nite, TEDx and the Smithsonian Institution. He has written and produced for Dark Horse Comics and is also the host of the science lecture series “Real/Fake Science.” His YouTube channel has over 5 million views (youtube.com/Shyaporn). Presenting:  “Star Trek vs Star Wars: Modern Perspectives on Past Future and Future Future Technologies,”

Dr. Karl Smith is a Biophysics PhD, a former Amazon software developer, and now a science storyteller. He tours schools and museums as Doctor Sparks with a show of his inventions and stories. He is the former Storyteller-in-Residence at the Carnegie Science Center and the MOXI (The Santa Barbara Children’s Museum) and his storytelling has been profiled in USAToday, Scientific American, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Presenting: “This Muffin Hat Teaches Science – how a Biophysics PhD came to earn his living telling kids stories.”

Kate Lukaszewicz is a home-grown yinzer whose fascination with the US presidency started when she mock-voted for Michael Dukakis in elementary school. It turned out to be a slippery slope and within four years she was threatening to move to Canada if the 1992 election didn’t break her way. Slippier still, she ended up with a BA in Political Science and an MA in Government but 2016 taught her that she doesn’t really know anything at all. For her talk, she’ll be breaking some tough news to you: “The Framers of the Constitution Didn’t Trust (Most of) Us: The Electoral College.”

Also as you may know, we are a volunteer run organization and could use some extra hands!  If you’re free to come early at 5:30-6:30 or stay late from 10:00-10:30 to help setup tables use discount codes COMEEARLY or STAYLATE for a couple bucks off!

If you haven’t been here before, check what this is about with videos from our first event at https://www.magecreate.com/nerdnitepgh.

This event is 21+ and requires ID

Locked down details for number 3 in July!  Speakers will be:

Lizzee Solomon – Lizzee is a visual artist and designer based in Pittsburgh, PA. New York City born, Chicago suburbs raised, Carnegie Mellon School of Art trained. She’s also housebroken, is learning how to dance Salsa and speaks Spanish – Presenting: ‘Cuba for Dummies’

Ralph Crewe – Ralph is a professional science nerd, working as program development coordinator for the Buhl Planetarium and Observatory at Carnegie Science Center. He coordinates astronomical programming like SkyWatch, hosts the Café Scientifique science lecture series, created and hosts the SNaQ podcast, and is generally geeked to talk science with anybody he can. In his spare time, he plays music (bass and piano), rides his bicycle, and competes in birdwatching competitions-Presenting: ‘BS in SPACE! An Astronomical Adventure Through Cosmic Misinformation’

And me! Your MC Rorry Brenner – When I’m not hosting Nerd Nites or climbing rocks, I work as a Robotics Research Scientist. Computer Science undergrad at CMU and couldn’t figure out why robots were so blind so went off to USC to get a PhD in neuroscience – Presenting: ‘Comptuer Vision, Artificial Neural Networks, and How the Brain can Inspire A.I.’

If you haven’t been here before, check what this is about with videos from our first event at https://www.magecreate.com/nerdnitepgh.

We’re also testing the waters with a new segment: Nerd Nite Orientation.

Get your tickets on Eventbrite or Facebook!

Pittsburgh’s first Nerd Nite was a blast! Thank you to everyone who came out!   Our speakers were: