Nerd Nite Miami is a monthly event during which several folks give fun-yet-informative presentations while the audience drinks along. It’s like the Discovery Channel… with beer! The drinking is just as important as the learning.
December 15, 2022
Presentations 7:30-9:00pm.
Gramps Bar: 176 NW 24th St, Miami, FL 33127
Be there AND be square!
Join us for Nerd Nite Miami’s Best of 2022 event, featuring Ron Magill!! TJ Morell! Jason Katz!
NB: This will be our last Nerd Nite Miami before a brief pause. We will post future events here, via email, and on social media. Stay in touch!
We’ll miss you all. Thank you to Gramps for hosting us and to all of you for sharing your nerdiness with us for over 8 years!
“Black Helicopters over the Everglades: Celebrating 50 Years of UNESCO’s World Heritage Program”
by Gary Bremen
You love to learn (yay!). You love to vacation (yay!). Money is tight (boo!). What’s a nerd to do?
Veteran Nerd Nite presenter Gary Bremen has a fool-proof plan to see the world’s very best sites so you can maximize learning and fun on your next vacation. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Convention, which protects this planets most iconic and amazing places…including 24 in the US, and one you can visit this weekend. Learn how to begin a quest that will make you the envy of everyone at your next cocktail party (and everyone on your Insta feed, too!). Gary Bremen has visited 269 of this country’s 423 National Parks, and 72 of 1154 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In his forthcoming retirement, he plans to work hard at upping those numbers BIG TIME!
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“Pepper Hotness”
by Laura Chaibongsai & Rebecca Peterson
How well do you know your peppers? Join the other two nerd nite bosses as we explore a class nerd nite topic – the scoville scale.
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“Living in Miami sucks (a coral’s perspective)”
by Michael Studivan
PortMiami is a highly-dynamic environment, experiencing tidal cycles, riverine inputs, and coastal construction on a daily basis (aka, a terrible place to live if you’re a coral, and a terrible place to dive if you’re a human). In the past decade, there have been several key events impacting Miami’s coral reefs including the port dredging and the appearance of the most deadly coral disease epidemic described to date, named stony coral tissue loss disease. Yet remarkably, many corals within the port appear to be thriving, and researchers at the University of Miami and NOAA are actively conducting research to find out why. Come see why this masochist chooses to dive in dirty garbage water of PortMiami over the crystal clear Biscayne National Park, and learn about the ‘urban corals’ in Miami.
Join us in celebrating 8 years of nerding out together in Miami!!
Presentations begin at 7:30pm sharp at Gramps Bar, Wynwood
Line up:
“Cryoablation: Putting the Freeze on Breast Cancer”
Breast cancer cryoablation is an outpatient minimally invasive nonsurgical alternative to treating breast cancer using ultrafreezing temperatures to kill tumor cells using a needle inserted through a tiny 3mm skin incision in the breast. We will discuss this innovative technology with how it works, real life examples, its current status and indications, and ongoing research.
Bio: Dr. Michael J. Plaza is a breast radiologist and breast interventional oncologist. He graduated from Wake Forest University School of Medicine followed by residency training in diagnostic radiology at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. He is fellowship trained in breast imaging and intervention which was completed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in 2013. He is a pioneer in breast cryoablation and performed the first breast cancer cryoablation in South Florida in 2017. He is a private practice radiologist for Diagnostic Center for Women and Alfa Diagnostics and holds academic appointments with FIU and LECOM training medical students and resident physicians. He is a fellow of the Society of Breast Imaging and has worked on multiple national multicenter clinical trials including FROST, ECOG-ACRIN 1141, and the WISDOM study.
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“Salsa: A dance, a language, a passion”
by Ana Zangroniz
(presenting remotely)
Salsa dancing has been a major pillar in Ana’s life for more than 20 years. Join us as she takes you on an abbreviated tour of her journey as well as learn about the life lessons she has taken away from her relationship with the dance.
Ana began salsa dancing in 2001 while attending Rochester Institute of Technology. Ana travels the world to dance but her favorite places to dance and teach are NY and DC. While in DC, Ana danced and performed with the Clave Kazi training team and taught classes in with Hector Chavez’ company, Latin Dance Vibe.
To support her beloved dog, Pilon (not Bustelo) and her travel/dancing addiction, Ana serves as the Florida Sea Grant Extension Agent for the University of Florida/IFAS Extension Service in Miami-Dade County. She can also be found scuba diving in the waters of Biscayne National Park.
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“How To Sell Drugs: An inside look at the weird world of pharmaceutical naming”
by Alexa Lash
Have you ever wondered who creates those crazy drug names you see on the market? Ever try to understand why are there so many strange letter combinations? What is UP with all those X’s and Z’s? A branding expert will give you a new creative pill to swallow: how pharmaceutical brand names are created.
Alexa Lash is Senior Vice President, Creative Nomenclature and former head of the creative department at Brand Institute, a naming agency based out of Miami, Florida – a job she balances with her career as a musician. She has worked in pharmaceutical naming for over nine years, and in that time, has worked on thousands of brand naming projects, with some notable names you may have seen in commercials (but hopefully never had to take!).
Nerd Nite Miami
Presentations begin at 7:30pm sharp at Gramps Bar, Wynwood
“Opera: What it takes, how it started, and how it’s going”
by Amanda Crider
Mezzo-soprano Amanda Crider has performed leading roles with Los Angeles Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Florida Grand Opera, and Glimmerglass Opera, among others. She has been a soloist with organizations such as Calgary Philharmonic, Apollo’s Fire, International Contemporary Ensemble, New World Symphony and is a core member of the GRAMMY® nominated ensemble Seraphic Fire. Amanda is also the Artistic Director of the Miami based concert series, IlluminArts.
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“If You Build It They Will Come”
by Gaby Fernandez
Gaby Fernandez, founder of the “Front Yard Theater Collective,” shares the story of how she and her posse created an innovative alternative to traditional theater.
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“The Other Blue Jay”
by Elizabeth Lago
Elizabeth A. Lago is a Biological Science Technician working on Cape Canaveral Space Force Station working with Florida Scrub-jays, sea turtles, gopher tortoises, and southeastern beach mice. She has worked on land and sea with protected species for more than 10 years. She will be presenting “The Other Blue Jay” to discuss the history and current status of the Florida Scrub-jay. Audiences will get to learn about the scrub-jay’s cooperative strategy and decide whether they have millennial or Hispanic tendencies.
