“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.