ScienceTeller 2013 and Genetics Week 2013
Block out some time in your diaries, ScienceTeller and Genetics Week are coming to town.
ScienceTeller 2013
Over October 25th – 27th Dunedin’s Regent Theatre* and the Otago Museum will host the second ScienceTeller Festival.
The programme includes films, talks, workshops, dinner and, of course, a pub session (Literature and Lager).
Presenters are both local and international.
International presenters include Hazel Marshall, story consultant for the BBC Academy, Canadian rap artist Baba Brinkman, Naomi Oreskes, Professor at the Department of History of Science at Harvard University, Robyn Williiams from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Robin Moore and his excellent photography among others.
Local contributions include films by students of the University of Otago’s Centre for Science Communication, presentations by those working on creative non-fiction writing and others.
Registration details are online: $150, students and University of Otago alumni $115.
More on ScienceTeller can be found on their Facebook page; they can also be followed on twitter.
The event is supported by the University of Otago, Otago Museum, renown film makers Natural History New Zealand along with sponsors the Stuart Residence Halls Council, Molecular Ecology and Evolution centre the Allan Wilson Centre, Cyclone Computers and popular science magazine, Cosmos.
Genetics Week 2013
Events for Genetics Otago’s Genetics Week are being held in Auckland (Monday 23rd September), Wanaka (Friday 27th September) and Dunedin (September 26th – 29th).
All events are free to attend and have complimentary pre-event drinks and nibbles.
Aside from talks there is DNA Day at the Otago Museum and a workshop for (senior) science teachers (two half-days).
DNA Day includes DIY DNA extraction, Build Your Own Helix and Find the Glitch in the Genome competitions for kids. You can also contribute your DNA to the National Geographic Genographic Project.
For talks there are:
Auckland, Monday 23rd:
Jessica Wapner, author of The Philadelphia Chromosome; The Quest to Cure Cancer at a Genetic Level
Professor Martin Kennedy Understanding the Genome to Improve Medicine
Wanaka, Friday 27th:
Jessica Wapner, author of The Philadelphia Chromosome; The Quest to Cure Cancer at a Genetic Level
Dunedin, Tuesday 24rd:
Jessica Wapner, author of The Philadelphia Chromosome; The Quest to Cure Cancer at a Genetic Level
Professor Ian Morison, Beyond the human genome: cutting-edge developments in leukaemia treatment
Dunedin, Wednesday 25rd:
Professor Julian Savulescu: Dealing Ethically with Genes for Criminality
Associate Professor Colin Gavaghan, Not guilty by reason of genetics: New Zealand law and genetic defenses
Dunedin, Thursday 26rd:
Associate Professor Peter Dearden Living Longer Through Cake
Professor Jon Waters: Ancient DNA Reveals Prehistoric New Zealand
Dr Bruce Robertson, When rediscovery is not enough: the New Zealand storm-petrel
Stefanie Grosser, PhD candidate, Population structure of prehistoric and contemporary little blue penguins: A trans-Tasman fairy (penguin) tale
Dunedin, Friday 27th (shorter talks featuring University of Otago researchers):
Associate Professor Peter Dearden: How honey bees can improve our health and save the world
Professor Parry Guilford: Cancer: the problem and the promise
Professor Lisa Matisoo-Smith: Africa to Aotearoa – understanding the genetic history of New Zealand
Professor Jon Waters: Discovering Prehistoric New Zealand
Dr Christine Jasoni: Mum’s the word: How a mother’s body weight during pregnancy can elevate her baby’s later life risk of metabolic disease
Dr Julia Horsfield: Fishing for a cure: how zebrafish can help understand human disease
Dr Mik Black: Big data: genomic number crunching
Times and locations of the events are on the Genetics Week page, as well as email addresses to reserve your place.
Footnotes
* For those not familiar with Dunedin, the Regent Theatre is one of the grand old dames of theatres in New Zealand. You can see a photo of it in my post about the science of titles of book spines, book rotation and the annual 24-hour book sale that is held there, Book sales, frumpy readers, and mental rotation of book titles.
Other articles on Code for life:
Book sales, frumpy readers, and mental rotation of book titles
3 Responses to “ScienceTeller 2013 and Genetics Week 2013”
Genetics Otago has indicated (via their newsletter) that “Wednesday’s Genes for Criminality lecture is nearly sold out”.
According to the schedule the other two events asking for RSVPs are the Auckland events on the Monday and the Teacher’s workshop in Dunedin. If you are interested in these events you might want to get your RSVPs to them sooner rather than later.
Further from Genetics Otago just before I head out the door to tonight’s talks:
Dr Julia Horsfield will be on Seven Sharp tonight, so if you’re not coming to listen to her in person at the Seven Faces lecture, then make sure you tune in to watch her at 7pm!
[or at 8pm on channel 6, the one-hour delayed TV1+1]
You can watch Prof Martin Kennedy’s Tuesday interview here: http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/s2013-ep-tuesday-video-5590376
Assoc Prof Colin Cavaghan’s Wednesday interview here: http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/s2013-ep-wednesday-video-5591066
and Lisa Matisoo-Smith will also be appearing but we’re not sure as to dates yet.
Julia Horsfield talks about her zebrafish in this segment for Seven Sharp:
http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/harvesting-fish-genes-health-benefits-video-5592291
Not that you need any help, but she’s the one wearing the Genetics Otago t-shirt.