Nerd Nite DC (Early Event) June 11, 2011

Nerd Nite is an informal gathering at which nerds get together for nerdery of all sorts (well, mostly presentations and drinking). Nerds and non-nerds alike gather to meet, drink and learn something new. Each evening, three nerds will give short, fun presentations where they can nerd out about sperm transfer, string theory, Aztec mythology, or some similarly nerdilicious topic. While they talk, you drink, thereby increasing their wittiness, and your IQ.

Born in Boston and fostered in New York, Nerd Nite has spread to Austin, TX and Munich, Germany, and now Washington DC too!

Nerd Nite: Its like The Discovery Channel--with beer.

Croaking Frogs By Brian Gratwicke

Frogs are kicking the bucket all over the world. Around 40% are in danger of extinction and it’s mostly your fault. Your mom’s pregnancy test, greedy Belgians, and your insatiable appetite for hamburgers are just a few reasons why they are dying out. Come on a whirlwind tour of the world’s vanishing amphibians and find out how we are fighting amphibian extinctions.

Bio: Brian works at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute where he leads the amphibian conservation program. Last time he came into the country the immigration officer summed up his history quite nicely, he said "Let me get this straight... you were born in Zimbabwe, you are British, live in the USA and work in Panama?"

Don't Fear the Reaper: What should medicine do when it can't save your life? By Kristin May
Description: 25% of Medicare funding is spent on 5% of patients. Who are these people and why are we spending so much on them? This talk will cover what terminally ill patients want and need in their last days and how the health care system is failing to provide it. But a solution may lie in a likely source: hospice.

Bio: Kristen got her start in nursing when she was 9 years old, running a home for crippled and dismembered Barbie dolls. Since then she has learned that duct-tape is not a cure-all and has become a registered nurse specializing in cardiac intensive care. She has been caring for broken hearts for 6 years now.

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About DC's Most Famous Residents By Paula Brantner
Not the Obamas...the giant pandas Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, and their offspring Tai Shan, now in China. Everyone loves pandas and thinks they're the cutest things ever, but did you know just how maladapted a species they are? Learn all about the pandas' sorry sex lives, embattled digestive systems, and struggle to avoid extinction in the 21st Century, and you'll soon be plotting your own trip to China to cuddle a panda and visit Tai Shan.

Bio: Paula Brantner has been a Midwestern farm girl since birth, an employment lawyer for nearly two decades, a blogger since 2003, and a panda fan for only six years -- yet it's those pandas that have really taken her around the world.

Official Website: http://www.dcnine.com/event/nerd-nite-dc-early-event/