We hope everyone enjoyed the Best Summer EverSarcastic TM. Us Nerd Bosses have been desperate to host an in-person event but it seems like our favourite pandemic mostly has other plans. We’ve decided to squeeze in a modified Nerd Nite while we can still meet outdoors.
So, welcome to Nerd Nite Short Cuts, an event named after the 1993 Robert Altman Film. Like the film, this event will have short stories. Unlike the film, it will be accessible and child-friendly.
So, please meet us at Root 107 on September 23 at 6:30 pm.
Root 107, located at 107 St, between Jasper Ave and 101 Ave, is an inclusive public space that brings together food, drinks and free entertainment all in one spot. It’s a family- and dog-friendly space. Seating is limited, especially with social distancing, so you might want to bring your own chair. You can eat dinner before if you want, but the Calle Mexico food truck will be there for Taco Thursdays.
There is no cost to attend Nerd Nite Short Cuts! If you wish to make a donation, we suggest you give to our friends at Fringe Theatre. Our partnership with Fringe Theatre is awesome and we will be grateful if you make a gift in our honour. Your gift to Fringe will celebrate theatre, build community, and help the Fringe continue to support artists. Plus, you’ll receive a charitable tax receipt for your donation! Find out more here and if you do make a gift, please type “Nerd Nite” into the “Name of Honouree” box.
Nerd Nite Short Cuts will feature …
Nerd Bosses
Nerd Nite Alumni
Nerds
and more nerds!
RSVP on Facebook and/or put this event in your calendar. We cannot wait to see your faces!*
*Naturally, this event is subject to government guidelines as well as Nerd Boss judgement and we might cancel at the last minute if we don’t feel safe. All of your Nerd Bosses are double-vaxxed and will be wearing masks, and we encourage you to do the same.
Your Nerd Bosses are all fully immunized and ready for hot nerd summer. We’ll be taking July and August off and planning our next event for late September. We’re looking forward to seeing you then … maybe even in person.
When we think about how we record human history, we often think of rows and rows of dusty boxes and filing cabinets, sitting in a dark warehouse or basement – but what we consider academic forms of documentation have an often overlooked but integral counterpart: Oral Histories. Capturing personal stories can offer invaluable insight into the inner thoughts, feelings and connections built around events, places and people. In addition to our traditional archives, our Oral History project has captured more than 300 such stories since 2005 and continues to be a valued resource to our operations.
Helen is a graduate of the University of Alberta (History & Classics) and has been the division archives coordinator and chief archivist for Edmonton Catholic Schools since 2007. She has a passion for stories, history, historiography and fostering human connection. In her free time, Helen is a sci-fi and film enthusiast and an avid home cook & baker.
Waste not, want not: valourizing mineral wastes from mines as a resource for critical metal recovery and carbon sequestration
By Sasha Wilson
The finely pulverized mineral wastes (tailings) from some mines naturally react with carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, trapping and storing this greenhouse gas in newly formed minerals. The reactions that trap carbon dioxide in mine tailings can also be used to concentrate and recover critical metals, such as nickel and cobalt, that are needed for green energy production and storage. This talk will highlight laboratory, synchrotron and field experiments that show how rethinking mine tailings as a resource can help fight climate change. It will also describe field experiments involving moonsuits, bacteria, a 24-megatonne pile of asbestos and a lot of sulphuric acid.
Sasha Wilson is an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta and the Canada Research Chair in Biogeochemistry of Sustainable Resources. Sasha’s research focuses on environmental aspects of economic geology, carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere, and the behaviour of low temperature minerals in chemical sediments.
Why your hopes are stupid, your dreams are dead and the change you want to make is impossible
By Troy Pavlek
Anyone who has the basest level of political engagement will have, at one point or another, heard a well meaning friend, colleague or public official say those five words: “You should run for office!”. Those well meaning five words which have the intention of congratulating you for being smart, encouraging your drive, and hoping that you can make the world a better place. But what those five little words don’t carry is the incredible investmen in terms of time, finances and internalized emotional trauma that run, which you will definitely lose, will cost you. Join Troy, in the role of trusted Nerd Nite advisor, as he breaks down precisely why your hopes are stupid, your dreams are dead and the change you want to make is impossible.
Troy is a software developer, podcast host and acclaimed Twitter shitposter from Edmonton, Alberta. In 2017 he ran in the Edmonton municipal election as councillor for Ward 11. He finished fifth of six. The effects of his loss are long lasting and include a deeply-instilled bitter cynicism that makes doing even simple, earnest things like writing a Nerd Nite bio without including biting sarcasm nigh impossible. He is a broken person.
