What if we could control for pests with vibrations instead of chemicals?

Pesticides, as we all know, can wreak environmental havoc. Yet, the treehopper insect is the fear of vineyard operators in the PNW, as it spreads devastating red blotch disease. And brown marmorated stink bugs are the bane of hazelnut crops. What alternatives are out there for farmers?

What if we used the knowledge that bugs talk to each other via vibrations, especially during mating time? Researchers have developed a device called the “Pied Piper”, which can be taught bug “languages” and then used to mimic them. It then “communicates” with insects by luring them out into the open, and confusing them into missing their mating window. A nonlethal, targeted, organic option that eliminates pesticide runoff into the environment and can be reused.

At this Science on Tap, learn about how this approach could be applied to other pests (researchers are expanding the Pied Piper’s repertoire to other bugs, like brown marmorated stink bugs) and what work has been done so far.

Vaugn Walton serves as a leader in OSU’s Horticultural Pest Management team in diverse integrated pest management programmatic areas.  His work includes research in integrated pest management (IPM) for small fruit and on tree crops. Walton employs both ecologically and mechanistic information to manage these pests from a whole-system perspective.

Natural hazards are an unavoidable part of everyday life. In many cases, it’s the proverbial “it’s not if, but when” they might occur. Whether a wildfire threatens a local community or an earthquake devastates an entire region, the moment a hazard becomes a disaster there is a vital need for those impacted to have access to critical information. But where do you find timely, credible information? Well, the details of what has happened come from researchers and investigators, while the information people receive is shared by public information officers. Today’s speaker is both.

Steven Sobieszczyk is a scientist and spokesperson with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While “Sobie” spent most of his career researching landslide hazards, sediment transport, and flooding, he now focuses on science communication and public information. Steve is a multihazard first responder and has spoken extensively about everything from earthquakes in Puerto Rico and eruptions in Hawaii to wildfires and floods across the U.S.

Join us for what should be a captivating evening of stories and insights into what it’s like to live a life where each day is one disaster after another. Special focus on the:

• Granite Pass Wildfire Complex
• Vicksburg Cemetery Landslide
• M6.4 Puerto Rico Earthquake
• 2022 Mauna Loa Eruption

Steven Sobieszczyk has spent 23 years with the USGS. Currently, he serves as media lead for natural hazards at the bureau. Between 2005 and 2010, Steve earned degrees in landslide engineering geology, hydrology, and geographic information systems (GIS) from Portland State University. Besides his research, Sobie’s passion is to help others communicate better, regardless of their background or interests. Never satisfied, Steve has developed broad expertise, including being a professor, author, videographer, and artist. He is a co-founder of the Association of Science Communicators (ASC) and spends part of the year as an incident first responder for wildfires and other natural disasters.

This multi-media event explores the fascinating ways that motherhood changes the brains of both mothers and children throughout their lives. Author, public speaker, and neuroscientist Dr. Larry Sherman will discuss how a mother’s brain changes during pregnancy and after birth, the neuroscience of the bonding that occurs in the brains of both, what happens when mothers sing to their children, and how a mother’s brain changes with their experiences with their children over the course of their lives.

These discussions will be highlighted by music performed by singer-songwriter Naomi LaViolette along with readings of the poetry of Ann Taylor, Nikita Gill, Margaret Hasse, and Alice Walker, and visual art that celebrates motherhood and all of its wonders and challenges.

Dr. Larry S. Sherman is a professor in the Division of Neuroscience at the Oregon National Primate Research Center and in the Department of Cell, Developmental and Cancer Biology at OHSU. He is also the President of the OR and SW WA Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience. He has over 100 publications related to brain development, neurodegenerative diseases, and neurofibromatosis. His book, Every Brain Needs Music: The Neuroscience of Making and Listening to Music, which he wrote with Portland musician and music professor Dennis Plies, was recently published by Columbia University Press.

Naomi LaViolette is a composer, performer, singer-songwriter and versatile pianist based in Portland, Oregon. Since 2004, the Oregon Repertory Singers have made her an essential part of their artistic staff as their pianist.  A published choral composer with Santa Barbara Publishing, her works have been performed and recorded by many choirs around the US, including the Oregon Repertory Singers’ album Shadows on the Stars, winner of the American Prize.

When we hear ‘bee’ we often think of the European honey bee, but there are at least 600-700 species of bees in Washington and Oregon. Native bees are very different, but we know very little about their status. What flowers do they pollinate? Where and when do they nest? How can we use our gardens to support them?

Washington has implemented the Washington Bee Atlas (WaBA) to find out more. It was formed in 2023 and modeled after the successful Oregon Bee Atlas, which has added 220 bee species to their state list! These community science groups train volunteers to collect, pin, and label bee specimens. Many of the volunteers have no science or entomology background. They post data through the app iNaturalist, providing date, location, collector and host plant information. The specimens are then identified by professionals, deposited at WSU or OSU insect collections, and the data made public! This information is highly valuable to conservation efforts of all 600+ species of native bees known to occur in the PNW.

This Science on Tap will talk about native bee biology and general gardening guidelines, then give an introduction to Washington Bee Atlas and how it all works.

Dr. Karen Wright got her Master’s degree at OSU in Entomology (working on true bugs and beetles in hazelnuts), then moved to New Mexico where she started her career working on native bees. She developed a collection of over 600 species of bees from central New Mexico, and the long-term study is still ongoing with over 20 years of data. She got her PhD from the University of New Mexico on the Evolution of Diet Breadth in Melissodes bees and was curator of the insect collection at Texas A&M University for six years until being hired to develop and manage the Washington Bee Atlas. She has happily relocated to Yakima, Washington with her dogs and husband.

These days, we can send sperm in the mail, freeze eggs, and donate embryos. Advances in reproductive medicine (insemination, IVF, donor conception, and surrogacy) not only enable us to create humans in all sorts of ways; they also empower us to form family in novel ways. Yet, when parents and teachers explain human reproduction, they often use the same old talk – something about a “mommy and a daddy loving each other very much.”

How do kids feel about the new technologies that bring them into the world? What is their experience when we leave their origin story out of the explanation of human reproduction, and marginalize families that don’t fit the norm? How does this impact their identity and well-being?

Using science, stories, and personal experience, educator and consultant Rachel Ginocchio discusses how to update and expand the explanation of human reproduction and family formation – both in school and at home – so that it is equally inclusive of all humans in any family structure. She explains how a richer, more complex discussion helps all kids gain a better sense of themselves, their family, and the world around them.

Get 15% OFF the ticket and the book when you buy the Book + Ticket option! (See Kiggins ticket site)

Rachel Ginoccio holds a Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of Washington, and has been working in the field of reproductive health and sexual health education for over a dozen years. Most recently, she founded Roads to Family, through which she writes, teaches and consults about puberty, human reproduction, and family formation. She is also the author of Roads to Family: All the Ways We Come to Be. In addition, Rachel comes from a three generation family formed through foster care, adoption, and assisted reproduction.

Photo credit: Mel Latthitham

Note: Due to crazy ice conditions, we have rescheduled to TUESDAY, Feb 6th. The theatre will honor tickets purchased or refund if necessary.

One of the greatest sets of geological events to ever have occurred in North America was the Missoula Floods. Occurring as many as 40 times during the last ice age, the floods were caused by waters released from ancient Lake Missoula that scoured the Columbia River basin, carved out the Columbia River Gorge, and swept across at least 16,000 square miles of the Pacific Northwest.

At this Science on Tap, Dr. Scott Burns, professor of geology and past chair of the Department of Geology at PSU, will focus on the incredible story of the discovery and development of the idea of the floods by J Harlen Bretz and will discuss the effect of the floods on the landscape of the Willamette Valley and the area around us.

Is it true that we can 3D print organs?
Can we transplant a brain yet?
Do celebrities get organs faster?
Why donate at all?

Organ, eye, and tissue donation are essential parts of modern medicine, but there is still a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the field. In this talk, we will explore the amazing, sometimes grotesque but always fascinating science behind organ donation and debunk some of the most common myths.

Why is this topic important? There are 111,000 people on the organ donation wait list right now – as if Autzen (Go Ducks!), Reser (Go Beavs!), and the Moda Center (Go Blazers!) were all filled to capacity! Nearly 1 in 20 people will benefit from a tissue donation during their lives. Join in the conversation as we learn more about the history of organ donation, how it saves lives, and how the science continues to make science fiction into science fact.

If you’ve been to a Science on Tap lately, you already know our speaker as one of our beloved and enthusiastic emcees of the show! Now we get a chance to learn about one of her passions.

Bio: Dr. Jackie Wirz is a biochemist by training, a nonprofit executive by profession, and a passionate community advocate. Her research career spanned 15 years and included DNA repair to the structural properties of skin. She spent 10 years as a faculty member and dean at OHSU, and currently serves as the executive director of Donate Life Northwest.

What was life like in Oregon during the Ice Age? What can pikas, pollen, and ancient poop tell us about how Indigenous peoples lived and what the environment was like? 

Bone needles, sagebrush shoes, and obsidian spear points have all been found to be a part of life thousands of years ago in Oregon. These technologies and other clues reflect the dynamic relationships between Indigenous peoples, plants, animals, and landscapes. Paleoethnobotany, the study of the relationship between humans and plants in the past, helps to reveal these stories.

At this Science on Tap, Dr. Katelyn McDonough tells us about what her team’s work in central Oregon has revealed about people’s lives over the last 13,000 years. She’ll cover some misconceptions about archaeology, innovative methods, and how information from the past informs conservation and social issues of the present.

Dr. Katelyn McDonough is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Curator of Great Basin Archaeology in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon. As Director of the Northern Great Basin Archaeology Field School, Katelyn leads education and research programs at a series of rockshelters in central Oregon where Indigenous communities have intermittently lived for over 12,500 years. Katelyn is especially interested in how archaeological information can inform current conservation and social issues. 

Some 40 million miles of roadways encircle the earth, but we tend to regard them only as infrastructure for human convenience. A million animals are killed by cars each day in the US alone, and roads fragment wildlife populations into inbred clusters, disrupt migration for creatures from antelope to salmon, allow invasive plants to spread, and even bend the arc of evolution itself.

But road ecologists are also seeking innovative solutions: conservationists building bridges for mountain lions, tunnels for toads, engineers deconstructing logging roads, and citizens working to undo the havoc highways have wreaked upon cities.

In Crossings, Ben Goldfarb delves into the new science of road ecology to explore how roads have transformed our world. A sweeping, spirited, and timely investigation into how humans have altered the natural world, Crossings also shows us how to create a better future for all living beings.

Ben Goldfarb is the author of Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter, winner of the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award. A recipient of fellowships from the Alicia Patterson Foundation and the Whiting Foundation, he lives in Colorado.

Most of us humans are able to retreat to the safety of a building or a well-stocked pantry to wait out storms, smoke, or heat waves…but what do all the birds do? Do they also seek shelter? Do they leave? How long can they wait before they must go try to find food? Such decisions can literally mean life or death.

Some amazing adaptations help them decide what to do. For example, information from nearby neighbors can change their brains and how they process stress…and can even affect how large their intestines are! These strategies help them to cope with times of unpredictable food and highlight how important social interactions are for birds.

Dr. Jamie Cornelius and her lab study behavioral and physiological strategies that birds use to cope with unpredictable change. In other words, why do some birds survive better than others when the going gets tough? She’ll describe field and lab experiments that help us understand their needs and what strategies might help them to cope with global change. While many talks centered on climate change can fill you with doom and gloom, this one just might give you reason to hope that mother nature has some tricks up her sleeve.

Dr. Jamie Cornelius is an assistant professor at Oregon State University in the Department of Integrative Biology. She earned a B.S. in Zoology at the University of Washington and a PhD in Animal Behavior at UC Davis. She spent several years as a post-doctoral scholar at the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Germany and as a Fulbright fellow at St. Petersburg State University in Russia. Hard work and good luck have brought her back to the Pacific Northwest – and to Vancouver, where she first started her science career at Columbia River High School nearly 30 years ago! 

When we open our eyes, are we perceiving reality? Why do we fail to agree on the color of “The Dress” (that went viral in 2015)? Have you ever glanced at ticking clock and noticed the second-hand suddenly freeze for a split second?

Neuroscience research suggests that the brain evolved to make rapid, best-guesses about the objects in our environment, rather than create a one-to-one representation of the world. Through stories and demonstrations, Dr. Mark Pitzer will discuss some of the effects of this strategy and how our visual system can highlight some objects, delete others, and alter our conscious awareness in an attempt to help us navigate our visual world.

We’re excited to welcome Mark Pitzer back to Science on Tap! (Remember that great Making Memories show??)

Mark Pitzer, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist at the University of Portland. For the last 25 years he has worked to better understand and treat diseases of the brain, including Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. Currently, his lab studies how developmental influences in the womb can alter the number of dopaminergic neurons involved in movement and reward. Mark is also an award-winning teacher that uses the findings from the fields of learning and neuroscience to invoke enduring enthusiasm, curiosity and deep learning in his college students.  

COVID Policy:

Please be vaccinated and don’t forget to bring your mask!

How do scientists learn about the health and diet of whales and dolphins when these species are often hidden in the ocean depths?

Thanks to rapid developments in genetic technologies (e.g. feces and environmental DNA (eDNA)), scientists have an ever-growing, noninvasive toolkit to look at what these leviathans are feeding on. They’re piecing together a picture of who ate what and helping to fill in some of the questions plaguing managers and conservationists focused on the endangered Southern Resident killer whales, including stock structure, diet, health, and genetic fitness.

Dr. Kim Parsons will describe her journey into the world of whale poop and how she’s using molecular genetics to help managers prioritize goals to support the recovery of the iconic Southern Resident killer whales. At this Science on Tap, learn how whale poop is providing amazing insights into killer whales and their prey.  

Kim Parsons, Ph.D. leads the Molecular Genetics team in the Conservation Biology Division at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NOAA Fisheries) in Seattle, WA. Kim is a molecular ecologist focusing on the development and application of genetic and genomic tools to support the conservation and management of marine species.  Kim works closely with academic, non-profit and federal partners on research spanning many species and many oceans.

COVID POLICY

Please be vaccinated and don’t forget to bring your mask!

We all have an attachment style that impacts how we behave and feel in relationships.  Though attachment styles are formed during childhood, awareness of our attachment style and tendencies can support the development of a healthy relationship through adulthood. 

At this Science on Tap, Leah Haas, a mental health provider and sex educator, will discuss how each attachment style develops and the behaviors associated with them so participants can walk away with ideas to make their relationships more secure and satisfying.  

Leah Haas (she/her) works in mental health as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) specializing in sexuality and gender at Inner Awareness Therapy. She works in youth sexual health for the State of Oregon and is a co-founder of Beyond the Talk which provides sex education to adults. In her free time, Leah loves backpacking, music, and hanging out with her dog Leto.

COVID Policy:

Please be vaccinated and don’t forget to bring your mask!

Making a video series as fun as “All Science. No Fiction” takes a dash of ingenuity, a splash of whimsy plus a full jigger of “how do we pull this off? Join the stage show as the makers behind OPB’s new science series show you how they stop-motion your sleep cycle, tackle the spirits of the bug-drone and otherwise bring joy to your science-video experience. “All Science. No fiction” launches a new season soon but why wait? They want to hear and share with you now! Expect volunteers from the audience and prizes for participation!

“All Science. No Fiction.” uses whimsy, curiosity, and fun to place a spotlight on PNW scientists and the work they’re doing. These stories are about new marvels of technology, cutting-edge solutions and inventions, and grand ideas that pass the HCTC (Holy Crap That’s Cool!) test. How do they pull off all the different things they do on camera to try to get you as excited about science in the Pacific Northwest as they are?

Jes Burns and Brandon Swanson are the production team behind “All Science. No Fiction.”  Jes is a science reporter and producer for OPB’s Science & Environment unit. Brandon is a videographer and editor, working on OPB shows like Oregon Field Guide. They’ve worked in some places, won some awards, and really dig scientists and making videos about their work.

In-person show only. This show is a repeat (though with some add-ons!) from the Alberta Rose show in September 2021.

COVID POLICY

Verbal vaccine confirmation required; masks encouraged.

This event is in person at Kiggins Theatre – not livestreamed this time around.

How does your brain learn best? As the field of neuroscience uncovers the neural mechanisms of perception and learning, can we begin to bring these findings into the classroom to help improve how students learn?

Back by popular demand, this hilarious Science on Tap will discuss the brain’s learning networks, emotional connections and how the visual and motor pathways influence what we process. Join us as Dr. Mark Pitzer demonstrates of how each brain circuit can be recruited by instructors to improve teaching/learning in and out of the classroom and how neuroscience can make learning truly memorable. 

Mark Pitzer, Ph.D. is a neuroscientist at the University of Portland. For the last 25 years he has worked to better understand diseases of the brain. He has worked on techniques to improve the survival of newly transplanted brain cells as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and, more recently, conducted experiments using a genetic technique to halt the production of toxic proteins in the brain as a potential treatment for Huntington’s disease. Currently, his lab is conducting experiments designed to identify the neural circuits and neurotransmitters that play a role in the personality changes that affect those who suffer from Huntington’s disease. Mark is also an award-winning teacher that uses the findings from the fields of learning and neuroscience to invoke enduring enthusiasm, curiosity and deep learning in his college students.

COVID POLICY

Vaccine cards required and checked at entry. Masks are recommended (and subject to be required following any County mandate changes).

The Cascades Range is home to many volcanoes, but how active and dangerous are they? What are the greatest hazards from volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest, who monitors them, and how?  

At this Science on Tap, Jon Major explores volcanic processes associated with volcanic eruptions and their aftermath, provides insights on the greatest threats posed by the Cascades volcanoes, and reveals how our regional volcanoes are monitored and why. The great 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens fundamentally changed how scientists viewed volcanic eruptions. The four decades since have seen significant advancements in our understanding of volcanic histories, processes, hazards, monitoring capabilities, and the role that scientists have in communicating with governmental agencies and the public.

Jon Major is the Scientist-in-Charge at the US Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington. He has worked at volcanoes in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, El Salvador, Chile, and the Philippines. He has been working at Mount St. Helens since 1981, and has been with the Cascades Volcano Observatory since 1983.

This event will be in person only, as we do not have the equipment for hybrid shows at this theater at this time.

COVID POLICY

Vaccine cards required and checked at entry. Masks are recommended.