Nerd Nite No. 67: Aquatic Insects, Noir Cabaret, and Plant Music!
We are having a bonus Nerd Nite at The Rail Park! Joining us for this evening of outdoor nerdery will be:
Stephanie Kroll will present “Amazing Aquatic Insects: Adaptations for Living in Water.”
Did you know that a caddisfly knows how to fish, or that many beetles are actually scuba divers, taking their own air stores into the water? Streams and rivers are often thought of as calm, relaxing places, but the physical environment within waterways can be a tough place to live. Aquatic insects have been facing the challenges of living in water for millions of years, and they have a diverse array of adaptations that have made them successful.
I am Assistant Research Professor in Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Sciences (BEES Department) at Drexel, and a Project Science Director at the Academy of Natural Sciences for a collaborative program that protects clean water, called the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. The Initiative works with over 50 non-profit organizations working to protect water resources. My group does research and takes samples from streams throughout the Basin, and I also have a laboratory to identify aquatic insects. I have been living in Philly for 3.5 years and before that I lived in Spain for 8 years, where I worked as a translator and interpreter until I started graduate school there. I’m from Central New York, and grew up fishing and camping in the Adirondacks and saving spiders from getting squashed.
Jeremy Gable and Sam Tower will give a talk entitled “Distressing the Damsel”
Playwright Jeremy Gable and creator/director Sam Tower will discuss the history of film noir, as well as how the genre’s tropes were reconfigured for the shows 901 Nowhere Street and Nowhere Fast.
Sam Tower and Jeremy Gable are opposites to an almost sitcom-like degree. However, their mutual love of genre-bending, dance-infused, female-focused theatre has united them as director and playwright under the sobriquet of Sam Tower + Ensemble. Their 2015 production, 901 Nowhere Street, featured a host of badass femme fatales and, among other things, a dancing unicorn.
Finally, Loretta Maps Bolt will take us on an adventure all about “What if you could talk to plants? Or better yet what if the plants could talk back to you…”
PLUS! A tie-in with Jeremy and Sam’s talk, Alec MacLaughlin will perform a set featuring his unique brand of gritty guitar ambience. MacLaughlin’s music scored the theatrical worlds of 901 Nowhere Street, Nowhere Fast and New Paradise Laboratories’ 27. Jess Conda, BRAT Artistic director, will perform some of Nowhere Fast‘s rock noir inspired cabaret covers, accompanied by MacLaughlin.
The details:
Wednesday, September 21st
PHS Pop Up Garden at the Viaduct Rail Park
7:30 pm. $5
See you there!
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