Gird your loins! This may be our most stomach churning evening yet! But don’t worry, we have a plan for those that need a little gentle handling. Three fun-yet-informative visual presentations with music, prizes, libations and guaranteed good company at The Howland Cultural Center.
Tickets: bit.ly/nnhv-jan9
We hear from Dr. Hannah Brooks, board-certified General Surgeon and proud recipient of the American Cancer Society’s Lane Adams award for compassionate care with: “When Food Fights back: Gut Wrenching Tales of General Surgery.” Please be warned, this talk will include depictions of the surgery process. We will make sure to give you an opportunity to look away!
The digestive system is a finely-tuned marvel of anatomy and physiology, but when intestinal obstruction happens, the body can become a high-stakes battleground, where everyday foods transform into formidable foes. This talk explores gripping cases where simple bites turned into surgical emergencies. Learn how the science of a swift diagnosis and surgical intervention combine to save lives, and turn near‑disasters into triumphs of medical science.
Dr. Hannah Brooks practiced as a board-certified General Surgeon in NYC and the Hudson Valley for almost three decades. She received her MD at Albany Medical College, completed General Surgery training at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx and, during her career, established Breast surgery clinics and genetic testing and High Risk Oncology programs at multiple medical centers in NYC and the Hudson Valley. Dr Brooks is a Fellow (emeritus) of the American College of Surgeons and is also certified in Cancer Genetic Risk Assessment. She has published in peer-reviewed journals in the areas of Surgery and Oncology/Immunology, and is a proud recipient of the American Cancer Society’s Lane Adams award for compassionate care. In her spare time, Brooks founded the Beacon Literary Festival and is an intermittently-inspired writer whose work has appeared in the NYT, Chronogram, and the podcast Anamnesis, among others.
Next, we welcome Telly and Webby award-winner Trace Dominguez from PBS’s weekly astronomy show Star Gazers, who specializes in translating complex STEM topics for general audiences with his talk: “Invading New Jersey with Squirrels: A Proposal.” Please be warned, this talk will give you ideas.
What’s one thing all successful supervillains have in common? Well-trained pets. Ernst Blofeld had his cat. Maleficent had her raven. Gru had his minions. Well, I have my squirrels. In the following presentation, I will demonstrate how an elite squad of trained squirrels can systematically invade and cripple the state of New Jersey. Investment opportunities available. Thank you for your consideration.
Trace Dominguez makes science fun across every screen he can find. He hosts PBS’s weekly astronomy show Star Gazers, answers ridiculous questions on his podcast That’s Absurd Please Elaborate, and created the YouTube science channel Seeker which earned over a billion views. He’s thrown up in an F-18 jet, learned to echolocate while blindfolded, and is an Emmy-nominated host and Webby award winner.
Finally, Mike Price, an Artist, a Taxidermist, a Story Teller, gives us a talk on what to do with all those squirrels once they enter NJ with “Meddling With Nature: Taxidermy and the Beauty of Going Skin Deep.” Please be warned, this talk will show depictions of the taxidermy process. We will make sure to give you an opportunity to look away!
Through this artist’s journey from classical figure study to the visceral realities of taxidermy, we will explore how true observation of the animal kingdom requires confronting what we’re culturally trained to ignore – that of our growing blindness to the dead and the psychological cost of treating once-living beings as mere objects. Through vivid storytelling and anatomical reflection, we’ll ask ourselves what it truly means to be human…and how the process of taxidermy forces us to face the very thing we cannot preserve – our humanity.
Mike is a Hudson Valley based artist, taxidermist, and storyteller. Trained in painting, sculpture, and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and The Art Academy of Cincinnati graduating in 2013, Mike now works full-time at world renowned Fine Art Foundry UAP (Polich Tallix). Through the lens of an artistic practice, Mike’s taxidermy is less about ‘dead animals’ and more about how we, the viewer, are living ones.
Special Guest Maker Keith Decent reveals a Nerd Nite surprise!
Friday January 9th at 7:30pm at The Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY.
Doors at 7pm. Be there and be square! Tickets: bit.ly/nnhv-jan9