It’s NERD NITE A2 ALL OVER AGAIN! Do they ever stop? Yes, we are taking December off. Thank you so much for asking.

But before that, join us THURSDAY, November 9 at LIVE at 102. S. First St for the last NNA2 of 2023!! Doors open at 6:30 pm, talks start at 7 pm and as always, there’s no cover charge! Just bring a friend, grab a drink, and find a seat and we’ll wow with you the expertise of our amazing speaker lineup!

Microplastics are tiny bits of plastic no bigger than a pencil eraser, and they’re worryingly ubiquitous here on our little blue planet. We’ll take to the skies with Rebecca Parham in A Plastic Predicament: Are There Microplastics in the Air We Breathe? to better understand microplastics’ potential health impacts when inhaled, and who may be affected most. 

Rebecca is a graduate student in the doctoral program at the University of Michigan’s Department of Chemistry and studies air quality from an atmospheric chemistry perspective. Some of her favorite pastimes are reading and hanging out at the library, doing anything outdoorsy, and dreaming of one day having a dog.

In the just-in-time department: Matthew Facciani will help us consider How to Have More Productive Political Conversations At Thanksgiving. He’ll share five strategies that may very well be worth magic-markering onto your arm for later ease of use… decide for yourself, but come prepared!

Matthew is a sociologist at the University of Notre Dame, where he studies political polarization, misinformation, and media literacy. His forthcoming book, Misguided, describes how our identities and personal networks impact our susceptibility to misinformation and what we can do about it.

Could the Nite get more unbelievable? How about a neuroscientist talking about saliva? Believe it! Deanna Cannizzaro will give us the Salivary Sensory Scoop: neurons and the salivary glands are intertwined. Deanna will dig into the unseen role of sensory neurons in these glands… with relish.

Deanna is a PhD candidate at U of M studying how sensory neurons influence the salivary glands to promote healthy saliva and protect the mouth from disease and deterioration. When not in the lab, you can find her reading, writing, or hiking with her husband and dog.