Category: Announcements

Celebrate the Holidays with us Wednesday, December 11!

Buy your tickets now for a special holiday-themed Nerd Nite. Join us on Wednesday, December 11 to hear about the reason for the season, what really happens at the North Pole, and more!

September 26 is our 50th event!

Come celebrate Nerd Nite San Diego’s 50th event on Thursday, September 26! $10 tickets are on sale now.

July 25 Comic-Con Nerd Nite!

Our next event takes place the Thursday of San Diego Comic-Con! We’re taking full advantage of the influx of nerds to our city. Details about the lineup are coming soon. There will be a panel of AAAS If/Then ambassadors representing kick-ass women in STEM plus a couple of scientists in town for the convention.

Tickets are on sale now!

May 23 Nerd Nite!

Tickets for our next event are already on sale here https://events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-san-diego-48

Be there and be square! Only $10!

Speaker Lineup for March 21, 2024!

Buy your tickets for the event here!

Eric Leonardis

Title: Neuroscience of The New Flesh: Body Horror In Your Brain

Dr. Eric Leonardis is a neuroscientist and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies who studies perception and action in the brains of mice, monkeys, and humans. Eric blends the cerebral with the sensational: when not working on brain-inspired AI, he can be found introducing films in movie theaters and DJing at warehouse parties across SoCal. He is currently organizing the “New Flesh Party”, a screening of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome followed by a dance party at the Digital Gym Cinema in Downtown SD on May 4th, 2024

Sydney Smith

Title: Using Data and Neuroscience to Understand the Most Effective Depression Treatment

I’m a Colorado-transplant and computational neuroscience PhD candidate at UC San Diego. Essentially, I am a gigantic nerd who uses math and computer science to learn about the brain. Lucky for me, San Diego is a delightful place to be a nerd and I’ve spent the last 7 years enjoying this beautiful city, roaming the dog beaches with my fluffy BFF, and endlessly searching for the best tacos and breweries in town. Some of these breweries let me host an event every spring called the Taste of Science Festival, which is similar in spirit to Nerd Nite. You can find more of my work on the platform The Conversation, the Stories of Women in Neuroscience podcast and blog, and in the journal Translational Psychiatry.

Paul Wynns

Title: Top Code: I, for one, welcome our fighter pilot overlords

Paul is a returning Nerd Night presenter who has worked in aviation and aerospace as a program manager at the world’s largest aerospace company. Prior to that, he was a Navy jet pilot who denies ever having said “Red Five standing by” on the radio during weapons training or carrier operations. These days, he is enrolled at the UC San Diego Rady School of Management as a PhD candidate studying passenger trust in automated air travel. 

Next event is March 21, 2024!

Tickets are available at this link!

Speaker Lineup for January 25, 2024!

Here’s the speakers for Nerd Nite San Diego’s return! Get your tickets here:

https://events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-san-diego-returns

Bradley Voytek

Title: How to measure a brain

From archaic brain circulation seesaws to Neuralink brain implants, neuroscience has a long and diverse history of creative—and sometimes outlandish—approaches for measuring the human brain and its activity. Although not all approaches worked, even the strangest among them got us to where we are today… In this talk, Prof. Voytek will sample some of the weirder approaches that have been developed for studying the human brain, discussing his research with mini-brains grown in human dishes to working with people implanted with permanent brain stimulators.

Danielle Gaffen

Title: Decoding Your Diet: Personalizing Your Plate with Nutrigenetics, Nutrigenomics, and Microbiome Science

From the earliest feasts to futuristic foods, the quest for the perfect plate has evolved. Today, it’s not just about the power-packed provisions that propel health or the savory selections that shield against sickness. The real spice lies in the dynamic interplay between our genetic blueprint and the bustling community of microbes residing within us – our microbiome. Gear up for a feast of knowledge, sprinkled with fun, and discover the fine dining experience designed by precision nutrition for your body.

Nicholas Peters

Title: Pokémeh: Design Oddities in the Pokémon World

Pokémon continues to be the very best in terms of the world’s top performing media franchises, but for every proverbial Hyper Beam the brand unleashes on popular culture, there have been several storied not-so-super effective moves. With particular mind to art, narrative, and game design, we’ll catch some of Pokémon’s most hilarious, fascinating, and head-scratching controversies; including dashed evolutionary dreams, monsters that can’t sit, game breaking miscalculations, and a quest so inaccessible, it’s downright shocking.

Save the Date! Nerd Nite Returns 1/25/24

Nerd Nite San Diego returns in 2024

Yes, it’s true! Keep an eye out here and on our social media pages for news about our great return in January 2024…

Nerd Nite SD reduces gender gap

Nerd Nite SD are actively increasing the participation and representation of women scientists in science communication. In 2017, only 12% of NNSD presenters were female. By 2019, the number of female speakers more than doubled (29%) and in 2020, the male-female presenter ratio was 60% vs. 40%. Our goal for 2021 is to reach equal representation of male and female presenters on NNSD!

Female scientists are encourage to nominate themselves or other female scientists to present their work at Nerd Nite SD! Contact

The bar chart shows the proportion of male and female presenter on Nerd Nite San Diego in percentages. Dark blue bars represent the percentage of female presenters and light blue bars represent the perfentage of male pesenters. In 2017, there were 18% female and 82% male presenters, in 2018 there were 25% female and 75% male, in 2019 there were 29% female and 71% male, in 2020 40% female and 60% male. In 2021, the projected ratio is 50-50%.