Nerd Nite Los Angeles - March 2025

Nerd Nite is fun-yet-informative lectures at a bar. It's like TED Talks...but with beer.

We all know that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends and colleagues. Thus, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in more than 100 cities across the globe during which several folks give 20-minute fun-yet-informative and easily accessible presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.

https://linktr.ee/nerdnitela

FAQ's:

- Doors open at 7pm. Intro at 7:45pm. Presentations at 8pm.

- The Brewyard Beer Company is a 21+ venue.

- There is free street parking surrounding the bar, but we recommend utilizing a ride share service.

PRESENTATION LINE-UP:

PRESENTATION #1: Anatomy of Fear: Exploring the Psychology of Horror

By Billie Guerrero & Wendy Maxon

Summary: Thrills, chills, and ghouls — why would anyone want to be scared out of their minds for fun? Turns out we can learn plenty about the world, and ourselves, by looking at the horror media we crave. From our deep psychological needs to our current and past cultural fears, horror can enrich and soothe us while it lays us open. Educators Billie Guerrero and Wendy Maxon will discuss their shared love of horror, the deep secrets that horror movies reveal, and the fun that horror inspires.

Bio: Billie Guerrero is a paleontologist and educator at the Webb Schools of California. A true Jane of all trades, their research has ranged from studying early human ancestors in Kenya to the neurology of duck-billed dinosaurs. They spend summers digging up late-Cretaceous (~70-million-year-old) fossils in Wyoming with the Raymond Alf Museum of Paleontology and teach evolutionary biology and anatomy and physiology the rest of the year. Beyond fossils, Billie is obsessed with all things horror—whether it’s exploring the psychology behind our fears or reveling in the strange and unusual because to quote a classic: “I myself am strange and unusual.”

Wendy Maxon is a teacher in California. She earned her Ph.D. in European History by exploring depictions of shattered and fragmented bodies that were painted by German artists during and after the First World War. In addition to teaching, she has also published several short stories in online magazines and anthologies specializing in horror, science fiction, and weird literature. She loves satire, dancing, and visiting strange places whenever possible.


PRESENTATION #2: The Hubble War: A Decades-Long Search for the Hubble Constant

By Dr. Erin MacDonald, Ph.D

Summary: The name "Hubble" is familiar to all those with some love for astronomy, but for some scientists the name itself can raise blood pressure. For decades, researchers have attempted to measure the universe's expansion also called the Hubble Constant, with some wildly different results that each will defend with their whole souls. In this talk, Erin Macdonald (PhD, Astrophysics) will take us on the weird, wacky, and sometimes petty, search for the number itself and where the search stands today.

Bio: Erin Macdonald received her PhD in gravitational astrophysics at the University of Glasgow in Scotland as a member of the LIGO Collaboration searching for gravitational waves. After working as a researcher and educator, she became a technical advisor for the Department of Defense. In 2020 Erin ditched the engineering career to focus on her work as the official Star Trek science advisor. In addition, she now works full time as a writer, a voice actor, and produces independent short films with her company Spacetime Productions.


PRESENTATION #3: Drones: The Art of Flying a Cuisinart

By Trevor Valle

Summary: Drones are everywhere these days. They could be found scaring the general public in New Jersey, hitting firefighting planes, being shot down by scared residents in Florida, and used as weapons platforms. But what are they really? Should we be scared? Can anybody fly one? And how the heck do they fly? Allow Nerd Nite icon Trevor Valle to dive into the subject!

Bio: Trevor Valle has been a Nerd Nite LA regular since 2014 and has spoken at Nerd Nites across the country. While he's mainly known as a paleontologist, a role-playing game historian, and that guy that wears hockey jerseys all the time he is also a licensed and certified FAA Drone Operator with over 250 logged hours of flight time. He's also been to Space Camp, recently completed a 10,000 mile road trip, just started collecting and building lightsabers, and is best friends with a Transformers rock band.