NightSchool: Extreme Science

Not all science is done in the lab. Scientists go to great lengths—and sometimes extremely dangerous ones—to get answers to their questions. Hear the thrilling tales of several researchers and how they approach their work by land, sea, and air.

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS

• Join Mauritius Bell, Academy Diving Safety Officer, as he shares how Academy researchers use deep-diving technologies to reach the ocean’s Twilight Zone—the lesser-known, little-explored band of ocean located 200 to 500 feet beneath its surface. He’ll take you on a tour of the rebreather apparatuses, fish decompression chambers, diver propulsion vehicles, and more that make these daring, dangerous, and important dives possible.
   
• In 2018 and 2019, as wildfires burned through the western United States, Dr. Rebecca Hornbrook, atmospheric scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, was involved in airborne smoke-sampling projects—which involved being on-board a research aircraft as it flew through thick wildfire smoke. She’ll talk about what it’s like to do research in the middle of a natural disaster and how the air we breathe—and our health—is impacted by fire.
   
• Dr. Robin Tanamachi chases storms—for science. In 2019, her research group deployed a new type of radar near severe storms in an effort to record tornado formation. She’ll talk about tracking severe weather, hitting the road, and the realities of tornado-chasing.
   
• The environmental impacts associated with illegal cannabis cultivation on our public lands are vast, many of them poorly understood. To learn more, Dr. Greta Wengert, Executive Director of the Integral Ecology Research Center, has trailed law enforcement into cannabis sites where criminals are committing numerous environmental crimes. She’ll talk about what we know to date and the challenging, sometimes dangerous approaches researchers take to address these problems.

All NightLife virtual programming is intended for audiences 21+.

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PAST VIRTUAL NIGHTLIFE EVENTS

Missed the party? Just want to relive the magic? Watch the recorded livestreams on YouTube!