NightSchool: Nature is Nurture

Can our relationship with nature foster human health? From poison antidotes to preventing the next pandemic, nature plays an invaluable role in nurturing human health. In this edition of NightSchool, join scientists as they share the surprising ways poisonous animals and biodiversity can impact medicine and public health.

• Watch Academy ornithologist Jack Dumbacher in conversation with researchers Dan Minor and Fayal Abderemane Ali from UCSF’s Cardiovascular Research Institute as they discuss their latest cross-discipline research on how poisonous birds and frogs avoid their own toxins—and how their findings could lead to antidotes for poisonings that are currently untreatable. After the talk, Jack and Fayal will be available live to answer your burning questions about poison birds (for example, how Jack discovered them!) and how studying nature can lead to breakthroughs in human health.

• Academy virologist and Chief of Science Shannon Bennett shares her insights on the intersection of biodiversity and public health. Discover how humanity’s fractured relationship with nature spurred Covid-19 and how mending that relationship could help prevent future pandemics.
   
• Join Indigenous environmental scientist Dr. Jessica Hernandez as she discusses why it is important to incorporate Indigenous science in the climate change and science discourse. She will also share details about her latest book Fresh Banana Leaves: Healing Indigenous Landscapes through Indigenous Science—which explores through case studies, historical perspectives, and personal stories how Indigenous models of science and conservation are essential for recovering the health of our planet and all of us who inhabit it.

All NightLife virtual programming is intended for audiences 21+.

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