Events of Interest—February 2008

Please E-mail NSWA with suggested announcements for the NSWA Business Calendar or Events of Interest list. Some events may require advance registration or admission fee. Check with the Sponsoring organizations for further details. Please send additions or corrections to E-mail alan.boyle@msnbc.com with additions and corrections – and feel free to submit events for future calendars. Please put “NSWA-to be posted” in the subject line.

NSWA Business Calendar | University of Washington Events

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Featured Events in February

Monday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m.
Join NSWA February 25 at 6 p.m. for a behind-the-lab tour of the Seattle Biomedical Research Institute and its malaria insectary. With more that 70 scientists focused solely on malaria, SBRI is home to one of the largest malaria research programs in the United States. Dr. Stephan Kappe will tell us all about this pesky parasite and how scientists are finally starting to understand its genetic framework and molecular biology. The program relies on emerging technologies for genome-wide analysis and the recently completed genomic DNA sequence of P. falciparum, the most virulent malaria parasite. This level of malaria work is happening only at SBRI and at Harvard University. Due to the limited size of the insectary, the group will be broken into smaller units for the tour. Please RSVP to mikeb@seanet.com by February 22. Space is limited. Free to NSWA members. $5 for non-members.

Monday, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.:
The NSWA board meets at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 11. This will be the final meeting for the 2007-2008 board. Please RSVP to alan.boyle@msnbc.com to find out the venue if you wish to attend.

For information or to join, visit our Join page.

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Other February Events

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m.:
U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee on “Apollo’s Fire: Igniting America's Clean Energy Economy.” The Washington state Democrat (and co-author of Apollo’s Fire) talks about initiatives that could free America from fossil fuel dependency. Venue: UW Kane Hall, Room 220.
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 7:30 p.m.:
Seattle Fault: The Crack in Seattle’s Basement,” with Tom Pratt of the U.S. Geological Survey. Venue: T.S. McHugh’s Pub, 21 Mercer St., Seattle. Presented by Science on Tap in association with the Pacific Science Center and KCTS Public Television.
http://www.scienceontap.org

Thursday, Feb. 7, 6:30 p.m.:
Maureen R. Elenga on “Seattle Architecture: A Walking Guide to Downtown.” Elenga has written a portable guidebook to downtown neighborhoods and buildings. Venue: Microsoft Auditorium, Seattle Public Central Library.
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu

Thursday, Feb. 7, 7 p.m.:
Destination Discovery at the Pacific Science Center. Learn more about science-themed group travel at a Trip Talk. RSVP to 206-443-3642 or travel@pacsci.org.
http://www.pacsci.org/travel/

Friday, Feb. 8, to Tuesday, Feb. 12:
Charles Darwin gets his day ... or days. Feb. 8-10 is “Evolution Weekend,” with some local churches offering sermons on religion and science.
http://www.butler.edu/clergyproject/rel_evolution_weekend_2008.htm

Tuesday, Feb. 12
Darwin Day, the naturalist’s 199th birthday.
http://www.darwinday.org/

Monday, Feb. 11, 6:30 p.m.:
NSWA board meeting. See above.

Monday, Feb. 11, 7:30 p.m.:
UCLA epidemiologist Nathan Wolfe on “Stopping Superbugs,” Wolfe combines methods from molecular virology, ecology, evolutionary biology and anthropology to understand viral infections (such as HIV and Ebola) at their source - human-animal contact - and how they go on to become pandemics. Venue: Town Hall Seattle, Eighth and Seneca, Seattle. $5 admission at the door.
http://www.townhallseattle.com

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 6:30 p.m.:
Future of the Puget Sound Region. The Institute for Children’s Environmental Health presents its fifth annual lecture series examining the relationship between the natural world, human society, and our economic system focusing on ecological economics, a growing transdisciplinary field that which expands economic theory to integrate the earth’s natural systems, human values and health. Speakers: David Batker of Founder Earth Economics, Katherine Davies of Antioch University’s Center for Creative Change. Venue: Town Hall Seattle. Sponsored by Seattle Biotech Legacy Foundation. $10-15 at the door.
http://www.townhallseattle.com
http://www.iceh.org

Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m.:
Michael Pollan, “In Defense of Food.” The bestselling author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and The Botany of Desire, Michael Pollan discusses his new book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. Pollen talks about how, despite supermarkets full of “edible foodlike substances,” we can escape the Western diet, and by doing so, most of the chronic diseases that it causes. Venue: Town Hall Seattle. SOLD OUT
http://www.townhallseattle.com

Friday, Feb. 15:
Valentine’s Day Slumber Party at the Pacific Science Center. For grades 2-8. Drop-off at 7 p.m. Friday, pickup at 9 a.m. Saturday. Kids can learn just how sweet chemistry can be. Cost is up to $55, with discounts for PSC members and additional siblings. Information and registration:
http://www.pacsci.org/valentinesday/

Wednesday, Feb. 20
See SPJ’s Leap Day event on Feb. 29.

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.:
Jon Entine discusses his book In Abraham’s Children: Race, Identity and the DNA of the Chosen People. The prize-winning journalist continues his investigations into nature, nurture and the politics that surround them. Entine delves into recent genetic research that suggests Jews of the Himalayas and New Mexico may have more in common than they think, and tackles the controversial subject of Jewish intelligence. Joining Entine will be University of Washington geneticist Mary-Claire King, discoverer of the breast cancer gene. Venue: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 4100 15th Ave. NE. Tickets are $8, or $6 for students and those under 25. For tickets and information:
http://www.nextbook.org

Wednesday, Feb. 20, 7:30 p.m.:
“Charles Darwin, Live and In Concert.” A noted anthropologist at the American Museum of Natural History, Richard Milner, presents songs, history and science in his one-man musical about the life and times of Charles Darwin. Venue: Town Hall Seattle. $5 admission at the door.
http://www.townhallseattle.com

Thursday, Feb. 21, 7 p.m.:
Science With a Twist: “On Tour With U2/3D.” Team up with your friends to form a rock band and top off the evening with a showing of the concert film “U2/3D.” Venue: Pacific Science Center. Tickets: $17 for PSC members, $20 for nonmembers.
http://www.pacsci.org/twist/

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2 p.m.:
“The History of Society: The Story of Ancient Rome.” Seattle Art Museum curators tell about the history and society of ancient Rome as reflected in the Louvre collection. Venue: Plestcheef Auditorium, Seattle Art Museum. For reservations: 206-654-3121 or boxoffice@seattleartmuseum.org.
http://www.seattleartmuseum.org

Monday, Feb. 25, 6 p.m.:
NSWA tour of SBRI insectary. See featured event above.

Monday, Feb. 25, 7 p.m.:
“Powering the Planet: Conversations About Alternative Fuels,” with Bill McNeely, organizer, Science on Tap. Venue: Ravenna Third Place Books, 6504 20th Ave. NE, Seattle.
http://www.scienceontap.org

Monday, Feb. 25, 7:30 p.m.:
Frederick Kaufman on the American stomach. Frederick Kaufman, City University English professor and chronicler of American food culture, offers a tour of American history by way of the stomach in “A Short History of the American Stomach.” Venue: Town Hall Seattle. $5 admission at the door.
http://www.townhallseattle.com

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 6:30 p.m.:
Irving Gottesman on “The Uphill Battle for Understanding the Roles of Genetics in Mental Disease.” The University of Minnesota psychologist recounts the quest to unravel the causes of major mental disorders in the context of genetics. Venue: UW Kane Hall, Room 110. Presented as part of the Walker-Ames Lecture Series. Hosted by the Graduate School, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and the Institute for Public Health Genetics.
http://www.bookstore.washington.edu

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7:30 p.m.:
“Predictably Irrational” with Dan Ariely. In his new book, Predictably Irrational, MIT behavioral economist Dan Ariely shows that people make the same type of irrational mistakes over and over again in a predictable manner because their behaviors have structural origins. Venue: Town Hall Seattle. $5 admission at the door.
http://www.townhallseattle.com

Friday, February 29, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
SPJ’s Leap Day event will be held at the REI flagship store, 222 Yale Ave. N., in Seattle. It will open in REI’s upstairs meeting room with the panel discussion, followed by a networking session.
SPJ’s “All-Access Pass” gives freelancers the opportunity to discuss how to do what they do better ... and then meet with editors who buy freelance content.
Among the featured speakers are Amanda Castleman, freelance travel writer and editor of a Web 3.0 startup; Marty Wolk, business editor at msnbc.com; Candace Dempsey, a journalist and blogger specializing in food, travel and true crime; George Bukota, industry journalist and marketing copywriter (and, I might add, a member of our mighty NSWA); and Randy Woods, managing editor of Seattle Business Monthly. Freelance writer/editor Bill Thorness is the moderator.
Editors from various publications, online and offline, will be attending the event. Freelancers who register by Feb. 20 will have their contact information and editorial specialties compiled into a catalog for the participating editors. For information on this SPJ event, including the cost, contact Pat Foote, 206-464-2190 or patricia.foote@gmail.com or check this Web page:
http://www.spjwash.org/articles/011608_freelance_mixer.shtml

Friday, February 29, 5:00 pm - 7:00 p.m.
NSWA Freelance Friday Happy Hour at the Japanese Restaurant Wann, http://wann-izakaya.com/, in downtown Seattle.
Please RSVP to Lisa Farino, LisaFarino@gmail.com, by 2:00 pm the day of the event so she can reserve enough table space for all of us. You don’t need to be a freelancer to attend. Everyone is welcome.