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Nerd Nite Christchurch Be There and Be Square Contact Nerd Nite Global Cities Videos Sponsorships Nerd Nite Christchurch Contact Nerd Nite Global Cities Videos Sponsorships Nerd Nite #21 Join us on the first Wednesday of every month! Next event is 5 June at A Rolling Stone (Note the venue!) Click here for tickets 5 June Speakers The 4 Flavours of Pro Wrestling” by Taylor Ruddle Did you know that pro wrestling in different countries is actually really different from each other? Comedian and lifelong rasslin’ fan Taylor Ruddle takes us on a deep dive through the culture and styles of the 4 major professional wrestling cultures – America, Japan, Mexico and Europe. We will explore the cultural aspects of each country and how they influenced the unique presentation of the pro wrestling shows that they produce as well as some of the superstars in each region. Pro wrestling skeptics are most welcome, you might just come away with a newfound appreciation for the art form known to some as Redneck Anime.” Can you smell what The Rudd is cooking? Come along to find out! Taylor Ruddle is an award winning stand-up comedian based right here in Ōtautahi Christchurch. When not writing the most egregious puns, gags and goofs you’ve ever heard of he spends his days playing video games, watching pro wrestling or attempting to get fit. The key word there being attempting. Taylor hosts a podcast called Ruddle Me This available on all the podcast platforms as well as aired every Friday on Plains FM and performs stand-up comedy every week at The Austin Club in Christchurch. ————————What can young people teach adults about better sex and relationships?” Dr Tracy Clelland You learn a lot by listening to children and young people talk about relationships and sexuality when you have been an educator/researcher for 30 years. I have learned that adults get busy and forget the fundamentals of healthy, joyful and pleasurable relationships—elements that young people are told to work out for themselves. As one 16-year-old stated,” How do we learn about sex and relationships? It’s like Nike says, you just do it”. This talk will explore what children and young people can teach adults about nurturing the joy and pleasure of intimate relationships. Be prepared for an interactive talk where you may have to talk to the person next to you—just like in a relationship. Tracy is a relationship and sexuality educator, teacher, researcher, mother, adventurer, and former university lecturer. Fundamentally, Tracy is an advocate for people’s right to access sexual and reproductive healthcare and education that supports kōrero about sexuality. When she is not off backpacking in Africa, she can normally be found mountain biking in the hills. ———————— It’s NOT all about sugar: ultra-processed foods and their impact on mental health” by Julia Rucklidge Over the last few decades, scientists have been uncovering an uncomfortable truth: Our current modern food environment is affecting our mental health. In this talk, Prof Rucklidge will discuss what we know about food choices and mental health problems and simple ways to improve your diet for optimizing brain health. The talk intends to challenge our current approach for addressing mental health challenges in our community and suggest one avenue for big change. Professor Julia Rucklidge, a clinical psychologist, is the Director of Te Puna Toiora, the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Lab at the University of Canterbury. Originally from Canada, she’s a renowned clinical psychologist focusing on nutritional interventions for mental illnesses. Despite having no training in nutrition and lived off cheerios as a kid, she keeps getting invited to speak on food! With hundreds of publications and global talks, she advocates for healthy eating to enhance mental health. Notable achievements include co-authoring The Better Brain,” a TEDx talk with 5 million views, and receiving awards like the Ballin Award and being named one of New Zealand’s top 100 influential women. Nerd Nite ChCh Turns 20! Join us on the first Wednesday of every month! Next event is 1 May at Little Andromeda . 1 May Speakers Digital interfaces so bad that they’re good: a case study of parking meters” by Tim Bell Have you ever been frustrated using a digital device? Perhaps even had violent thoughts about it? Have you ever wondered why something that is pitched as user friendly” isn’t? The technical name for interfaces that suck is poor usability”. In this talk we’ll look at a particular case that provides a goldmine of usability problems: paying for car parking. Tim is a computer scientist who is kept away from society by being allowed to teach at the University of Canterbury. When teaching about digital interfaces, his philosophy is ‘don’t get mad, get even’; the worst interfaces he comes across are photographed and reported in his teaching. When he’s not computer sciencing, he sometimes manages to get out in public by playing in a band. ———————— A brief tour of the Universe over all space and time (in 15 mins)” by Karen Pollard As they say in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Space is big, really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to space.” In this talk, we’ll take a quick tour of the universe in space (which is big) and in time (which is also big) in 15 minutes (which is small). We’ll see how we go… Karen grew up in Christchurch wanting to find out more about space, particularly the stuff in space, …. which can be hard to study, because space is big, really big. Karen actually wanted to be an astronaut when she was small, but she suffered from terrible motion sickness, so she decided looking at stuff in space using a telescope was a much better idea. She is currently the Director of the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory in at Tekapo, which houses the largest optical telescopes in New Zealand, so she doesn’t have to buy her own. ———————— Parenting: the single greatest blockage to sustainabilityby Mr. G Despite growing pressure from global communities and decades of scientific arguments for sustainability and climate change, very little has been done to progress humanity on environmental and social progress. Why then, should we turn to parenting to unblock positive change? Mr. G is a Sustainability and Change Management Coach improving the sustainability journeys of companies, NGOs and Governments from Cambodia to Poland and now at home in New Zealand. His mahi has won him the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation’s Green Business Awards in Cambodia and helped push the sustainable business agenda for organizations such as the United Nations to the Royal Government of Cambodia. Recently he’s helped the Crusaders to the Christchurch Town Hall improve their waste diversion to above 80% averages. Nerd Nite #19: Gnomes, Sticks, and Recycling Tricks Join us on the first Wednesday of every month! Next event is 3 April at A Rolling Stone . Note: We have increased ticket prices by $5 so we can provide you with even more great nerdy content. As a thank you, all attendees on 3 April will be entered to win some of the nerdy new merchandise launching in a couple of months. 3 April Speakers Life Lessons from a Sentient Twig” by Dr Morgane Merien For animals, your appearance can make or break your survival. As renowned masters of camouflage, stick insects use their outward form to hide and deceive their predators. However, their deceiving looks are not their only trick. Stick insects have a range of adaptations which have allowed them to flourish throughout the world. In this talk, Morgane will help you learn why stick insects are amazing, and why they are now your favourite insect. Dr Morgane Merien has spent the past 8 years of her life looking for these sentient twigs in the New Zealand bush. After earning her...