Nerd Nite Hong Kong is back in June, with a lineup of fantastic speakers talking about all kinds of nerdy goodness!

Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Edition #3
Date: 26th June 2017
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Mr. Tom Champion
Topic: Hold my beer: A little taste of brewing science
Quick Nerdisms: Beer, glorious beer. Come grab a pint of liquid gold and hear about why beer has bubbles, how many buckets a brewer scrubs per annum, and everything in between. Wine drinkers welcome – albeit begrudgingly…
Nerd Cred: Tom Champion is Head Brewer at the Little Creatures Brewpub in Kennedy Town. He graduated in Chemical Engineering in his hometown of Perth in Australia, got bored of digging up rocks, and decided brewing beer might be more rewarding. Having worked with Little Creatures for the last 8 years at their three breweries, his passion for great beer has grown exponentially. Tom is now the Vice-President of the Craft Beer Association Hong Kong, and is eager to be a valuable contributor to the growing craft beer scene in Hong Kong.

Speaker 2: Dr. Benoit Guénard
Topic: What we know we know, what we know we don’t know, what we don’t know we know, what we don’t know we don’t know
Quick Nerdisms: The geographic and biological exploration of the world has for centuries driven humanity and lead explorers to land foot on remote continents, islands, the highest mountain peaks or to collect the most incredible, largest, or colourful specimens of animals and plants. At a time when most of the Earth surface is accessible from the same screen you are reading those lines, Humanity is now seeking to explore new planets, comets or the outer bound of our Solar System.
But in 2017, how much of life on Earth is known?
More than ever, while many ecosystems around the world are under siege by human activities, species discoveries and their conservation represent a major endeavour. However to protect biodiversity, one must first address these questions. What compose biodiversity? Where is it located? How many species are still unknown to Science? How the limitations in our knowledge impact our abilities to conserve biodiversity? After presenting a global perspective, I will focus more precisely on the situation in Hong Kong and use ants, my study-organism, as an example to illustrate what we know and what we don’t. Finally, I will introduce ways on how citizens can contribute directly to biodiversity research.
Nerd Cred: Dr. Benoit Guénard is an Assistant Professor of the University of Hong Kong since 2014. His research focuses on diversity patterns of ants, the mechanisms that drive their diversity for the past 100 million years, their roles within ecosystems – good or bad-, and in the development of tools that allow the identification of knowledge gaps and the increase of species discovery rate and conservation. He is leading the Global Ant Biodiversty Informatics project (GABI) and its associated online application www.antmaps.org; as well as the author of over 50 international scientific publications.

Speaker 3: Ms. Li Meng De Bakker
Topic: Opera: A Social Story
Quick Nerdisms: The social role of opera has continuously evolved since its emergence in 17th century Italy. Who frequented the opera house, and why? How did monarchs and, later, the nation state use opera as a political tool? Finally, what role does opera play in society today? The answer is a complex one, tracing the cultural, class and economic tides that shaped modern European history.
Nerd Cred: Li Meng de Bakker recently completed a master’s degree in music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. As a freelance writer, she has interviewed musicians and conductors for local English print media. Her other music nerd credits include performing with the Hong Kong Bach Choir for 3 seasons, and supporting vocalists on the keyboard at live music venues in the city.