OMSI Hosts Virtual Science Pubs

On Tuesdays, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) is hosting free virtual science pubs via Facebook Live. The local science center has kicked off a new online series of short talks on topics such as geology, ethology and physics.

Since OMSI’s Facebook page is public, you can watch the livestream even without a Facebook account. Visit their page to tune in.  You can also watch the live event on their Youtube channel.

The virtual science pubs are free, but OMSI does encourage a $5 donation that can be made on their website.

Here are the descriptions and details about the upcoming virtual science pubs.

OMSI Virtual Science Pubs

Mt. St. Helens Eruption 40th Anniversary

Forty years ago, Mount St. Helens experienced a cataclysmic eruption. On May 18, 1980, the northern side of the volcano collapsed, triggering a forceful blast that raced across the landscape, an explosive eruption column that rose vertically in the air, pyroclastic flows that swept down the mountain, and a series of large mudflows that raced down river valleys toward the Columbia River. What did this eruption teach us about volcanic processes and management of volcanic crises?  And most importantly, where do we go from here?

As a research geologist, Heather Wright spends a lot of time traversing the flanks of volcanoes around the globe, studying ash and pumice deposits to reconstruct eruptive histories and to provide clues about the inner workings of active volcanoes. Her research focuses on understanding what controls the style of eruption produced during volcanic crises and how to forecast activity prior to an eruption. Mount St. Helens is one of her favorite volcanoes, with its numerous explosive eruptions, outpourings of lava, and dome-building phases that have both constructed and destroyed its snow-clad edifice over a 270,000-year history. Of particular interest are the multiple eruptions in 1980 and the conditions under which magma is currently stored beneath the volcano.

Heather works for the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program (VDAP) in Vancouver, Washington, a cooperative partnership between the USGS and USAID’s Office for Foreign Disaster Assistance. Her job involves many functions, including conducting international training courses, participating in volcanic crisis response efforts, and performing fundamental scientific research on volcanic processes.

This talk is scheduled for Monday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m.

VFX for Stop Motion at LAIKA

Over the past 15 years, LAIKA has created five award-winning films using a unique blend of stop motion animation and cutting-edge technology. This presentation will be an overview of the studio’s production process. We’ll begin with the basics of stop-motion animation and then, step-by-step, examine how LAIKA VFX artists leverage technology and craftsmanship in order to create a final, film-ready image. Multiple case studies will be examined and behind-the-scenes footage from the studio’s latest film, Missing Link will be shared.

Steve Emerson is an Oscar-nominated visual effects supervisor. He has contributed to each of LAIKA’s award-winning films: Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings and Missing Link. Prior to joining LAIKA, Steve spent nearly twenty years working in feature film visual effects as an artist and technical director.

This talk is scheduled for Tuesday, May 26 at 6:30 p.m.

Elections

Will the losers believe the results of the 2020 election? Mathematician and former election official Stephanie Singer will discuss the credibility of American elections, special challenges in a time of pandemic, and some ways data science can help verify election results.

Stephanie Singer (Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University) has assembled, analyzed and explained data for private business, public agencies, campaigns and election oversight. Her public service projects have been funded by the National Science Foundation and the Knight Foundation. Her client list includes the Orange County Registrar of Voters, the open source election technology company Free & Fair and the nonpartisan nonprofit Verified Voting. From 2012-2016 she served on the Philadelphia County Board of Elections — including one year as chair — improving communication, modernizing processes, rooting out corruption and protecting voters’ rights. She won the post by defeating a 36-year incumbent in a citywide election. Singer co-chaired the statewide Election Reform Committee of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and is an active member of the national Election Verification Network. Singer studied math and computer science at Yale and Stanford, completed a Ph.D. at New York University and earned tenure from Haverford College. She has written two books on mathematical physics. 

This talk is scheduled for Thursday, May 28 at 6:30 p.m.

After the lectures there will be a Q&A session. You will be able to easily ask your questions via the comment section on the Facebook Live. For more information, visit OMSI’s website.

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