Nerd Nite St. Pete

We launched Nerd Nite St. Pete in February 2019 and had just enough time to perfect our craft before the pandemic forced us to take a break. Have no fear! We have been dusting off our nerd gear, practicing in front of a mirror, and getting ready to bring you the best monthly lecture event with an inebriated, salacious, and yet deeply academic vibe. Join us to hear about everything from deep sea creatures to wimpy clouds to obscure but exciting video games, and everything in between.

Saturday, September 19th, 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

In this nerdscursion, former speaker Jasmine Scott, and her teammates Ashley Wyland and Leslie Caplin, take us on a guided bus tour of the Pinellas County Solid Waste Management Complex.

Description:

Pinellas County manages over one million tons of garbage each year at the Solid Waste Disposal Complex! This tour provides an overview of Pinellas County’s integrated solid waste management system, including the Waste-to-Energy facility, landfill, recycling programs and the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Center. Join this behind-the-scenes tour to see what happens to your garbage when you throw it away. Learn about the County’s vision of zero waste to landfill by 2050 and what you can do to reduce waste to conserve our landfill for future generations. This event includes a classroom presentation and a guided driving tour in a van through the Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex. Participants stay in the tour vehicle the entire driving tour. The driving tour is subject to change depending on site conditions.

Location: Pinellas County Solid Waste Disposal Complex Education Building, 2940 110th Avenue North, St. Petersburg. (Note: Please do not go to the Solid Waste Administration building on 114th Avenue.)

Accessibility: Walking is not required for the tour. Walking is limited to and from the parking lot and to the tour classroom and tour vehicle. There are no stairs at the facility; however, there are several steps to get into the vehicle.

Weather: In case of inclement weather, the event will go on!

Purchase tickets: https://events.humanitix.com/nerdscursion-a-trash-tour

Upon ticket purchase, this liability waiver form will be required: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1tK2Nywgu0tQapBZINiIMmH0JFO4YL4N4Kbjh9rxjD40/edit

*Nerd Nite St. Pete is hosted at Coastal Creative *
Doors open at 6pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Food Trucks:

Carupano Kitchen: https://www.carupanokitchen.com/

Hangry Hungarian: https://www.hangryhungarian.com/

Event date: September, 2026. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets at Humanitix.

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Will Lorenzin presents Back to the Land: Conservation Burial and Environmental Land Conservation

Once upon a time it was said that the only certainties in life are death and taxes (Billionaires have successfully cut out the taxes certainty). This presentation discusses environmental land conservation in general and conservation burial specifically. Conservation burial gives us the option of returning to the earth naturally while preserving natural ecosystems.

Ursula Szczepinska and Chief Anthony Holloway presen Using Lessons from History to Shape Police Training

Did you know that German Police officers were complicit in the murders of millions of people during the Holocaust? Because of this, The Florida Holocaust Museum works with law enforcement agencies across the state of Florida to teach state and local officers the lessons of the Holocaust to stay vigilant against “just following orders”.

The FHM’s Senior Director of Education and Research, Ursula Szczepinska and St Pete Police Chief, Anthony Holloway, will co-present on this remarkable yet little known program.

Dr. Rachael Meir presents Nobody Chose Monogamy. They Just Never Questioned It. A Psychologist’s Case Against Inherited Love Stories

Most of us spent zero minutes consciously choosing monogamy and approximately 10,000 hours absorbing it from Disney movies, rom-coms, and whoever cast Ryan Gosling. As a psychologist, relationship coach, and author of 50 Questions To Ask Before Opening Your Relationship , I spend my days working with people who are questioning that rulebook or navigating relationship structures that come with a limited cultural roadmap. The conversations people exploring ethical non-monogamy and polyamory are forced to have — about beliefs, attachment, and what they actually want from love versus what they were taught to want — are conversations everyone deserves to have. This is a 15-minute, judgment-free, occasionally funny look at relationship autopilot, what it costs us, and the surprisingly simple questions that can change everything. No recruiting for polyamory, no relationship structure required — just a psychologist who has lived this herself and thinks the most loving thing you can do in a relationship is actually choose it.

*Nerd Nite St. Pete is hosted at Coastal Creative *
Doors open at 6pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Food Trucks:

Carupano Kitchen: https://www.carupanokitchen.com/

Event date: August 25, 2026. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets at Humanitix.

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Julie Rocco presents Who Holds the Mic?

What if the most powerful expertise isn’t found in institutions, but in lived experience? This talk explores narrative psychology, the role stories play in shaping identity and behavior, and how control over narrative is deeply tied to power. We’ll look at how shifting who gets to tell the story—centering voices often overlooked—can transform communities, influence systems, and create new pathways for connection and belonging. Through the lens of What I Would Have Missed, a storytelling platform for suicide ideation, attempt, and loss survivors, I’ll share how redistributing narrative authority can move us from observation to participation, reminding us that the stories we carry—and choose to share—have the power to change not just how we see ourselves, but how we build community together.

Mike Munger presents Your Property Taxes and How They Are Spent

With property taxes suddenly becoming interesting, I feel some duty as a local public servant to pull back the curtain and explain how local governments spend our property tax dollars. Most people have a general idea, but if you only knew “how the sausage gets made” behind the scenes, you would likely have a greater appreciation for how much gets done with limited resources. If there is an opportunity now to get residents engaged with their local government, I have some responsibility to share what I know.

Meredith Moran presents Paws with a Purpose: The science and soul of animal assisted therapy

Think therapy dogs are just a fluffy bonus? Think again. This talk breaks down the neuroscience of why animals make us measurably calmer, smarter about our emotions, and more willing to open up — and explains the surprisingly rigorous world of clinical animal assisted therapy, from ESAs and service dogs all the way to law enforcement investigative therapy dogs. You’ll meet Gilbert Oliver Moran, a certified MDT-K9 who co-therapists alongside a licensed trauma clinician working with first responders, military personnel, and incarcerated individuals — and learn why a badge-carrying cop who won’t talk to a therapist will absolutely talk to a dog. It’s part neuroscience, part dog content, and 100% evidence-based.

*Nerd Nite St. Pete is hosted at Coastal Creative *
Doors open at 6pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Food Trucks:
Hangry Hungarian: https://www.hangryhungarian.com/

Carupano Kitchen: https://www.carupanokitchen.com/

Event date: July 28, 2026. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets at Humanitix.

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Dr. Aissa McGuirl presents Connect the Body Dots to the Nervous System: The missing link in your health, fitness, relationships, career, and business.

Dr. Aissa McGuirl will teach on what the nervous system is, how this shows up in the problems that we face in every day life and what are some practical tips on how to work with our natural wiring so we can all show up better in every area of our lives. She will show how breath and movement can help in so many areas.

Lani Gonzales presents What No One Ever Taught Women About Power

Women were never powerless. They were simply disconnected from the forms of power men didn’t know how to measure. Modern society defines power through productivity, competition, hierarchy, and domination—systems built by men and optimized for male biology. And they work. Unless you’re a woman.

This talk explores the uncomfortable possibility that women were never meant to succeed by mimicking male models of power—and what science reveals about the forms of influence and perception women possess that modern culture quietly trains them to ignore.

Adam Ryan presents The Spice Rack Playbook: Reclaiming Sports, Healing Trauma, and Kicking Balls

Is it possible to heal decades of sports-induced anxiety with a single runway strut to home plate? We are diving into the sociology of the dugout to explore how the Saint Pete LGBTQIA+ kickball scene is dismantling the toxic “win at all costs” culture of our youth. From the psychology of crop top allyship to the logistics of leading a team that celebrates losing by ten points, this session breaks down how to build an environment that prioritizes neurodiversity and HotMess energy over the scoreboard. Come learn why making mistakes is the most important play in the game of life.

*Nerd Nite St. Pete is hosted at Coastal Creative *
Doors open at 6pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Food Trucks:
Hangry Hungarian: https://www.hangryhungarian.com/

Carupano Kitchen: https://www.carupanokitchen.com/

Event date: June 30, 2026. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets at Humanitix.

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Lauren Purdin presents The Fascial Matrix: How your Toe is Connected to your Head

Your body isn’t just a collection of muscles and bones—it’s wrapped, woven, and held together by an incredible connective tissue called fascia. Once dismissed as biological packing material, fascia is now understood to play a major role in movement, stability, pain, and injury prevention. In this talk, you’ll learn how fascia connects your entire body, why tension shows up far from the original problem, and why you can’t seem to get rid of that shoulder ache. You’ll never think about your body—or stretching—the same way again. Content warning: includes images of human dissection.

Emily Oster presents The Greatest Invention Ever for (Limiting) Humankind.

Humans quickly realized that sex could lead to pregnancy. Not long after this early “aha!” moment, humans realized they needed a way to prevent it. From weasel testicles, fish bladder condoms, to “The Pill” that changed it all, this talk will explore the history of birth control, the invention of a “magic pill”, and the future innovations for contraception.

Jameka Williams presents Rent Is Too Damn High: A Nerdy Guide to Fixing It

Housing isn’t broken because we lack ideas—it’s broken because we keep building the wrong stuff. When we only build luxury or deeply subsidized housing, nothing scales, but mixed-income, city-led housing actually works (yes, like roommates, but for a whole building). So if we want a livable city, the answer is pretty simple: build more homes, in more ways, and stop overthinking it -other cities are doing it and St. Pete can do it too!

*Nerd Nite St. Pete will be at Coastal Creative in May*
Food Trucks: Carupano Kitchen and Franca’s Pizza

Event date: May 26, 2026. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets at Humanitix.

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Kelli Nielsen presents Pain Is Inevitable. Suffering Is Automatic

We all experience pain, it’s wired into our biology. But neuroscience reveals something surprising: suffering isn’t inevitable, it’s automatic. Your brain runs deeply embedded scripts, beliefs and stories written long ago that automatically activate when pain arrives, transforming simple hurt into full-blown suffering. This talk explores the gap between pain and suffering, how your subconscious narratives hijack your experience, and why the good news is your brain can be rewired. Your circumstances aren’t creating suffering, it’s the stories you tell yourself about them. By bringing awareness to these automatic patterns, you can interrupt the suffering loop and find genuine relief, not by denying pain, but by understanding it differently. Perfect for anyone curious about neuroscience, psychology, resilience, and why the same situation affects different people so differently.

Alex Kaufman presents Will It Cut? The Science of CNC Waterjets

90,000 PSI of cold water blasting through a 0.015-inch diamond orifice, slicing through almost any material on Earth. While this sounds like science fiction, it is actually the reality of the WATERJET, one of the more elusive but interesting CNC technologies in the world today. Part surgical instrument, part industrial monster – the waterjet is the tool of choice for engineers, fabricators, and artists pushing the limits of precision and possibility. Join designer, engineer, and artist Alex Kaufman for a fast-paced dive into the science of waterjet cutting, featuring real-world public artworks made right here in St. Petersburg.

Alison Barlow presents Innovation District: Where Nerds, Startups, and Scientists Collide

What do you get when you mix a bunch of problem-solvers, caffeine-fueled entrepreneurs, and lab-coated innovators in one area? The Innovation District — our own science-meets-tech playground. It’s where ideas crash into each other (sometimes literally), and sparks of creativity turn into world-changing projects. Come hear how we are building the future — one wild idea, experiment, and collaboration at a time.

**Special Nerd Nite at the Palladium. Where nerds go epic (again).

Doors open at 6:00pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online via Humanitix.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Check out this month’s speakers:

Maureen McDole presents: How Being a Punk Rocker Saved My life. Advice for these current times.

Our world is changing fast, and adopting a punk ethos can help us navigate these radical times. I’ll share the ways that punk rock continues to inspires me in forging a career and lifestyle which celebrates being resourceful, unique, and innovative. I will show how to use the tools we already have on hand to help create a better world for all, regardless of what the status quo is telling us.

Gabe Alves presents: From Fear to Fabulous: A Journey to Authentic

What happens when you follow the Good Book very closely… and it still doesn’t make you straight? In this candid, heartfelt, and occasionally hilarious talk, I’ll take you from evangelical golden child to pastor, husband, seminarian, conversion-therapy “graduate,” and—plot twist—still gay. Along the way: shame, seminary, a treatment center in Tennessee, a spectacular unraveling, and the painful, messy beauty of coming out. It’s a story about losing faith in fear, finding a real therapist (highly recommend), building a chosen tribe, and discovering that authenticity, joy, and spirituality don’t have to be enemies—they can actually save your life.

Angela Romeo presents: Pinellas County’s most vulnerable housing stock: how to preserve manufactured housing as permanently affordable.

This presentation explores the unique vulnerabilities of manufactured housing communities in Pinellas County, where residents own their homes but not the land beneath them. With little protection around rent increases, utility management, and infrastructure upkeep, homeowners remain at the mercy of landowners—despite having invested in their housing. We’ll examine the history of manufactured housing in Pinellas, the risks of this ownership model, and the urgent need for solutions. Finally, we’ll highlight limited equity cooperatives as a proven, sustainable economic model that empowers residents, preserves affordability, and strengthens community resilience.

May 16th, 10 a.m.-12 p.m.:

Join Stewards of Our Urban Lakes (SOUL) for a guided “SOUL Safari” through Crescent Lake, where science, restoration, and community collide in beautiful ways. Led by veteran ecologist Jim Bays and a team of passionate lake stewards, this walking tour transforms a familiar park into a living laboratory.

Along the way, you’ll uncover:

• The history of St. Pete’s urban lakes
• How pollution, runoff, and time reshaped these ecosystems
• The real-world science behind restoring water quality and habitat
• What’s working, what’s not, and what comes next

Sign up here: Nerd Nite St. Pete Events

*Nerd Nite St. Pete will be at Coastal Creative in March*

Food Trucks open at 5:30pm:
Carúpano Kitchen, https://www.carupanokitchen.com
Francas Pizza, https://www.francas-pizza.com/

Doors open at 5:30pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91 on Humanitix.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Check out this month’s speakers:

Leila Martini presents There’s a Word For That: Untangling Taxonomy

What do filing cabinets, Netflix categories, and government websites have in common? They all depend on taxonomy — the quiet hero (and occasional villain) of how we find things. In this talk, we’ll peek inside a real-life taxonomy tangle from the world of public health, play a quick audience quiz, and prove that organizing knowledge can actually be weirdly fun — and absolutely essential for making sense of our digital lives.

Heidi Davis presents History of Voting Legislation in St Pete

Take a walk through the history of Voting Legislation from the Declaration of Independence to today.

I spent 35 years in Corporate America before retiring. Now I focus my time on volunteering for the League of Women Voters, co-chairing Voter Services and acting as the team lead for the Vote411 Voter Guide for Pinellas County and the Florida state league.

JD Adler presents From Grimm to Disney… what stories tell us about the teller

Every story changes with the telling and the teller. Each re-telling over time tell us more than just the story. They show us how the craft of storytelling has developed. It also tells about the person and the culture from which the version comes.

**Special Nerd Nite at the Palladium. Where nerds go epic.

Doors open at 6:00pm. Presentations begin promptly at 7pm.

Tickets are $6.91. All tickets will be sold online.
No need to print tickets: Give us your name and we will check you in.

Check out this month’s speakers:

William Rickus presents The Miraculous Sex Life of Eels

Eels living in fresh and brackish waters throughout North America all leave the continent to gather in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the fall to spawn and die. Their eggs float northward in the Gulf Stream as they transform into larval eels that somehow know to swim west to North American rivers and estuaries. After 10-20 years living and growing inland, they swim back out into the Atlantic spawning grounds. Think about how the DNA in an eel egg includes the instructions to direct the larval eels to go west into freshwater and to lead the adult eels to find each other in one location in the vast ocean😳. Definitely miraculous!!

Luis Seixas presents Art and Science in collision. An introduction to Art Conservation

There are still misconceptions about art conservation. Are you an artist? People often ask. Sort of. Or, do you really use saliva to clean fine art? And that’s a solid, yes, I do. What attracted me to art conservation was the problem-solving, specifically of complex materials like ancient bronzes. There’s also the obvious head crash between arts and science – chemistry and physics in particular. It is exactly in the right balance of knowledge and proficiency in these opposite fields, that the solutions for the incessant work for preservation of the world’s cultural heritage rely upon.

Karli Kucko presents Becoming a Vulvagenius: Unlocking the Secrets to Women’s Pleasure

Women are 3x more likely to “O” in relationships with other women than with men, and most women in relationships with men say they have faked it. Despite men’s best efforts and intentions, many are not equipped with the knowledge they need to really knock her socks off. In this spicy talk, we’ll bust some common myths about female pleasure, explore what men get wrong, and give you one simple but powerful framework to immediately level up your confidence and connection in bed. If you’ve ever felt unsure, stuck, or like your partner’s body is a mystery, this is your chance to change that. Come get a taste—pun intended.