We’re hosting our fun, nerdy nights on the first Wednesday of EVERY MONTH
next event is 5 July at Cascade Bar (note the new venue).
5 July Speakers
“3D Printing Stop Motion: Solving A Challenge, Creating Another”
by Dale Hayward
Technology may be the solution for a lot of problems, but it can inevitably open up the door for many new challenges. Join Dale Hayward as he takes you behind the scenes on how he and his team used the latest in 3D printing technology to bring his epic stop motion film, Bone Mother to life, proving that innovation and challenges always go hand in hand, sometimes in hilarious ways.
Dale Hayward is an animator, director, and co-founder of See Creature Productions and See Learn Academy. When not collaborating with brands like Nike and Hot Wheels or working on projects like Netflix’s The Little Prince or Kiri and Lou, he can be found running in the hills with his kids or finding some strange thing to animate with his wife.
————————
“Weird Ideas in Pest Control”
by Pamela Niskanen
Put down that aphid sprayer, gardeners, you’re just making pesticide-resistant aphids, and the chemicals are running off into our waterways. The natural way of making that aphid go away is biocontrol: introducing a predator, but that comes with its own set of problems. Learn about the extraordinary steps taken by scientists to find a solution that freaks out aphids, while leaving the ecology of your garden intact.
Pamela Niskanen is a freelance science writer living in Christchurch, New Zealand, with interests in plant biology, ecology, conservation and biosecurity.
————————
“‘Dear Sir: Please remove your pig’: Life as an Inspector of Nuisances in Early Christchurch”
by Annabel Armstrong-Clarke
The Inspector of Nuisances was a role established in 1862, in the very early days of the Christchurch City Council. With no sewage system, no drainage, no rubbish collection, no Board of Health, limited roads and footpaths, and few by-laws yet established – this was a city filled with many ‘nuisances’ and the Inspector had a very busy life. By looking at their reports from 1862-1877, presently being digitised and made publicly available, they give colour (and smell) to our picture of life in the early days of the city.
Annabel Armstrong-Clarke is the Archivist for the Christchurch City Council. She has a strong interest in making the collection more visible and accessible to the citizens of the city, and is digitising these early records as fast as funds allow (although acknowledges not everyone needs to be as obsessed about early drainage systems as she is).