Paparo's 'Geek Talks,' Featuring SoMAS Faculty, Are Making Science Fun
David Taylor, assistant professor of sustainability studies in Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), will present “Paddling Around Paumanok: A Kayak Trip Around Long Island to Home,” on Thursday, Feb. 10, as part of the “Geek Talk” series hosted by Chris Paparo, manager of the SoMAS Marine Sciences Center at Stony Brook Southampton.
Taylor’s talk is a personal narrative about a journey of day paddling trips over three years around the whole of Long Island, starting and ending behind his home on the Peconic River. The narrative will feature extensive research about place, natural history, changes in bays, seas and shoreline.
The paddling distance around Long Island is approximately 300 miles with most of it inside bays and some on the open ocean. Taylor said the trip served as a chance for him to “learn more about this place, the expanse of it, and in the process give myself a small, myth-making experience.”
Paparo has been hosting local science and nature talks since 2014, and “Geek Talk” is held every other Thursday night at übergeek Brewing Company at 400 Hallett Avenue in Riverhead. Festivities begin at 7 pm and the lectures start at 8 pm.
Paparo said for each series, about half of the speakers are, like Taylor, affiliated with Stony Brook University. The talks attract upwards of 100 guests who can enjoy craft beer and dine on selections from local food trucks. The series has thrived thanks to great word of mouth and those following Paparo on Instagram at Fish Guy Photos.
Spring 2022 Geek Talk Schedule
Feb. 10 “Paddling Around Paumanok” with David Taylor, Sustainability Studies, SoMAS
Feb. 24 “Rocks and Hopes – The Geology of Beer” with Cate Larson
Mar. 10 “Journey of Hope – The Irish in New York”with Tara Rider, Sustainability Studies, SoMAS
Mar. 24 “Peepers, Salamanders and Fairy Shrimp” with Enrico Nardone
Apr. 7 “Hungry Hungry Humpbacks” with Julia Stepanuk, Department of Ecology and Evolution
Apr. 21 “Baby Critters and Tiny Monsters” with Hannah Blair, SoMAS
May 5 “Just Like Dracula: Do bats hold the key to fighting old age?” with Alexis Brown, Department of Ecology and Evolution
June 2 “Shark ID – From the Air, Land and Sea” with Greg Metzger, SOFO shark research team
June 16 “Mysteries of the Montauk Project” with Brian Minnick
June 30 “Comets, Asteroids and Near Earth Objects” with Steven Bellavia, Custer Institute and Observatory