If you're thirsty and have always wanted to know about looking for space microbes on Europa, what medieval people really thought about dragons, how to make energy from alternative sources, or what a philosopher has to say about what the heck is actually going on, come to Public Works! It's a free event in the style of Nerd Night but designed just for Ithaca. We're bringing a variety of intellectually-stimulating presentations right to you for your entertainment and educational pleasure at The Downstairs, the bar below The Watershed. Come hear talks given by Cornell and IC graduate students, professors, community experts, and everything in between! Each session will feature one to three accessible talks, followed by a Q&A session where audience participation is highly encouraged but not required!
Bring a friend, make a friend, ask an expert, and drink a beer!
The December 5th Public Works event will feature 2 talks:
an environmental engineering talk:
"What’s Next in Systems and Synthetic Biology for Sustainable Energy?"
by Buz Barstow
Assistant Professor in Biological and Environmental Engineering, Atkinson Center for Sustainability Senior Faculty Fellow, and Carl Sagan Institute Fellow
Synthetic biology has enormous potential for building sustainability and clean energy technologies. However, we’re unable to take advantage of much of this potential because our knowledge of much of the most interesting things that nature has to offer remain limited. I’ll start this talk by reviewing a few breakthroughs that my lab has made over the past few years in biomining rare earth elements for sustainable energy technologies, microbial electroactivity and upgrading photosynthesis, and new mechanisms for genetic engineering. Then, I’ll discuss what my lab intends to do next, including building a Microbe-Mineral Atlas to discover new mechanisms that will allow highly efficient mining of metals; development of hyper-engineer able microbes; and how to use them to build high-performance autotrophic microbes.
and a publishing talk:
"On Strike Against God: Reflecting on 1970s Feminism Today"
by Alec Pollak
PhD Candidate in the Department of Literatures in English at Cornell University
"Let's be reasonable. Let's demand the impossible." These words end On Strike Against God, a slim, long-lost lesbian novel set in Ithaca New York, by feminist science-fiction author Joanna Russ. Out of print for 40 years and now, finally, available again through the Feminist Press, On Strike Against God follows Esther, a Cornell English professor, as she has her first lesbian love affair and struggles to make sense of her life anew.
On Strike Against God is an artifact of 1970s feminism, in good ways and bad: it's angry, controversial, and blunt. It's uninterested in nuance. It doesn't pull punches, and it doesn't apologize. It seeks to agitate, challenge, and offend. In so many ways, it's an easy target--ripe for critique. And yet, in a post-Roe v. Wade world, and on the precipice Trump 2.0, much of the novel rings urgently--and eerily--true today.
What lessons can we learn from generations of feminists past, as history's clocks turn backwards? Alec Pollak recounts the process of rescuing, editing, and republishing On Strike Against God in 2024, and considers how, in light of November's election, we might engage feminist writings of yesteryear.
Time and Location
First Wednesday of every month, 7 PM.
The Downstairs
121 W. State Street
Ithaca, NY
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We want to hear from you! Come talk to us at a Public Works event or send us a message at ithacapublicworks@gmail.com. Are you an academic? Feel free to list your Public Works talk as an outreach event on your CV! Are you not an academic? We still want to hear from you!
