Science & Suds, Event 5

This series support student fellowships at CDLS, turning good beer and great conversation into real impact.

We believe science belongs in community spaces — not just classrooms and conferences. That’s why we’re teaming up with Los Angeles Ale Works – Culver City for Science & Suds, a new series where CDLS Fellows and members of the community make science social, accessible, and fun for an adult audience.

Join us for our fifth event on September 8 from 7 pm – 8:30 pm for engaging talks from researchers tackling big questions about our environment, our communities, and our future.

Your $5 RSVP will be matched by LA Ale Works. RSVPs aren’t required, but space is limited, and an RSVP helps us plan (and maximize the donation!).

Please note: this is a 21+ event.

Emily Hawkins

Icy moons in our solar system and their potential for life

Come discover why some moons in our solar system may be the most promising places—aside from Earth—to harbor alien life. We’ll explore why some moons show real potential while others are far less likely to support life. We’ll learn about the essential ingredients for life, with a specific focus on how vital nutrients might be transported through the subsurface oceans believed to exist beneath the icy crusts of many moons. Upcoming space missions that aim to uncover signs of life on these intriguing worlds will also be highlighted.

Dr. Emily Hawkins is an Assistant Professor of Physics at Loyola Marymount University, where she conducts experiments to study oceans and atmospheres on Earth and other bodies in space. She earned her Ph.D. in the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences at UCLA, where she studied geophysics and space physics. Her current efforts focus on better constraining the ocean physics of the subsurface oceans of Europa and Enceladus, icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. She is passionate about involving undergraduate students of all backgrounds in her research.

Zoe Pierrat

Human impacts on the water cycle in California

California’s working lands – farms, forests, and outdoor recreation areas – generate more than $333 billion in sales, $85 billion in earnings, and provide more than 1.5 million jobs. These lands are threatened by a changing climate, where we expect more frequent, severe drought and extreme swings in precipitation from dry to wet conditions. From 2022-2023, California experienced these extreme swings where severe drought in 2022 was followed by historic rainfall in 2023. In this talk, I will show how NASA’s computational models and satellite data can separate natural shifts in the water cycle from human influences like irrigation or forest management, and how extreme climate events affect these contributions. Ultimately, this work helps us understand future water availability in California and what steps are necessary for protecting our water resources.

Dr. Zoe Amie Pierrat is a postdoctoral scholar at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Starting November 1st, she will be an Assistant Professor in Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She studies plants’ role in carbon and water cycles in a changing climate using remote sensing from leaf to globe. She is building partnerships with local government agencies and nonprofits to develop remote sensing products for meeting sustainability goals.

Location

Los Angeles Ale Works – Culver City
8809 Washington Blvd, Suite 132, Culver City, CA 90232

Please note Los Angeles Ale Works has multiple venues. This event is at the Culver City location. See the image below to see where to park and how to find the entrance.