The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Climate Communications Initiative (CCI) aims to coordinate efforts across the Academies to successfully address public questions about climate change, develop innovative approaches for communicating and disseminating climate information, and provide easy access to evidence-based findings and explanations of climate change to various audiences. The CCI will enable the Academies to advise the nation in more nimble and responsive ways, pulling from the deep and diverse body of work from the institution’s seven programmatic divisions and three honorific societies.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine have put in place an Advisory Committee to provide expert oversight and guidance for the plan; part of their process is to convene an in-person meeting (to be held on March 6) to gather input. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine welcomes you to join their meeting via webcast, and participate in this full-day meeting!

To register for the webinar or for more information, visit eventbrite.com.

Free to attend, donations appreciated. Work on your bird watching skills while helping the Arboretum monitor bird populations on a fun, relaxed morning walk. Join the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center on the second Saturday of each month at the front door of the building for a two-hour bird walk led by Kelsey Low and Theo Ostler, a resident bird enthusiast. We welcome all levels of bird watching skill and all ages (as long as you’re quiet) – but no dogs, please! If you have binoculars of your own, please bring them. We do have some binoculars available to borrow. For more events with the Houston Arboretum & Nature Center, visit their Events Calendar!

Workdays are held once a month, October through March on the second Saturday of the month. We start work around 8:30 AM and work until about noon, when we break for lunch, provided by Houston Audubon and prepared by the lunch crew. Lunch at the picnic area of Boy Scout Woods is a good chance to visit with other volunteers and recharge from a morning of exercise and work. After lunch, we take about an hour to tie up any loose ends and clean up.

Come be a part of sanctuary maintenance, habitat restoration, and Houston Audubon’s amazing volunteer workforce. Email Pete Deichmann at pdeichmann@houstonaudubon.org for more information or to be put on the email list.

• November 10
• December 8
• January 12
• February 9
• March 9

Join the Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) for the Parks and Natural Areas (PNA) Roundtable on Monday, March 12, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at H-GAC Conference Room A, Second Floor. The PNA Roundtable is open to anyone interested in participating.

The topic of the meeting is Maintenance and Beyond. Speakers will discuss parks as flood mitigation and park maintenance before and after large-scale events. H-GAC staff will discuss upcoming PNA activities. A roundtable discussion will follow the presentations.

The PNA Roundtable serves as a forum for discussion of issues related to parks and natural areas, promotes the PNA Award Program, and maintains a regional inventory of parks. The PNA roundtable facilitates information exchange and planning efforts between various stakeholders and collaborators to protect and preserve parks and natural areas across the region.

Register to attend in-person or to attend via webinar.

For more information, visit h-gac.com.

Mayor Landrieu will discuss lessons learned from a natural disaster.

The Bitter Herbs of Passover presented by Jean Fefer, PhD.
You can contribute to the educational value of Wednesday’s program by bringing a food item to the pot-luck dinner that contains at least one bitter ingredient. This is easier than it sounds – there are all the endives, chicories, and cruciferous vegetables to choose from; quinoa, millet or amaranth; artichokes, eggplant or white asparagus; anything with citrus (especially the peel); and anything flavored with chocolate, beer, or coffee. If that’s not enough inspiration, here is a list of herbs classified as bitter – peppermint, dandelion, arugula, cilantro, oregano, sorrel, chamomile, lovage, chervil, thyme, marjoram, sage, rosemary, tarragon, and bay leaves. And bitter spices to consider include turmeric, fenugreek, cardamom, pepper, and ginger.
If you have any of these herbs growing in your garden, please bring a few stalks to share. This will help make a Bitter program a Sweet experience for all!

H-GAC is hosting a series of seminars and hands-on workshops to learn to use H-GAC’s interactive web applications for community and transportation planning. Participants will have access to computers to participate in an interactive session to master the use of these online applications.

A webinar option is also available; however, hands-on activities will be presented to in-person attendees only.

• Seminar 1: Demographic Explorer and Snapshot - Thursday, March 22
  
• Seminar 2: Regional Employment Snapshot & Commute Patterns - Thursday, April 26
• Seminar 3: Activity-Connectivity Explorer - Thursday, May 24

Seminar 1 focuses on the Demographic Explorer and Snapshot which provides quick and easy access to US Census American Community Survey data

Learn how to customize the data displayed to fit your needs:

• Draw and select an area of interest
• Query the data for more information
• Perform market analysis
• Summarize and download data
• Directly use the demographic snapshot tool and maps for presentations

For more information, visit h-gac.com.

Vox Culture will be continuing its 2018 Homegrown Initiative addressing the environment with “Homegrown: Green Innovation”.   Vox Culture is hosting this event in partnership with Houstainable. Based locally, Houstainable seeks to build and enable the platform for clean technology entrepreneurs and sustainable capital to thrive in Houston.

Together, the organizations are bringing a select group of rising Houston startups that are building and implementing new technologies to encourage local innovation and address the various environmental issues that plague Houston and the world. Also featured will be environment related art work created by Houston artist Johnathon Michael Espinoza – who will also talk about the possible intersection of arts and green businesses.

Discover how superheroes like the Avengers use chemistry to keep villains in check and save the world, and how forensic chemistry can help real-life crime fighters. Join Dr. Burks as she shares her experiences, from working in a crime lab to being a professor and TV personality, all while developing research tools for chemical sleuthing.
We encourage attendees to dress up as their favorite superhero and join us at this family friendly event. We ask that costumes do NOT include facsimiles of weapons (including toys or props).
Dr. Raychelle Burks is a professor at St. Edwards University who enjoys the challenge of developing methods for detecting a variety of materials, including illegal drugs and explosives. She designs portable sensors, including those that work in your smart phone, that can make chemical measurements in the field. She helped create and organize SciPop Talks!, a popular talk series blending science and pop culture. Dr. Burks is a popular science communicator, appearing on the Science Channel’s Outrageous Acts of Science, American Chemical Society’s Reactions videos, Royal Society of Chemistry podcasts, and at conventions such as DragonCon and GeekGirlCon.
Directions and Parking
The talk takes place in Burdine Hall, Room 106 located at 2505 University Avenue. Hot Science – Cool Talks attendees may park at the 27th Street Garage (TSG) located at 109 W. 27th St. at the discounted rate of $4. Only if you park at this garage will you receive the discount. Please bring your parking ticket with you to the event. Parking staff will sell discounted parking passes from 5:30-7:15 p.m. Only debit and credit cards are accepted. There will not be PTS staff at the garage.
From parking garage to event venue: Exit the garage on Wichita St. Walk south on Wichita St, crossing Dean Keeton St, and entering the Burdine Courtyard through the archway next to the Biomedical Engineering Building. See a map here.
Check-in
All talk attendees are required to have a ticket to attend the talk. Check-in is available at 5:30 p.m. or no later than 6:50 p.m. in the hallways outside of Room 106 in Burdine Hall. Please bring your Eventbrite ticket (printed or email) to check-in. We ask that everyone is seated by 6:50 p.m. or you may lose your seat. We expect the talk and its Q & A session will end by 8:15 p.m. though ending times may vary depending on the speaker.

Cool Activities
Explore the evening’s topic through hands-on activities and information from 5:30 – 6:40 p.m. Closer to the event date, we will share a list of organizations participating in Cool Activities.
We encourage attendees to dress up as their favorite superhero and join us at this family friendly event. A prize will be awarded to the winner with the best superhero costume. We ask that costumes do NOT include facsimiles of weapons (including toys or props).
About Hot Science – Cool Talks
Hot Science – Cool Talks provides a front row seat to world-class research. Presented by the Environmental Science Institute (ESI) this nationally recognized series allows leading researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and other prominent universities to share their passion about science, technology, engineering and math with the general public. Events are held six times a year.