Nerd Nite NYC is in Manhattan on Saturday April 25, 2026 for the final show of our 2025-2026 season, featuring three fun-yet-informative presentations about the Earth and other planets will die, how Luffy from One Piece could use his liberation skills to inspire us to navigate a world still full of corruption and occupation, and how we can use our smartphones to save our local, adorable wildlife. It’s soooo fluffy! Tickets here.

Nerd Nite NYC
Saturday April 25, 2026 at 7pm
Caveat NYC: 21A Clinton Street (Lower East Side)
$16 early bird (until April 18, 2026 at 7pm) | $21 standard | $26 at the door
Tickets here: https://www.caveat.nyc/events/nerd-nite-4-25-2026

Back to the Lectures At-Hand:
*Presentation #1
The End of Worlds: How to Kill a Planet in a Billion Years (and why Earth Is Next)
by Chris Colose

Description: Venus turned into a pressure cooker, Mars lost everything, and Earth… is hanging in there. At least for now. Like a love triangle gone wrong, these three planets may have started out with things in common, then made wildly different life choices. Let’s talk about runaway greenhouses, carbon, oxygen, disappearing atmospheres, and what it takes to keep a world habitable. We’ll also talk about how it all ends, even here.

Bio: Chris Colose is a climate and planetary scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. The institute was formerly housed above the Seinfeld diner on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, until NASA was, let’s just say, politely asked to leave last year. These days, he’s one of many NASA nomads, wandering between offices and coffee shops in an ongoing search for purpose, stable WiFi, and an outlet that works. He can sometimes be found working at the American Museum of Natural History…occasionally orbiting near Neil deGrasse Tyson (who, yes, may sometimes nap in his office). Chris studies climate and climate change on Earth and other planets, with a focus on how worlds evolve, and, more interestingly, why they sometimes fall apart. When not modeling planetary climates, he will often be explaining to friends and family that, yes, this is actually his job.

*Presentation #2
Luffy Would Free Palestine – The Political Overtones of One Piece & How We Can Learn from the Strawhat Pirates
by Fefe Yamaguchi and Liam McSpadden

Description: In this session, fefe and Liam with as little spoilers as possible will uncover the long-standing & inherent political overtones of the One Piece (OP) world — not only divulging in the mirrors present between OP and our lived reality, but also providing examples of how OP tactics can be used to fight injustices in the real world.

Bio: fefe yamaguchi (they/them) and Liam McSpadden (he/him) are Californian anime heads ready to bring One Piece and activism to a bar near you. They met at UC Berkeley (shoutout Tinder!) where fefe studied Ethnic Studies and Education and Liam studied Architecture. Although coming up in different worlds, anime and cussing out ignorant internet trolls are their binding force. Please enjoy watching their love for anime, and each other, unfold on stage.

*Presentation #3
Networking with Naturalists
by Julia Janson

Description: Only scientists can be conservationists. MYTH. Only people who live in the country can live sustainably. MYTH. Only geniuses with time and money on their hands can save wildlife from extinction. BIG FAT LIE! In a world where climate change, deforestation, and pollution have exacerbated habitat loss, scientists have joined forces with the public to monitor and protect remaining populations of wildlife. During this presentation, former conservation biologist and naturalist Julia Janson will demonstrate how we can turn our observations of nature into data for scientific research, utilizing the power of social media and smartphones… and that is a FACT!

Bio: Julia Janson is a former naturalist and conservation biologist. She has spearheaded several conservation and citizen science projects with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the U.S. Forest Service during her two years of service in AmeriCorps. She has also written and published natural history articles for Northwoods Magazine, The Outside Guide, The Peregrine Fund at The World Center for Birds of Prey, and Elevate Magazine, where she was featured as one of the Top Voices for 2015. In 2020, Julia earned her Master’s Degree in Environmental Education. When not out saving the world, she enjoys hiking, skiing, writing, and being a citizen scientist!