Nerd Nite Liberia

Nerd Nite Liberia: May 15, 2012

The first edition of Nerd Nite Liberia will be held on May 15, 2012 at Jamal’s Boulevard Cafe in Sinkor, Monrovia (14th Sth and Tubman Blvd.). Presentations to begin at 8pm.

Presentations:

„…still little distance small!“ – Our journey in search of the Liberian chimpanzee. – by Jessi Junker

The Weird and Wonderful World of Roman Cities – by Tim Robinson

The Love of Liberia Unites Us Here – exploring and enjoying this land of contradictions – by Josie Stewart

Music courtesy of Mr.G.

Full info on the presentations and presenters:

„…still little distance small!“ – Our journey in search of the Liberian chimpanzee. – by Jessi Junker

Tracking through endless tracts of Liberian rainforest, covering more than 600 km on foot trying to count signs of an animal that is so elusive that in 2 years of conducting this first nationwide survey of chimpanzee across the country, we have yet to see one eye to eye – not easy-oh! Not so in Sapo National Park – Liberia’s only protected National Park. Here, motion-triggered cameras and 24 hour audio devices have been recording an array of never-before-seen and extremely sophisticated tool-use behavior in Liberian chimpanzees, as well as documenting the vocal repertoire of this intriguing community in an attempt to compare behavior traits and “dialects” among different chimpanzee communities across 14 African range countries. Come and join me on my journey in search of the Liberian chimpanzee and share with me the extraordinary biological wealth – much of which still remains to be discovered – of some of West Africa’s last remaining rainforests.

Jessi is a PhD student at the Primatology Department of the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. She currently coordinates activities for the Pan African Great Ape Monitoring Program (in collaboration with the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation and the Liberian Forestry Development Authority)- and has led the nation-wide chimpanzee survey in Liberia, which has finally come to end! Also widely known as “monkey-girl” (…by the way, because unlike their close cousins, chimpanzees don’t have tails and are actually classified as apes!), Jess’s research focuses on large mammal temporal and spatial population dynamics and the factors influencing these. Before becoming hooked on chimps, she studied lions in Namibia and elephants in southern Africa. …she’s not sure what’s next.

The Weird and Wonderful World of Roman Cities -by Tim Robinson

Petra was carved into rock; the Romans liked to leave their own mark on the cities they conquered: but how best to leave a mark on the ancient city of Petra? Rebuild an amphitheater carved into the rock alongside the mausoleums and homes, and construct a colonnade of course. The Roman Empire shaped the civilisation of Europe, changed the land, the cultures, the politics and the cities. It endured longer than any Empire in history. But it was also extremely able to blend with its local surroundings, adopting local gods and cultures as their own. This talk is intended to give a brief overview of some of the more interesting forms this blending took, and some of the more interesting cities that came out of the Empire.

Tim is a Fellow with the Overseas Development Institute (a DFID funded organisation which posts economists around the world on two years stints with Governments) who has worked in the Ministry of Finance in Liberia for the past year or so; originally from the UK – a fact obvious when he speaks – as well as an interest in Economics, which he decided to avoid giving a talk on, he is also interested in Ancient History especially the successes of the Roman Empire and the oddly, believe it or not, interesting area of Roman trade. He works in the Macro Fiscal Unit; and is, as a result, more familiar with writing speeches and talks than giving them.

The Love of Liberia Unites Us Here – exploring and enjoying this land of contradictions – by Josie Stewart

Description: “Liberia i/laɪˈbɪəriə/, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Cote d’Ivoire on the east”. Thank you Wikipedia, very enlightening. But how would you describe this country in two sentences? And how would this description vary depending on who gave the answer? Let’s take a little time to explore some of the riches that lie beneath this country’s surface (think metaphorically here please – I’m not talking iron ore or gold) and let’s celebrate all there is to enjoy here.

Josie has spent the last two years falling in love with Liberia. As a Governance Advisor with Tony Blair’s Africa Governance Initiative, she’s spent most of her weekdays trying to make herself useful around the President’s Office and the Ministry of Planning. Her weekends however have been full of adventure, and she is highly opposed to the claim that ‘there’s nothing to do here.’ She is leaving Liberia the day after Nerd Night and so is looking forward to having a beer with friends and sharing some of her favourite things about the place before she goes.

If you are interested in presenting at Nerd Nite Liberia, please contact .

Be there and be square!

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