IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE on Tuesday, December 5 @ 7:30PM, Secret Science Club & the Dana Foundation present ART & THE BRAIN, with Girija Kaimal & Constantina Theofanopoulou, FREE!

Secret Science Club presents the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Talk Series” on “ART & THE BRAIN” featuring Artist, Art Therapist & Researcher GIRIJA KAIMAL & Neuroscientist & Dancer CONSTANTINA THEOFANOPOULOU

IN-PERSON @ THE BELL HOUSE IN BROOKLYN on Tuesday, December 5, 7:30PM (Doors open at 7PM), Free!

So much about the human brain is still a mystery, and one of its greatest mysteries is the urge for self-expression through art—whether it be visual art, movement, music, literature, acting, design, theater, or something else. Whatever drives us to create art, a growing body of research is revealing that making art (or even just experiencing it) can be therapeutic, soothing, and empowering.

At this edition of Secret Science Club, art therapist Girija Kaimal and neuroscientist Constantina Theofanopoulou explore how art-making affects our brain chemistry, our moods, and our mental health.

Join us in celebrating both science and art at this special end-of-year program!

GIRIJA KAIMAL is a professor in the department of Creative Arts Therapies at Drexel University and directs the Health, Arts, Learning and Evaluation (HALE) lab, where she researches how visual art-making affects our physiological and psychological well-being. She is the current president of the American Art Therapy Association and her most recent book is The Expressive Instinct: How Imagination and Creative Works Help Us Survive and Thrive. In her own art practice, she explores identity and representation of emotion. As an art therapist and mental health researcher, areas of focus include traumatic brain injury, PTSD, and chronic stress among cancer patients and caregivers.

CONSTANTINA THEOFANOPOULOU is a neuroscientist and an award-winning flamenco dancer. She is director of the Neurobiology of Social Communication Lab at Rockefeller University and Visiting Scholar at New York University. She’s using her experience in dance to inform research on the connections between dance and speech—and the possibility that dance therapy might improve deficits in speech, particularly among people coping with Parkinson’s Disease and Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Before & After
--Try our arty cocktail of the night, the Creative Juices

--Shimmy to synapse-soothing grooves

-- Draw, sketch & color in our Art Lounge

--Bring your questions for the scintillating Q&A

This mind-blowing edition of Secret Science Club - the “Dana Foundation Neuroscience & Society Talk Series” - is supported by the Dana Foundation as part of its Dana Education program to spark interest in and support education around neuroscience and the many ways it interfaces with our everyday lives. This is one of the Foundation’s three programs working to advance neuroscience that benefits society and reflects the aspirations of all people.

Secret Science Club meets in-person on Tuesday, December 5, 7:30PM @ the Bell House, 149 7th St. (between 2nd and 3rd avenues) in Gowanus, Brooklyn. Subway: F or G to 4th Ave, R to 9th St.

Doors to the performance space open at 7PM.

Please bring ID: 21+. No cover. Just bring your smart self.

*This event will be mixed seated/standing. Arrive early for best seat selection.*

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

IN-PERSON @ THE DISCOVERY TANK ON PIER 57, Secret Science Club joins forces with Hudson River Park, Thursday, November 30 @ 6:30 PM, $10

SPECIAL EVENT! Secret Science Club teams up with Hudson River Park's "Ask a Scientist" to present an all-aquatic evening in Lower Manhattan

Thursday, November 30 @ 6:30PM, $10. (Reserve your tickets.)

Secret Science Club flows into Hudson River Park's “Discovery Tank” on beautiful Pier 57 to explore what happens when “Urban Meets Wild”

Environmental scientists Dianne Greenfield and Chester Zarnoch plunge into the wild waters of the Hudson River Estuary to investigate how the health & diversity of NYC’s biggest ecosystem is impacted (in both good ways and bad) by human activities. And they look at how some of the smallest & most unsung species can turn estuaries into some of the wildest ecosystems on the planet.

Before & After the Talks
--Check out the cool interactive exhibits on Hudson River wildlife

--Stop by the pier’s fantastic new food court “Market 57” with vendors curated by the James Beard Foundation!

--Groove to wet & wild tunes in our “Ebb Tide Lounge”

--Imbibe thirst-quenching cocktails & mocktails

--Ask a scientist (or two!) about Manhattan’s newsworthy new beach (and less-well-known new wetlands), how the city’s antiquated sewage/rainwater system affects aquatic species, whether newly planted wetlands are helping to clean up pollution, and what we can all do to protect NYC’s estuary and its wildlife

Get $10 tickets here!

Dianne Greenfield is an associate professor at the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY. As a visiting researcher at Hudson River Park, she is studying how wet weather (rainfall, storms) combined with sewer overflow discharge (eek) influences the diversity & ecological function of the Lower Hudson River Estuary.

Chester Zarnoch is a professor in the Department of Natural Sciences at Baruch College, CUNY, where he runs the Benthic Ecology Lab. He is also a visiting researcher at Hudson River Park. He studies restored marshlands in urban environments (such as NYC's Hudson River Estuary) and measures their ability to remove nitrogen (a pollutant from human activities) and sequester carbon.

This program meets Thursday, November 30, 6:30PM at the Discovery Tank on Hudson River Park’s Pier 57. (The entrance to the pier is at the intersection of W. 15th St and 11th Ave in Manhattan.) Subway: A, C, E, L to 14th St/8th Ave; 1, 2, 3 to 14th St

Tickets are $10. Click here to reserve your spot!

What's next at Secret Science Club?
We will be in-person at the Bell House in Brooklyn on December 5. Stay tuned for details!

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

LIVE ONLINE: WEDNESDAY, November 15 @ 8PM, Secret Science Club presents Extreme Animal Researcher Kenneth Catania, FREE!

Biological Wonders!

Secret Science Club presents Biological Detective, Neuro-ecologist & Author Kenneth Catania on Amazing Animal Abilities

Join us live via Zoom on Wednesday, November 15 @ 8PM (Eastern Time USA) "Doors" open at 7:30PM 

Here's how to sign up: Everyone on our mailing list will be emailed the Zoom link the night before. To join the Secret Science Club mailing list (or just request the Zoom link), send us an email (secretscienceclub@gmail.com)

Biological detective Kenneth Catania unlocks the secrets behind some of the world’s strangest & most intriguing animals.

Join us as we explore animal brains, senses, and abilities that are far outside the realm of human experience. Such animal superpowers include: detecting & producing electrical fields, “sniffing in stereo,” feeling microscopic textures, “speed eating,” and (yes) turning other creatures into zombies.

The award-winning author of Great Adaptations, Dr. Catania studies wunderkinds of evolution, such as electric eels, naked mole rats, jeweled wasps, tentacled snakes, and star-nosed moles. He shows not only how studying these unusual, extreme animals & uncovering their hidden abilities can provide deep insights into how life evolved, but also how scientific discovery can be filled with adventure and fun.

Before & After
-- Mix up our cocktail of the evening, the "Choose Your Own Superpower"… (recipe below!)
--Groove to wild & wonderful tunes
--Bring your questions for the live Q&A
--Snag a copy of Kenneth Catania’s engrossing, critically acclaimed book, Great Adaptations

Kenneth Catania is Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. He is a MacArthur Genius Grant winner, Guggenheim Fellow, and recipient of the National Academy of Science’s Pradel Research Award. He studies sensory systems, brain evolution, predator-prey interactions, and the behavior of “outlier” animals. He, his research, and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, National Geographic, Scientific American, and Atlantic, as well as on NPR and the BBC.

This is a FREE event.

You can support Secret Science Club's programming by making a DONATION via:

Credit Card, PayPal, Apple Pay, or Google Pay on Donorbox

Cash App: $SecretScienceClub

Zelle: scienceliveproductions@gmail.com

(Note: If you don't already have the Zoom meeting app on your computer or mobile device, you can download it for free at zoom.us)

Cocktail Recipe for the “Choose Your Own Superpower” (created by the Secret Science Club experimental mixology lab)
Ingredients: 1½ oz Vodka, Tequila, or Gin (you choose); 2½ oz Chilled Cranberry Juice; 2½ oz Chilled Grapefruit Juice; 1 Lime; Pomegranate Seeds; Fresh Sprigs of Rosemary
- Pour your choice of spirits plus the two chilled juices into a highball glass filled with ice, and stir with a bar spoon
- Garnish with a wheel of lime, pomegranate seeds, and/or rosemary
For a mocktail version:
Ingredients: 5 oz of Chilled Cranberry, Grapefruit, Pomegranate, Orange, or Unfiltered Apple Juice (or any combination thereof!); 1½ oz Sparkling Apple Cider, Lemon-Lime Soda, or Seltzer (you pick); 1 Lime; Pomegranate Seeds; Fresh Sprigs of Rosemary
- Pour your choice of juices into a highball glass filled with ice, and gently stir with a bar spoon
- Slowly pour in your choice of carbonated beverage and stir again
- Garnish with a wheel of lime, pomegranate seeds, and/or rosemary

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.