Speaker Rehearsal Blast
Last week we saw some of our 2016 Speakers making great progress toward their time on the stage. We met in the Hancock Tower to hear them bounce ideas off a bright and eager crowd of Speaker Sparkplugs.
First, Tom Baran told us about how he has developed a technique for producing 3-D holograms, using the transparency sheets we all remember from middle school. Tom and his team used a new computational method to produce a new kind of image, using everyday objects that had been around for decades. What else, he wonders, could we do with everyday things, if we challenged ourselves to see them a little differently? The people in the room had tons of questions about the development of photography techniques and how Tom’s project came about.
Jeff Saviano is a tax innovation leader at EY, and our generous host for the evening. He gave us an inspiring story about how taxes — yes, taxes, those annoying things you pay in April — can change the world. Jeff hopes that we can use taxes to help slow down climate change.
In the process, he taught us about how we can use our democratic system to create change on critical issues. One truly committed person really does make a difference!
Jeff told us a story about how British Columbia used taxes for this very purpose; we have our very own Adventure Catalyst community member from BC, so we’re looking forward to hearing more about it!
Laura Ingalls told us the story of how, as a teenage girl, she dreamed of being an actress, but thought that she needed to be skinny to get anything she wanted. As it turns out, what she had to be was healthy! Laura taught us about the four elements that are really important to good health, and what we can do with the confidence it brings.
Sarah Beaulieu told us about her first conversation about sexual violence. It did not go well. Fortunately, though, it wasn’t her last; she eventually learned how to have conversations about difficult issues, particularly sexual violence, in a supportive and productive way. Now she teaches others how to have conversations about it too, and how to see men not as perpetrators of sexual violence, but as what they more often are — friends, family, victims, and supporters.
Sebastian Lourido, a fellow at the Whitehead institute, talked about his work on toxoplasma with Crispr. What are those things, you may ask? Toxoplasma is a parasite related to malaria, and Crispr is a genome editing tool that allows scientists to edit DNA with unprecedented speed and precision. Sebastian’s lab is working on editing toxoplasma’s DNA so that it can no longer harm humans. More importantly, he explained how important breakthroughs often come during research that is pursued simply for its own sake.
Every week we see these speakers making progress toward breakthrough talks. It’s thrilling to see their process and to hear what our community has to say. We can’t wait for the next one on Tuesday, 9/13!
