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The Joy of Six Legged Sex: An Evening of Insect Courtship and Cocktails

Friday, May 31, 2013
7:25 pm - 10:00 pm

Join a unique night of cocktails, courtship, and conversation with leading experts about how insects and humans attract their mates. The fun begins aboard the Staten Island Ferry as we cruise through New York Harbor at sunset, and continues when we arrive at the Staten Island Museum for insect-inspired cocktails and an after-hours talk and tour of the museum’s cicada collection, the largest in North America. Explore the strange and innovative mating strategies of the insect world—from flashy displays to arresting scents to symphonies of sound—along with some surprising parallels to human behavior. Outside, a DJ spins and insects swarm around Brandon Ballengee’s new light sculpture and insect observatory, “Love Motel For Insects.”

21 and over only. 

Moderator

Cara Santa MariaScience Journalist

Cara Santa Maria has dedicated her life to improving science literacy by communicating scientific principles across media platforms. Prior to moving to the west coast, Santa Maria taught biology and psychology courses to university undergraduates and high school students in Texas and New York.

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Participants

John CooleyEnvironmental Scientist

John Cooley grew up fascinated by the natural world in general and cicadas in particular. He spent a number of years studying flies in high alpine meadows of Colorado and exploring the mountains of the Front Range.

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Helen FisherAnthropologist, Author

Helen Fisher is a biological anthropologist at Rutgers University. She studies the evolution, brain systems (fMRI) and biological patterns of romantic love, mate choice, marriage, gender differences, personality, and the biology of leadership styles.

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Marlene ZukAuthor, Biologist, Professor

Marlene Zuk is a biologist and writer who is interested in sex, evolution, and behavior. She is especially interested in the ways that parasites and disease influence those issues. Her current research focuses on rapid evolution and mating behavior in field crickets that live in Hawaii.

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