What a line up for NZ Skeptics Conference 2013!
What an awesome line-up of speakers, I’m working on a plan to get to this Wellington event as soon as I hit Publish on this post.
In some ways it will be a reprise of The Amazing Meeting Australia 2010 (Sydney) where I met Kylie Sturgess and heard both Pamela Gay and Loretta Marron (right) speak. Look forward to repeating that.
Perhaps the most unexpected speaker is Sue Nicholson - well-known psychic - who appeared on the TV series Sensing Murder. I think Sensing Murder is rubbish but commend Sue for appearing and look forward to hearing her views. I guess Sue didn’t feel the need for an armed security guard…
It's now only three weeks to go before this year's Skeptics Conference.
With a central theme of science communication, we've got a wide range of speakers and workshops lined up: from astronomy and psychology to climate change, statistics, skeptical activism and citizen science!
There's the usual Saturday night dinner, plus a blind auction for a VIP dinner on Friday evening with a selection of the weekend's speakers.
Here's our line-up of speakers for this year:
Dr Pamela Gay - Astronomer, citizen science leader, Astronomy Cast host and author of the Star Stryder blog.
Kylie Sturgess - Teacher, host at the Token Skeptic, prolific interviewer, writes for Patheos and the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
Dr Matt McCrudden - Associate Professor of Psychology, currently on the editorial board of five scientific journals.
Dr Siouxsie Wiles - Microbiologist, CUSP podcast host. Loves bioluminescence, not so keen on the Ponsonby News.
Prof Martin Manning - founding director of the NZ Climate Change Research Institute, and co-author of several IPCC assessment reports.
Loretta Marron - Skeptical activist and CEO of Friends of Science in Medicine, Loretta has twice been voted Australian Skeptic of the Year.
Elf Eldridge - Amateur Astronomer and pirate, he’s also the president of the Wellington branch of the Royal Society of New Zealand.
Aimee Whitcroft - Has worked in science communication, driven the Mongol Rally and is the founder and host of Wellington’s Nerd Nite.
Emmeline Haymes - Coordinator for the National Fluoridation Information Service - arch nemesis of the Fluoride Action Network.
Dr David Bulger - A senior lecturer in Statistics, David works with quantum computation and music modelling. He also battles numerical illiteracy.
Vicki Hyde - Veteran New Zealand skeptic and the face of NZ Skeptics Society (she’s the one you see on TV).
Sue Nicholson - Well-known psychic, star of Sensing Murder and regular guest on TVNZ’s Good Morning. No, really.
* UPDATE 08/17/2013: I originally wrote “armed guard” but corrected that as Ken requested “security protection” for perceived threats.
