Its not too often you find 180 scientists gathered in one place, outside of a conference that is. But tonight, scientists from the New York area joined in celebration of the Nature Network New York hub. Aside from scientists, the crowd consisted of various members of the nature staff, local recruiters, and science bloggers from around the city.
The keynote speaker at the event was none other than Nobel laureate Richard Axel, a New York born and educated scientist. Axel spoke on life as a scientist in New York City. He began his speech by citing the tale of Prometheus, which ultimately lead to the opening of Pandora’s jar (often incorrectly translated as box). The legend goes that Pandora opened the jar (despite warnings not to) because of her intense curiosity. Even though this unleashed evils and diseases on mankind, it also gave them hope (which lay at the bottom of the jar). Axel attributed Pandora’s curiosity for knowledge and the hope revealed by opening the jar to the driving force behind scientific research. Particularly in New York science community, this hunger for knowledge is not feared; rather, it is embraced. This is what makes New York such as special place to be a scientist.
Richard Axel speaks about being a scientist in New York.
After a short Q&A session with Axel, party-goers spent the rest of the evening enjoying dinner and drinks, while connecting with other area scientists. All in all, the party was a great success, which we hope will continue at other hub meetups in the future (coordinated with the help of the happy hour guru, Noah). So, if you enjoyed you time tonight, keep your eyes peeled for future New York hub events. They are sure to be a blast.
Local scientists enjoy the party.
Many thanks to Corie (in the center, pictured with Barry and myself) for organizing the event!
I had a blast tonight. The turnout was spectacular and it really was a great way to celebrate NY science. Stay tuned for the next pub event in mid-April!
Great pics! It was certainly a packed house! Glad everyone seemed to be having a good time.
If you want to find out about the next pub night (and you didn’t put your name down on the signup sheet), email me at network@nature.com and I’ll put you on our list.
I’d like to thank Noah Gray for finding/suggesting the G2 Lounge as the venue, and for convincing Richard Axel to come to our event!
I also want to thank Nazly De La Rosa and Virginia Lee of Nature Publishing for their help in organizing the party. And to Hilary Spencer and Jennifer Henry for helping me greet everyone at the door! Couldn’t have done without you!
It was a good one (I got a full explanation of Pandora’s jar vs Pandora’s box from Dr. Axel, and we can blame Erasmus ). Thanks for the photos and to Corie for organizing!
Thanks for organizing the party! The location was perfect and Dr. Axel is not only a great scientist but also a great entertainer! Hopefully there will be more events like this coming up!
Congratulations all. Sounds like an amazing turnout. London drinks are this Wednesday, but I doubt we’ll get any Nobel laureates.
Looks like it was an amazing event. I wish I could have been there. Next time…
We’ll let you know Bora, when our next event is on