Strathmore Speakers

Dr. Colin Beier on Climate Change

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce our November 2019 event, an afternoon with Dr. Colin Beier. Dr. Beier will explore the science and evidence behind our changing climate. He will discuss near and long-term solutions for managing this change and the implications of failing to manage it.  This event will be held on Sunday, November 10th at 2 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

About Colin Beier

“My work recognizes that humans are integral parts of the Earth system, capable of both inducing rapid and irreversible changes, yet also providing careful stewardship that fosters the adaptive capacity of the Earth’s ecosystems.” – Colin Beier

Colin Beier, PhD, is a father, a husband, a student and teacher of the natural world, and an associate professor at SUNY ESF.  He is a broadly trained ecologist interested in the fate of forest ecosystems and landscapes – including people and our economic, political, and cultural institutions – in a rapidly changing world. His current work is focused on monitoring ecosystem impacts of climate change in the Adirondacks, developing a statewide forest carbon inventory and monitoring program for New York, and leading a new ESF initiative in ‘Pathways to Net Zero Carbon’ that will integrate science and design to address our critical challenges and opportunities at the nexus of land use, energy systems, and climate change.

Dr. Jana Shaw on The Rise of the Anti-Vaccination Movement: Why Should You Care?

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce our October 2019 event, an afternoon with SUNY Upstate’s Dr. Jana Shaw who will explore the rise of vaccine hesitancy and why it should matter to you. This event will be held on Sunday, October 20th at 2 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

About Dr. Jana Shaw

Dr. Jana Shaw is an immunization content advisor with expertise in the area of vaccine refusal and 17 years of experience providing primary and specialty pediatric care. Dr Shaw is an Associate Professor at the Department of Pediatrics at the SUNY Upstate Medical University with training in pediatric infectious diseases, public health and immunology from the Johns Hopkins University and the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.

Dr. Shaw’s research has focused on identifying populations at-risk for undervaccination, with a particular focus on undervaccination and school systems in the United States. Findings from her research have been disseminated through presentations at national and state meetings and published in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Shaw has previously collaborated with the numerous public health and academic institutions on variety of vaccination coverage improvement projects such as Center for Disease Control, University of Albany, the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins and the New York State Department of Health. Her expertise also extends beyond the national borders. She has collaborated with public health professionals in New Zealand to search of ways to enhance coverage in a country without immunization laws.

Announcing the Spring 2019 Season!

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Donald Siegel Portrait

The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce its Spring 2019 season!

Our first event will take place on Thursday, March 14th at 7 pm and feature scientist Dr. Donald Siegel who will examine the dismissal of facts in science-related decision making.

Our second event of the spring will take place on Thursday, April 11th at 7 pm and will feature Dr. Keith Bybee, who asks “Is civility dead?”

Our third and final event of the spring will feature Dr. Ednita Wright who will examine the root causes of the opioid epidemic in America and consider what it means for individuals and families dealing with addition. This event will be held on Thursday, May 16th at 7 pm.

As usual, the events will be held at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. They are free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Children’s Book “The Silent Nightingale”

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce the our November 2018 event, a family-focused afternoon with illustrator Erin Nowak and author Lamis Solaim who collaborated on the new children’s book, “The Silent Nightingale.”  This event will be held on Sunday, November 4th, 2018 at 2 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

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About Lamis Solaim

Lamis Solaim is a New York City-based writer and Child and Adolescent Psychologist specializing in global mental health. Together, with illustrator Erin Nowak, Solaim will do a reading of her recently published dual-language children’s book “The Silent Nightingale,” written in both English and Arabic. The book was inspired by a time-honored Arabic poem by Maruf al Rusafi, commonly sung by Iraqi children in the 50s and 60s. Lamis earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University, an M.A. in applied child development from Tufts University, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the United Kingdom’s Royal Holloway University of London.

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About Erin Nowak

Erin Nowak is a Strathmore resident and creator of whimsical illustrations. A graduate of Alfred University with a bachelor of fine arts focused on graphic design and printmaking, Nowak created the illustrations for “The Silent Nightingale” with a layered mix of watercolor and digital painting. The freelance graphic designer is an employee of the Syracuse City School District and lives in the Strathmore neighborhood with her husband and three children. Her work can be found at Wildflowers Armory in Syracuse and at erinmckennanowak.com.

Syracuse: Bridging our Differences with Empathy and Storytelling with Dr. Emad Rahim

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce our October 2018 event, an evening with refugee, author, educator, and entrepreneur, Dr. Emad Rahim. Dr. Rahim’s talk, “Syracuse – bridging our differences with empathy and storytelling,” will be held on Thursday, October 25th at 7 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

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About Dr. Emad Rahim

Dr. Emad Rahim is a Khmer-American, survivor of the Cambodian Killing Fields. His story was turned into the short documentary “Against the Odds,” a 2016 Bronze Award Winner at the F.A.M.E.’US International Film Festival and adapted into a Syracuse Stage theater production titled ‘Tales from the Salt City,’ which is an extension of the acclaimed Undesirable Elements series written by celebrated playwright and Presidential National Medals of Arts Award recipient, Ping Chong. He has been featured in the Huffington Post, Forbes Magazine, Post-Standard, VICE, Rutgers’ The Humanist and CEO Magazine, and interviewed on the BBC, NPR, StoryCorps, PBS and multiple podcast shows.  He is an award-winning author, educator, entrepreneur, Fulbright Specialist and TEDx Speaker.

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Humorist Jeff Kramer on “How I went from writing and reporting the news to not being able to watch it”

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce our September 2018 event, an evening with writer, playwright, and former humor columnist for The Post-Standard and the Syracuse New Times, Jeff Kramer. Jeff’s talk, “How I went from writing and reporting the news to not being able to watch it,” will be held on Thursday, September 27th at 7 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

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About Jeff Kramer (by Jeff Kramer)

Jeff Kramer, who is trying to sound as if someone else is writing his bio, is extremely flattered (and a little confused) about being invited to speak at the Strathmore Speaker Series. Jeff is not a resident of Strathmore, nor is he technically “employed.”

Jeff is a former newspaper humorist, known locally for his columns in the Syracuse Post-Standard and the Syracuse New Times. Before relocating to Syracuse in 2003, he wrote a humor column for The Orange County (Calif.) Register and reported for the Los Angeles Times and The Boston Globe. Newspapers were compilations of news, opinion and other information that were printed and folded together for mass distribution.

Jeff has written and produced three stage plays in the Syracuse area. He teaches ESL to an ever-diminishing number of new Americans as a volunteer at Interfaith Works on James Street.

A native of Seattle, Wash., the 56-year-old interloper lives in Jamesville with his wife, Leigh. The couple have two teen daughters, Miranda and Lily, who do not share their Dad’s passion for the Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners. As such, his communications with them are sparse. Jeff and Leigh also have three shelter dogs, Larry, Rondo and Gigi.

Jeff’s hobbies are cycling and patronizing Central New York’s excellent health care infrastructure. He thanks his friend Strathmore resident Randy Marshall for suggesting him as a speaker.

Dr. Brian Taylor on Russia, Putin, and Putinism

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce the second event of our spring 2018 season, an afternoon with Russia expert Professor Brian Taylor who will discuss “Russia, Putin, and “Putinism.” The event will be held on Sunday, April 22nd, at 2 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

About Brian Taylor

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Brian Taylor is Professor and Chair of Political Science in the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. Taylor is the author of three books on Russian politics: The Code of Putinism; State Building in Putin’s Russia: Policing and Coercion after Communism and Politics and the Russian Army: Civil-Military Relations, 1689-2000. He received his B.A. from the University of Iowa, a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Announcing the Spring 2018 Season

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce the remainder of its Spring 2018 season! Our second event of the spring will take place on Sunday, April 22nd at 2 pm and will feature Dr. Brian Taylor, Chair of the Department of Political Science at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School. Taylor’s talk, “Russia, Putin, and Putinism,” will examine the Russia’s relationships within the international community and the Putin regime. Our third and final event of the spring will feature Adam Sudmann, founder of “My Lucky Tummy,” a multinational popup food court, and program director of “With Love,” Onondaga Community College’s teaching restaurant and entrepreneur incubator. This event will be held on Sunday, May 6th at 2 pm. As usual, the events will be held at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. They are free and open to the public. We hope to see you there!

Writer Seamus Kirst on Sh*tfaced

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Seamus

The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce the first event of our spring 2018 season, an afternoon with writer Seamus Kirst who will speak on his first book. The event will be held on Sunday, March 18th, at 2 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public.

About Seamus Kirst

Seamus Kirst is an author and freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. The Syracuse native grew up in the Strathmore neighborhood and attended Roberts Elementary School and Corcoran High School, where he was valedictorian of the Class of 2009.

His memoir, Shitfaced: Musings of a Former Drunk, was published in early 2017. Seamus has also written about mental health and substance abuse issues for The Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Upworthy, The Advocate, HuffPost and The Mighty.

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Seamus has covered entertainment, social justice and politics for The Guardian, Forbes, Vice, Them, Refinery29 and Mic. He has interviewed a range of people including Carmelo Anthony, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Emmylou Harris, Senator Tammy Duckworth, Dr. Jill Stein, Larry Wilmore, Janet Mock, Lisa Ling, Khloe Kardashian, Amber Rose, Gabrielle Union, Laura Prepon, Danielle Brooks, and Dr. Pimple Popper.

Seamus is the co-host of two podcasts, Mental Health Hangouts and Social Justice League, and has been a guest for a live recording of the Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast. He has done Facebook Live about his own experiences for The Mighty, was a panelist for NEDA’s Twitter Chat about eating disorders in men and was also a panelist for Refinery29’s ‘Race in America’ dialogue.

Seamus earned his bachelor’s degree in history and ethnic studies from Brown University, and his master’s degree in arts journalism from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University.

Mayor-Elect Ben Walsh on Syracuse: The Next Four Years

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The Strathmore Speaker Series is delighted to announce a bonus event for our fall 2017 season, an evening with Mayor-Elect Ben Walsh, who will share his vision for the next four year’s of Syracuse’s future. The event will be held on Monday, December 11th, at 7 pm at the Onondaga Park Firebarn. Like all Strathmore Speaker Series events, this presentation is free and open to the public. Space is limited and we ask that all guests please RSVP here.

About Mayor-Elect Ben Walsh

Ben Walsh is a Syracuse and Strathmore native. In January 2018, he will assume office as Syracuse’s 54th mayor, and the first independent elected as mayor in over 100 years.

Prior to entering Syracuse’s mayoral race, Mayor-Elect Walsh earned a master’s degree in public administration (MPA) from Syracuse University’s Maxwell School and spent 16 years working in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including 6 years as the City of Syracuse’s deputy commissioner of neighborhood and business development. He has played a lead role in some of the most transformational projects in Syracuse’s recent history, including the creation of the Greater Syracuse Land Bank and the successful redevelopment of the Hotel Syracuse.

He is the son of former United States Representative James Walsh – who played an integral role in the restoration of the Onondaga Park Firebarn – and the grandson of former Syracuse Mayor William Walsh. He resides on the west side of Syracuse with his wife Lindsay and their two young daughters.