Award-winning scientist to showcase obscure inventors

By MARILYN MCMAHON NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

An award-winning scientist, science communicator and author, Ainissa Ramirez will speak at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at UCSB Campbell Hall.

In her recent book, “The Alchemy of Us,” Dr. Ramirez showcases little-known inventors — particularly people of color and women — who had a significant impact but whose accomplishments have been hidden by mythmaking, bias and convention. Doing so shows us the power of telling inclusive stories about technology.

She also reveals that innovation is universal, whether it’s splicing beats with two turntables and a microphone or splicing genes with two test tubes and CRISPR.

Dr. Ramirez is known for her passion about getting the general public excited about science. A graduate of Brown University, she earned her doctorate in materials science and engineering from Stanford. She started her career as a scientist at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, N.J., and later worked as an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Yale.

Besides her books, “The

Calendar

Alchemy of Us” and “Save Our Science,” Dr. Ramirez co-authored “Newton’s Football.” She has written for Forbes, Time, The Atlantic, Scientific American, American Scientist and Science and has explained science headlines on CBS, CNN, NPR, ESPN and PBS.

Dr. Ramirez speaks widely on the topics of science and technology. Her TEDxBroadway talk on science education explores the importance of creating excitement among young people about science through the arts. She has won prizes from the National Science Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the American Institute of Physics. She speaks internationally on the importance of making science fun.

She has served as a science advisor to the American Film Institute, WGBH/NOVA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and several science museums. She also hosts a science podcast called “Science Underground.”Her free lecture is sponsored by UCSB Arts & Lectures. For more information and registration, visit www. artsandlectures.ucsb.edu.

email: mmcmahon@newspress. com

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“The River Bride,” the story of folklore, love, regret and two sisters who struggle to be true to each other and their hearts, will be presented by PCPA (Pacific Conservatory Theatre) from Feb. 16 through March 5 in Santa Maria. The play is being performed at the Severson Theatre at Allan Hancock College, 870 S. Bradley Road.

The calendar appears Mondays through Saturdays in the “Life & the Arts” section. Items are welcome. Please email them a full week before the event to Managing Editor Dave Mason at dmason@newspress.com.

TODAY

10 a.m. to 4 p.m. “Entangled:

Responding to Environmental Crisis,” runs through March 25 at the Westmont RidleyTree Museum of Art. The museum is open from 10 a.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. It’s closed on Sundays and college holidays. For more information, call 805-565-6162 or visit westmont.edu/museum.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Interlopings:

Colors in the Warp and Weft of Ecological Entanglements” is an exhibit that runs through March 12 at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. The exhibit features weavings dyed with pigments from non-native plants on Santa Cruz Island. The weavings were created by artists Helen Svensson and Lisa Jevbratt. For more information, see sbbotanicgarden.org.

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Coast artist and London native Annie Hoffman’s exhibit “Seeing Ourselves in Colour” will be displayed through Feb. 28 at Gallery Los Olivos, 2920 Grand Ave., Los Olivos. For more information, visit anniehoffmann. com.

10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. “The Search for the Modern West,” an exhibit, continues through Feb. 20 at Sullivan Goss: An American Gallery, 11 E. Anapamu St., Santa Barbara. The gallery is open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. For more information, see sullivangoss.com or call the gallery at 805730-1460.

11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit “Parliament of Owls” runs through Feb. 5 at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, 2559 Puesta del Sol, Santa Barbara. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays. For more information, go to www.sbnature.org.

Noon to 5 p.m. “Clarence Mattei: Portrait of a Community” is on view now through May at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum, which is located in downtown Santa Barbara at 136 E. De la Guerra St. Admission is free. Hours are currently from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and from noon to 7 p.m. Thursdays. For more information, visit www.sbhistorical.org.

8 p.m. The Santa Barbara International Film Festival opens with “Miranda’s Victim” at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St. See sbiff.org.

8 p.m Transform Through Arts will present 10 dance companies in “Colors of Love” at the Center Stage Theater, upstairs at Paseo Nuevo in Santa Barbara. General admission costs $30 in advance and $35 at the door. Tickets are $25 for students. To purchase, go to www.centerstagetheater. org.

FEB. 10

8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, The play is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in his sister’s home in Kabul. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805-965-5400.

FEB. 11

8 p.m. Ensemble Theatre Company will perform “Selling Kabul” at the New Vic Theatre, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, The play is about an Afghan man hiding from the Taliban in his sister’s home in Kabul. Tickets cost $40 to $84. To purchase, go to etcsb.org or call 805-965-5400.

FEB. 12

Noon. Participants in Ted Nash’s workshop will go on stage at the Mary Craig Auditorium, the Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1130 State St. The free program is called “Transformation: Personal Stories of Change, Acceptance and Evolution” and will feature student composers, performers and writers from Mr. Nash’s workshop. FEB. 14 6 to 7:30 p.m. Nicole Lvoff and Joe Woodard will perform on Valentine’s Day

COURTESY PHOTOS

John Demourkas Julie Heider-Gray

“Bobbie”