SynRG is the annual Regional Gathering or RG for Gulf Coast Mensa. It is held each year in May over Memorial Day weekend, beginning late Friday afternoon and ending early Monday afternoon (May 24, 2019-May 27, 2019). The event is held in a large Houston area hotel and registration for the RG includes speakers, activities, meals and beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic). Each year's gathering is organized around a theme with the weekend's speakers and activities being somehow related and each year's theme is different. Past themes have included literature, visions for the future, metamorphosis and palindromes.

 

Registration

If you have not yet registered, you can do so online. If you prefer, you can download this form and mail it in. Attendees age 7-20 are half price and children 6 and under are free.

Registration Rates

• Through Sept. 3, 2018: $80
• Through Dec. 31, 2018: $90
• Through May 15, 2019: $100
• Thereafter and at the door: $110

 

Day Rates

• Friday: $25
• Saturday: $55
• Sunday: $55
• Monday: free with a donation to the scholarship fund

Hotel

The RG will be held at the Doubletree Intercontinental, 15747 John F Kennedy Blvd, Houston, TX 77032. The Gulf Coast Mensa room rate of $105 per night includes passes for two people to enjoy the breakfast buffet in Oakley's Restaurant each morning. Make your reservation online or call 281-848-4000. Please note that the breakfast offer is only included if you book with the GCM block. Other rates will not include the breakfast passes.

 

Travel

Flying: You will want to book your flights through Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH). There is a free courtesy shuttle from the airport to the hotel that takes only 5 minutes. Call the hotel at 281-848-4000 to request a pickup.

Hobby Airport is 27 miles from the hotel; cab fare is about $40.

Driving: From Beltway 8, Sam Houston Parkway, take JFK Blvd exit. Go north on JFK for half a mile, turn left into hotel parking lot at 15747 JFK Blvd.

 

 

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Games

One of the staples of SynRG is the well-stocked games room. Throughout the weekend we'll have tournaments and "learn to play" sessions hosted by various attendees.

Thanks to our friends in Chicago Area Mensa, we now have our game library fully catalogued and available online. If you're stuck and don't know what to try, head over to Game Picker to easily search the GCM games collection for what will likely become your new favorite game.

 

Schedule

The following is the tentative schedule for SynRG 2019. This will be updated as we finalized and confirm with our speakers. You can find details on the program below.

 

 

Events

 

Beer Tasting - Ticketed Event

Lowell Aplebaum

"Without question, the greatest invention in the history of mankind is beer. Oh, I grant you the wheel was also a fine invention, but the wheel does not go nearly as well with pizza." - Dave Barry

Beer – it is fun, easy to find, and has inspired many drinking games. Yet, it also has a history that has helped drive the evolution of civilization, a variety of flavors and approaches that give it depth and complexity, and comes in such a broad range of styles that it can be paired with almost any meal. Our beer tasting will have a fun approach to beer through a lens of learning – what do all the acronyms on a bottle mean? What is the four-step beer tasting process? Can a glass of beer be TOO cold? This tasting will be a perfect introduction into the world of beer - come try six different styles (and maybe a bonus one as well) with Certified Beer Server Lowell Aplebaum.

This will be a ticketed event in addition to your registration. All proceeds from your $40 ticket will be split evenly between the Gulf Coast Mensa scholarship fund and the Mensa Foundation. There are limited spaces available. Buy your ticket today!

Lowell Aplebaum hails from Gaithersburg, MD – but is on a plane almost every week, trekking the country in search of the next, great microbrewery (and for his real job on the side). Over the past 8 years he has tasted over unique 8,000 beers (no joke – connect with him on untappd and see - @laplebaum). He uses his beer knowledge for good – helping the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation pick their beer for the Brewer’s Ball, and many non-profits raise money for their foundations with beer tastings. Someday, he hopes to retire, running brewery tours for friends and colleagues – and for now is excited to toast a glass while sharing a beer with you.

 

Scotch Whisky Tasting - Ticketed Event

Jason Seiler

Scotland has influenced whisky production worldwide, lending its rules and practices, knowledge and craftsmanship, to the betterment of mankind. For the past few years we have embarked on a taste adventure all over Scotland, experiencing drams from its six whisky-producing regions. Now we begin to dive even deeper, tasting Scotland region by region. In this 1st of a multi-part series, we will delve into Highland single malt Scotch whisky. We will sample 7 excellent, single-malt Highland whiskies in this tasting, whose proceeds support the GCM scholarship fund and the Mensa Foundation! Join us for this, and for each part of the journey!

This will be a ticketed event in addition to your registration. All proceeds from your $60 ticket will be split evenly between the Gulf Coast Mensa scholarship fund and the Mensa Foundation. There are limited spaces available. Buy your ticket today!

Jason Seiler is a martial arts instructor, firearms instructor, RVC and incoming Secretary for American Mensa, and a known Scotch whisky aficionado. He has been giving private tastings from his personal collection of 80+ single malt whiskies for over a decade, providing small groups from different organizations with education and experience in the water of life.

 

Name That Movie!

John & Geri Neemidge

Name That Movie consists of short clips from about 40 movies. Each movie clip presents one or more themes. We ask that you identify each movie and the themes. Play as individuals or as a team of up to 6 members. We try to make each clip interesting on its own, so even if you don't know movies very well we hope the game will be entertaining. Clips (not the movies themselves) are chosen to be PG or G rated. We'll provide a key with information about each movie and themes at the end.

 

Cross-Country Trivia

Jason Seiler

We're joining forces with our friends across the country to play a game! In addition to SynRG, San Diego Mensa's uRGe is held every Memorial Day weekend. With friends separated by thousands of miles, it can be sometimes be hard to choose - but we solved the problem! For the first time, we're introducing a multi-RG program as both sides battle it out over trivia. With a livestream between the two RGs, attendees of both RGs can play along to see who captures the Know-It-All crown!

 

Cards Against Disney

You've heard of Cards Against Humanity, the party game for horrible people. This year, we're going to provide a new twist by completely destroying your childhood memories. Cards Against Disney is a game for adult Disney fans with a dark and twisted sense of humor.

 

Battledecks

Battledecks (a.k.a. PowerPoint Karaoke) is an improvisational game based on the worst aspects of PowerPoint presentations.. Contestants make up presentations using slide decks they have never seen before. The slide decks are often made up of random images, slides from a different subject area than that of the title, or inspirational messages.

 

 

Spaghetti Tower Building

Put on your design and engineering hat for this fun competition! Each team (of up to 4 people) will be tasked with quickly building a tower using nothing but spaghetti and marshmallows. Your tower's score will be based on both its height and how much weight it can hold. Will your architectural masterpiece stand the test?

 

 

LEGO Free Play

Before the movie, there were building sets. Before the sets, there were just blocks. It's time to get creative! We've got a classic box of bricks just waiting to be made into something amazing. Grab a friend and come build a new world.

 

 

 

Keynote Speaker

 

An Archaeology of Atlantis: Plato's Dialogues, Minoan Culture, and New Analytical Approaches

Chris Kilgore

The myth of Atlantis comes from Plato's dialogues, in which Atlantis is described as a circular land comprised of concentric zones of earth and water, surrounded by mountains. A cosmopolitan city-state with a grand infrastructure, Atlantis was said to be home to an advanced, prosperous, trading culture. It supposedly exploded and sank into the ocean in a single day. Among those who have taken the narrative seriously, the location of Atlantis has been the subject of speculation for centuries. Some theories are fanciful, incorporating anachronistic technologies or extraterrestrials. More prosaically, many modern archaeologists interpret Plato's tale as an oral tradition describing Minoan culture. The Minoans, living on islands in the Mediterranean, suffered a catastrophic volcanic explosion around 1,600 BC which effectively destroyed their civilization. Christopher Kilgore will review the Platonic dialogues, describe some of the more colorful theories regarding Atlantis, and detail recent archaeological insights into Minoan culture. He will also share unappreciated literary and iconographic parallels between ancient sources and modern cultures. Together, these suggest that cultural vestiges of "Atlantis" have survived to this day through transmission via the Minoan diaspora.

Christopher Kilgore, Mr. Mensa 2018, is a cognitive archaeologist, art historian, and raconteur based in Houston. He has spoken at numerous RGs and AGs and has presented his original research at museums and universities in the United States, France, Britain, Spain, and Belgium. Since 2013, he has been a featured lecturer in the École Doctorale of France's Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, the world's oldest natural history museum. Chris received his MA in Art History from the University of Houston, where he received the Art History Writing Fellowship. At UH he was also awarded the SuMo Art award for art historical writing, the Blain Endowment scholarship, and the Peter Guenther Memorial Scholarship.

 

Speakers

 

As we schedule speakers, we will provide updates. Check back regularly!

 

Tackling the Risks of Exploration Starting from a Blank Sheet of Paper: How Systems Engineering is Advancing Exploration Capabilities

Jennifer Mindock, Ph.D.

We want to explore. With exploration comes risk, and with risk sometimes comes failure. Opportunity for growth then arises, as risk and failure highlight the need to solve problems and be creative. This is the time to dream of new things while taking advantage of the lessons of both previous successes and failures. At its core, systems engineering is about creation, translation, and integration. This talk will address starting with a “blank sheet of paper”, envisioning space exploration activities, and thinking of the crew’s needs early to enable healthy and productive crew members that are ready to explore.

Jennifer Mindock works for KBRwyle at NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, TX, She is the Human Research Program (HRP) Exploration Medical Capability Element Systems Engineering Technical Lead and the KBRwyle Systems Engineering Section Manager. Prior to this, she worked in HRP’s Science Management Office to build cross-disciplinary integration. Before her time at JSC, she was a Senior Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, working on the Mars rovers Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity, the Phoenix Mars Lander, and astrophysics and mission operation projects. She holds a Ph.D. in the Bioastronautics focus area of Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado, a Master’s Degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida.

 

Standing and Delivering: What the Movie Didn't Tell

Jerry Jesness

In 1987, an astounding 85 students at Garfield High School, a high-poverty, mostly Hispanic high school in East Los Angeles, passed the Advanced Placement Calculus exam. A school from which few graduates even had even attempted college a decade before was sending graduates to UCLA, MIT, and the Ivies, often on full scholarships.

Escalante and Garfield High had a flash of fame when they became the subject of the docudrama film Stand and Deliver. The film is credited for popularizing AP curricula and testing, especially in low income schools that had previously not offered them.

All good things, alas, must end. Escalante was pushed out of Garfield. A year later, Angel Villavicencio, his right hand man and successor, followed him out the door. A few years later, the famous calculus program was toast and the man who had been called the greatest teacher in America was back in his native Bolivia.

There was a lot that could have been learned from Escalante and his program. Unfortunately the simple message of the movie, that a caring, charismatic teacher can bring poor-performing students to success almost overnight has been taken to heart. As one might imagine, there was a lot more involved. This session will address the actions that made Escalante’s calculus program great.

Jerry Jesness is an educator and writer currently teaching in Beaumont, TX. He also has taught in Mexico, Japan, the Rio Grande Valley, and the Houston area. He has written for Harpers, Reason, Teacher Magazine, Principal Magazine, Education Week, and several newspapers. He and Henry Gradillas, former principal of Garfield High School, wrote Standing and Delivering, What the Movie Didn’t Tell, a book in which Gradillas explains how Garfield teachers and administrators turned a low-performing inner city school into an AP Calculus powerhouse.

 

Gulf Coast Mensa Town Hall Meeting

GCM Board of Directors

Not sure if you're getting everything you can out of your Mensa membership? Have no idea who your local board members are? Do you have questions about where GCM is headed in 2019? Are you an angry curmudgeon with an axe to grind? Well then you need to come to the GCM Town Hall Meeting!! Your local board members will be there to listen to your comments and answer your questions. We'll also go over the results of the GCM Member Survey, and discuss how to translate that feedback into a better member experience for all!

The Gulf Coast Mensa Board of Directors is elected for an annual term each November.

 

The Bombing of Japan, 1944-45

Mark Lardas

The air campaign that incinerated Japan’s cities was the first and only time that independent air power has won a war.

As the United States pushed Imperial Japan back towards Tokyo Bay, the US Army Air Force deployed the first of a new bomber to the theater. The B-29 Superfortress was complex, troubled, and hugely advanced. It was the most expensive weapons system of the war, and formidably capable. But at the time, no strategic bombing campaign had ever brought about a nation’s surrender. Not only that, but Japan was half a world away, and the US had no airfields even within the extraordinary range of the B-29. This analysis explains why the B-29s struggled at first, and how General LeMay devised radical and devastating tactics that began to systematically incinerate Japanese cities and industries and eliminate its maritime trade with aerial mining. It explains how and why this campaign was so uniquely successful, and how gaps in Japan’s defenses contributed to the B-29s’ success.

Mark Lardas, the author of over twenty books, writes about maritime and military history. He specializes in Texas maritime and naval history, but is interested in just about anything that floats – and really any history about the technology of transportation. By day he is a technical writer and a quality assurance manager at an aerospace manufacturing company. In previous lives he worked on the Space Shuttle program (primarily as a navigation engineer) between 1979 and 2011, and in the oil industry for several years after that. A man who never met a useless fact he did not find fascinating he has been a frequent speaker at SynRG.

 

So You Think You Know DNA Testing

Erika Knott

DNA testing has become common parlance, and is a pervasive example of scientific achievement. Many people rely on DNA testing to inform them of everything from their family’s history to the fate of a criminal, and yet few understand the science and techniques behind DNA analysis. This talk seeks to demystify the three types of DNA testing lay people are mostly likely to be exposed to: forensic, paternity, and ancestry DNA testing. With convenient analogies and real-world examples, this presentation will cover the structure and statistics of DNA, how DNA profiling is performed for different types of testing, and what happens when you combine these various techniques.

Erika Knott is a PhD candidate researching prostate cancer metabolism. She previously worked as a DNA Analyst (Forensic DNA) at the Arkansas State Crime Lab, and interned with the FBI’s Counterterrorism and Forensic Science Research Unit. In addition to her thesis work, Erika has performed research in toxicology and microbiology. She is currently involved in scientific outreach, and presents her research annually at the American Association for Cancer Research.

 

The Magnetic Fields of the Natural Satellites

Justin J McCollum, M. Sci. Physics

Magnetic fields can have interesting effects on the many planetary bodies and planetary like natural satellites in our own Solar System. Many of these natural bodies will generate these fields internally (intrinsically) due to currently active cores. Any planetary body will usually have an internal core of heavy metals mostly composed of Iron and Nickel structured in two semi - concentric layers: Inner and Outer Core. For terrestrial planets, the outer core is liquid and inner core is solid. The motion against the two layers produces Coriolis effects that form electrical currents that induce magnetic fields. Other types of planets such as the Gas Giants of our Solar System will likely generate magnetic fields due to the swirling motion of liquid or semi-metallic Hydrogen deep within their interiors. The larger planets have planetary size moons and smaller bodies of spherical shape that can be altered dynamically within the influence of the gravitational and magnetic fields of a Gas Giant. These effects result in both intrinsic and extrinsic magnetic fields induced due to tidal effects by gravitation and the outside influence of a Gas Giant's magnetic field (Magnetosphere). Some of these bodies will form atmospherics (trace or substantial) that interact with the magnetic fields producing radio beacons, plasma orbs that warp and distort the motion of a Gas Giant's magnetosphere that spins due to the internal rotation of the larger body's dynamo.

Mr. Justin J McCollum graduated from Portland State University, Portland Or. with B. Sci. and M. Sci. in Physics. He currently works at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX under the Texas State University System as the Physics Laboratory Coordinator in charge of the development, teaching, and modifications of the Laboratory courses for the Physics Department since 2005. In 2014 he started teaching courses in Astronomy and Orbital Mechanics serving as both the Instructor of Astronomy for the Physics Department and Space Sciences Instructor for the Dept. of Earth & Space Sciences at Lamar University. He has served as an Astronomy club officer for several clubs in the greater Houston Area (2 years as VP for the Fort Bend Astronomy Club and 7 years as the Novice Program Coordinator for the Houston Astronomical Community). Currently, he is the webmaster for the North Houston Astronomy Club, A member of our East Dome Telescope Committee for the Fort Bend Astronomy Club, and for the last few years the Program Director for the Houston Astronomical Society.

 

Slay the Dragon Within

Mary Ann Faremouth

Are you tired of the same old recruiting models and methods that simply match a job listing to a resume? Come hear about a new, innovative method for matching the whole individual to the job. The Faremouth Method, developed over 25 years, will teach you how to evaluate, interview, and assess a candidate's interests, passions, and skills, alongside their qualifications and experience, to achieve placements that will stand the test of time. For the job seeker, learn the 3 steps for negotiating the very best offer.

Mary Ann Faremouth is a professional recruitment services specialist, author of Revolutionary Recruiting: How The Faremouth Method Helps Job Seekers, Recruiters and Businesses Learn To Match People With Their Passions. She is a highly regarded speaker and writer, 2016 President of Houston Independent Personnel Consultant Group, and a member of the NASPD, NAPCA. Her articles have been published in Oil and Gas Industry related publications and she has extensive experience in the national recruiting world. Read more on her company's website.

 

The Great Folk Music Scare

Jim Stanley

Hootenanny!!! If you're old enough to remember "The Great Folk Music Scare of the Early 60's" (Martin Mull), you will remember a wonderful time when Top-40 AM radio playlists included The Kingston Trio, Peter Paul and Mary, The Chad Mitchell Trio, The Limeliters and many more! Join GCM member Jim Stanley for a foot-stomping, hand-clapping singalong of some of the greatest tunes from the era. While many members may not remember some of that time, the stories of it will certainly entertain!

Jim Stanley was part of the 1960's music scene and played in a rock & roll band in San Francisco 1966-7, served in Vietnam, returned and taught English and Theatre for many years and is now retired. He performed in plays, including You Can't Take It With You and is an outstanding musician and teacher.

 

 

Musical Houston: Our Panel of Experts Discusses Houston's Musical Gifts

Moderated by Kathleen Ruhleder, featuring Chris Betts, Rick Erickson, and Joel Love

Four members of Houston's thriving classical music scene discuss Houston's musical past, present and potential futures, race and gender issues in music, the creative/collaborative process, and much more. Audience questions are welcome.Gulf Coast Mensa member Kathleen Ruhleder will moderate the panel. Local musical experts will include Chris Betts, music minister at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church; Rick Erickson, artistic director of Houston Bach Society; Joel Love, composer; and Jason Oby, chairperson of the Department of Music at Texas Southern University.

Chris Betts has served as the Director of Music at St. Paul's United Methodist Church since February 2018. Mr. Betts was formerly Director of Music and Organist at the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda, Maryland, and before that, Organist and Associate Director of Music at the Washington National Cathedral. A native of the United Kingdom, Chris was raised in the English Cathedral tradition as a boy chorister in Lichfield and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Magdalen College Oxford.

He came to the U.S. as Artist-in-Residence and later Director of Music at First United Methodist Church in Lubbock, Texas. First UMC Lubbock has deep roots in the Anglican choral tradition.

From his early years in the UK to now, Chris has utilized the RSCM and Voice for Life tradition with wonderful success and is known as a collaborator and strong leader. Chris is married to Sunny, a Texan by birth, and they have two children.

 

 

Rick Erickson is the Director of the Bach Society Houston and Cantor at Christ the King and also Lecturer in Church Music at The Shepherd School of Music at Rice University.

Prior to coming to Houston, Rick served for 22 years as Cantor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in New York, where he directed the Bach Vespers series. Prior to that, he served as Director of Music at Incarnate Word Church in Rochester, NY.

A graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Superior, from which he also received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2009, he holds a Master’s in Organ Performance and Literature and the Performer’s Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, where he also served for four years on the faculty of Improvfest. His organ teachers include Lucile Hammill Webb, Russell Saunders, David Craighead, and Gerre Hancock in improvisation. He also studied conducting at UWS and the Eastman School.

Rick has appeared as recitalist, lecturer, conductor, and hymn festival leader throughout the United States, and in Germany, Sweden, Australia and New Zealand. He has performed for conventions of the American Guild of Organists and the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians, among others. A noted hymn improviser, Erickson has recorded for Naxos, JVrecording, Deux-Elles, and Augsburg Fortress. The New Yorker hailed his playing as exhibiting “exemplary Bach.”

He has also served as a Dean and Regional Councillor of the American Guild of Organists. He is also an Associate in Ministry in the ELCA.

 

Hailed as "extremely moving" by New Music Box and "especially sweet" by the Austin American Statesman, the music of Joel Love explores an eclectic mix of genres, from short video pieces to works for chamber and large ensembles.

Joel’s works have been performed by a number of large and small ensembles, exhibited at art galleries, and screened at theatres and festivals around the world. Recent highlights include a number of performances of his new saxophone octet, Three Images, including the Royal College of Music Saxophone Ensemble and the faculty of the American Saxophone Academy, both in the summer of 2017. A nation-wide consortium of universities and saxophonists, led by Connie Frigo, recently commissioned a new concerto for alto saxophone and wind ensemble, which the United States Air Force Band with Jeremy Koch, soloist, and Col. Larry Lang, conductor will release on their upcoming CD this fall.

Joel recently completed a D.M.A. in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin and holds degrees from The University of Houston's Moores School of Music (M.Music) and Lamar University’s Mary Morgan Department of Music (B.Music). He lives in Houston, TX, where he teaches music at Houston Community College's Southwest location in Stafford, TX.

 

Dr. Jason Oby has performed as a soloist in opera, oratorio, and recital at venues throughout the United States, as well as in Europe and Asia. As one of the acclaimed Three Mo’Tenors, he toured this country performing excerpts from opera, Broadway, jazz, and Motown. He excelled under the baton of Robert Shaw as Obadiah in Elijah (Mendelssohn), as well as in numerous performances with other conductors in works including: The Creation (Haydn); Magnificat (Bach); Messiah (Handel); numerous others. He has also received recognition for his work as a recitalist, evidenced by his frequent invitations to perform solo concerts at college and community concert series and his strong showing as a national finalist in the Joy in Singing competition for concert singers early in his career.

He is Professor of Music (voice) at Texas Southern University in Houston where he serves as Chairman of the Department of Music, and Interim Assistant Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences. Oby is the Artistic Director of The Houston Ebony Opera Guild and as such he conceives, plans, produces and frequently performs in many of that organization’s active season of performances. Oby holds the Bachelor and Master of Music degree from the Manhattan School of Music in NYC where he studied with American soprano, Adele Addison. He earned a Doctor of Music Degree (voice and choral conducting) from the Florida State University in Tallahassee. There, he studied voice with Yvonne Cianella and choral conducting with Rodney Eichenberger and André Thomas. He is regularly heard as a soloist with many local and regional arts presenting organizations.

 

Life in Outdoor Space

Matthew Strausser

NASA’s Johnson Space Center is not just the home of America’s astronauts and mission control. It is also home to hundreds of species of wild animals. The NASA property contains hundreds of acres of rare coastal prairie and dense forested woodland habitat replete with wildlife. The juxtaposition of ancient ecosystems and modern technology create unique challenges and opportunities for those tasked with managing it. How did this once unremarkable plot of land become a haven for native wildlife and a cornerstone of space exploration? We will explore the land’s history, its role in the formation of Texas and the founding of Houston. We also talk about some of the amazing species that have persisted in Houston’s unique ecosystem.

Matthew Strausser is the wildlife biologist for the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Matt is a Houston native, but he left the Bayou City to complete degrees in biology and forestry at the University of California, Berkeley and a graduate degree from the Yale School of Forestry. His wildlife conservation work has taken him across the country and halfway around the world. Matt has worked on projects that range from sea turtle nesting in Florida to wilderness land management in Alaska. He migrated with whooping cranes in the eastern US and researched coral reef fish behavior in the South Pacific. He returned to Houston in 2012 to create a wildlife management program NASA’s property where he advocates for a multidisciplinary approach to maintaining that area’s unique ecological resources.

 

A Map of our Galactic Super Cluster

John Moffitt

Where are we in the universe? Come and adjust your view with a new size scale greater 100 million light years. Learn to think big.

John Moffitt is a Theoretical Astophysicst by education and an Earth Scientist for most of his career, working in the oil business for over 40 years. He's been a geologist, geophysicist, paleontologist, petrophysicist, exploration manager, and currently manages an engineering project. A volunteer at the Houston Museum of Natural Science since the mid 70's, John helped to curate a special exhibit of his own collection at the HMNS called "Ancient Creatures & Ancient Seas". A past member of AAPG, SEG, SEPM, Houston Geological Society, and past president of the Houston Gem & Mineral Society, he leads paleontological field trips around the world.

For over 30 years, he continues to take a group of fourth graders on a paleontological field trip across time and across Texas each year in the spring. A past International Director for Toastmasters, he is always looking for his next challenge. John speaks at universities, museums, and organizations on everything from astrophysics to a new field of paleo-geography. He speaks on the oil business, offshore drilling, hydraulic fracturing, peak oil, galactic physics, the meaning of life, paleontology, geology, and on various groups of extinct animals. In addition, he lectures, cartoons, and writes frequently in the sciences.

In 2002, John was inducted into the Paleontology of Fame for his paleontological expertise, his writings and for his work with Earth Science Education.

 

Astrology

Richard Fleece

Through extensive research and charts, Richard Fleece can see patterns for your soul 's growth. The interplay of Venus { FEMALE } and Mars { MALE } is present at birth. This determines one 's attitudes, viewpoints, and reactions in relationships. Many books, seminars, and workshops devote much time and money in this pursuit. Richard's interpretations helps a soul to connect the dots to have a healthier, happier, and more abundant way of experiencing life. Astrology is the interplay through the planets and signs that manifest YOU!

Having been a student / teacher of astrology for over 40 years, Richard Fleece has an interesting and different way of interpreting The Craft. Astrology is the study of understanding the subtle and obvious energies of planets and sign once Life Plan. An individual has a soul blueprint of tendencies and happenings that starts at the exact time of birth. Astrology is the recognition of patterns that are activated in available at Birth.

 

 

Fun, Magic and Healing With Laughter Yoga

Janet Carroll RN - "The Laughter Nurse"

Feeling tired, burned-out and stressed? Laughter Yoga is here! Laughter Yoga is a JOYFUL and FUN group experience that combines LAUGHTER EXERCISES with YOGA BREATHING (no floor exercises) to facilitate Health, Happiness & Healing! It reduces physical, mental and emotional pain simultaneously and can be used personally and professionally. It is amazingly helpful in stopping stress hormones (particularly cortisol) and burnout. The end result is a renewed, regenerated and joyful YOU! Join Janet to learn about the benefits of laughter yoga, and then experience the results for yourself!

Janet Carroll has 48 years in Nursing (hospital staff, public health, nurse practitioner, nurse educator, nurse coordinator & nurse consultant). Her focus is health, happiness and healing. She leads Laughter Yoga Groups of all ages and specializes in the Education and Healthcare Industries. She works with Educators & Students and Managements & Staffs to help resolve stress/burnout and to get the happiness hormones flowing! Janet brings passion to whatever she does and has been acclaimed for her presentations.

 

Bats - Heroes of the Night Skies

DeAndra Ramsey

Bats are truly the unsung heroes of the night skies. Come learn about amazing diversity found in the bat population of the Houston area as well as in Texas. We will cover the basics of bat biology, delve into the mythology surrounding bats, and discuss how important these animals are to our ecosystems and our way of life.

DeAndra Ramsey has always had a passion for saving animals. She attended Texas A&M University where she obtained her B.S in Biomedical Science. She has always had a deep love of all animals, however during her time at Texas A&M, she gained the opportunity to work extensively with a captive colony of pallid bats as a research assistant. And the rest, as they say, is history and her love affair with bats began!

DeAndra has worked in the conservation community for over 15 years. She started her career at the Houston Zoo in 2010 and has been involved in many conservation initiatives ranging from pollinator conservation to habitat restoration. She was awarded the title of Conservation Champion due to her work with the Texas Bat Monitoring project she leads at the Houston Zoo. As a member of the Houston Bat Team, she is responsible for public outreach and education surrounding Houston area bats. DeAndra also works with Buffalo Bayou partnership to further conservation education efforts in relation to our amazing urban wildlife we have right here in Houston.

 

American Tall Tales - Texas

Wayne Lynch

Our American Tall Tale begins with Mike Fink, the famous keelboat sailor of the early 19th Century who shoots and brags his way along the Ohio River. From that beginning, the frontier braggart began to gain popularity. Davy Crockett added a humorous tone to his bragging and rode it into victory along the political stump, even becoming the first larger than life miracle man in American folklore. And then the frontier folk hero migrated to Texas, in the form of one Big Foot Wallace, who brought his own style of low-key innocence to the story. A similar pattern developed with American Folklore surrounding western outlaws and lawmen, and again when Paul Bunyan and the Industrial Giants hit the scene.

Wayne Lynch has worked as a CPA and Tax Attorney in Galveston, Texas for the past 35 years but his true passion is American and Texas History. Wayne has published some 35 to 40 articles on the American Revolution and recently expanded his focus to include teaching engagements on Frontier Texas. He hopes to spend his second career spinning a few yarns and telling a few tall tales of his own.

 

A Woman in the Merchant Marine

Captain Carol Curtiss

As one of the very first woman in what had been almost exclusively a man's world, Capt. Carol is an accomplished speaker with a good story to tell.

Carol graduated as an Officer from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in 1980. For 4 years she learned to Navigate and Operated the engines on HUGE Ocean-Going cargo ships. For 30 years, Carol sailed all over the world on container ships, Tankers and Car Carriers, most often, being the only woman on the ship. She succeeded in upgrading her Officers License to Captain & Chief Engineer, Unlimited. Carol retired from shipping-out in 2010, authored a book on her tumultuous adventures, and now teaches part-time at San Jacinto Maritime School in Shore Acers.

 

 

Meet the AMC

Taz Criss

Q & A about Mensa at the National level hosted by our outgoing Regional Vice Chair for Region 6 and National Treasurer-elect, Taz Criss. Taz will be joined by Chair LaRae Bakerink, Secretary-elect Jason Seiler, RVC 4 Jon Gruebele, and RVC 6-elect John Neemidge. Bring your questions, comments, commendations, and even complaints.

Taz Criss is a second-generation Mensan who joined as a teenager. She has served in various roles in Local Groups and SIGs. She was first elected to the AMC in 2015 as RVC 6 and is now the incominb national Treasurer. Her leadership style is uniquely honest, upfront, and jovial. If confidence were inches, she would be 10 feet tall.

 

Anthropopsychiatry: The Fourth Revolution in Psychiatry and the Unified Science of the Mind

Dr. Bill Skiba

Bill Skiba's late-life project is to promote what he calls "Anthropopsychiatry", which is a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding human behavior. Briefly, his thesis is that the modern Science of the Mind requires a combination of the fields of psychiatry, neuroscience, biological anthropology (including evolutionary theory and primatology), and molecular biology (including genomics). Since he last spoke, new developments in the field are worth of review & comment. The mind isn't what it used to be.

A major goal is to bridge the gap between the psychiatrists and the biological anthropologists. In his quest, Bill has been surprised to encounter so much resistance, which he has analyzed by thinking about it as the intertwined three areas of conscious, unconscious, and institutional resistance. He will also discuss the relationship of these ideas to dealing with the perils of the Anthropocene (climate change, ecosystem destruction, and the Sixth Extinction).

Bill Skiba has a PhD in biochemistry. Following this degree, Bill went to medical school and became a Board-Certified psychiatrist, then became a member of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society (the premier society for biological anthropologists). He has read a lot of neuroscience!

 

Kids' Track

Parents, please be sure to bring a completed release form for your kids! Print it out, sign it, and return it to us This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Alternately, you may print it out and bring it to the RG, although that will slow your registration process.

For those who are planning to only attend the Kids' Track, please select "Youth Program" when you register.

 

Robotics Demonstration & STEM Camp

CRyptonite Robotics Team

The CRyptonite Robotics team from Cinco Ranch High School will demonstrate one of their globally recognized competition robots as well as holding multiple stations for hands-on STEM experimentation. They will also talk about their FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) robotics program.

As part of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC Team 624), CRyptonite Robotics designs and builds robots to compete on an international level. Keeping true to the goals of FIRST, the team strives to make a difference throughout the community and inspire a greater appreciation for science and technology. Team 624 believes in the power of FIRST and strives to grow the program in our community. We have played a role in the formation of numerous FRC teams both in and out of our school district. Furthermore, we have helped create FIRST Lego League (FLL) teams at local junior high schools. We keep a close connection with these teams, with CRyptonite students serving as the primary mentors and coaches for the FLL students.