Eight Evenings Of Talks, Tentacles, And Talent At Cephalopod Movie Nights
This June, Cephalopod Week is back, with another eight days to cephalo-brate our favorite many-armed friends!
Cephalopod Week is back, with another eight days to cephalo-brate our many-armed friends! Science Friday is partnering with museums, aquariums, and our favorite hangout spots across the country for evenings of undersea joy—featuring short science documentaries, conversations with marine invertebrate experts, performances, receptions, activities, and other underwater-themed amusements. Come with your questions for our researchers, aquarists, scientists, writers, filmmakers, and other cephalopod enthusiasts!
Join us in Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco, Mystic, CT, Norwalk, CT, New York City, Pittsburgh, and Portland, OR. Our events in Boston, San Francisco, and New York City will offer virtual livestream tickets, or join us on Facebook Live to watch our Baltimore event!
Please note: COVID policies at each location are subject to change, and ticket holders will be notified of any changes to these policies in advance of the event dates.
Mystic, CT
- Date: Friday, June 10, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:30pm, reception 6:30-7:30pm, show 7:30pm ET
- Location: Mystic Aquarium – 55 Coogan Blvd, Mystic, CT 06355
- Tickets: $25 general admission, $20 CT Public and Mystic Aquarium members
Celebrate Cephalopod Week surrounded by octopuses and other underwater creatures at this special event in the Mystic Aquarium! Join us for a reception, where guests can enjoy small plates and drinks among the fishes with an exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpse of Mystic Aquarium’s octopus habitat and cephalopod enrichment. Following the reception, guests will experience a seated screening and conversation, where we’ll watch short science documentaries about cephalopods and hear what it’s like to work with these fascinating creatures from our special guests.
David Cochran, Mystic Aquarium’s Director of Fish and Invertebrates, will tell us all about caring for cephalopods (and other aquarium residents), and John Briseno, Ph.D. student at the University of Connecticut, will give us the inside scoop on symbiotic relationships between squids and their beneficial microbes. You’ll even have a chance to ask your crucial cephalopod queries!
This event is presented in partnership with our friends at Connecticut Public. Sponsored by Save the Sound.
Please review the Mystic Aquarium’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
San Francisco
- Date: Friday, June 10, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:30pm, show 7:00pm PT
- Location: The Commons, KQED Headquarters – 2601 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
- Tickets: In Person: $18 general admission, $8 children / Livestream: $5
SciFri is joining forces with the team behind KQED’s award-winning wildlife video series Deep Look to celebrate the cunning cuttlefish, nifty nautilus, superb squid, and outstanding octopus! Join us for a cinematic evening of cephalopods, where we’ll screen short science documentaries and hear what it’s like to work with these fascinating creatures from our special guests:
- Richard Ross, cephalopod husbandry expert, will invite us to his Secret Home Lab, where he has been raising and caring for octopuses (and coral, too!) for more than 10 years.
- Danna Staaf, squid scientist, science writer, and author of Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods and The Lady and the Octopus: How Jeanne Villepreux-Power Invented Aquariums and Revolutionized Marine Biology.
- Josh Cassidy, lead producer and cinematographer for Deep Look, who brings beautiful science stories to the screen.
Bring your slimiest questions for these experts! Can’t join us in-person? Register for the livestream!
Please review the KQED’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
New York City
- Date: Saturday, June 11, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:30pm, show 7:00pm ET
- Location: Caveat – 21A Clinton St, New York, NY 10002
- Tickets: $18 advance, $22 door, $8 livestream. 21+ only
Science Friday is back at NYC’s center for intellectual nightlife for a deep dive on cephalopods! Are you curious about cuttlefish? Stunned by squid? Overwhelmed by octopus?? This event has everything for our nautilus nerds, from in-depth science documentaries to our special in-person guests, who know (almost) everything there is to know about (almost) everyone’s favorite marine invertebrates.
Our experts on stage are Sarah McAnulty—squid researcher, science communicator, and #SquidMobile owner and operator—and Christopher Whalen—invertebrate fossil inspector and postdoctoral researcher at the American Museum of Natural History—will talk about their work, and answer your questions!
Can’t join us in person? No problem—grab a ticket for our livestream and join us from the comfort of your own den.
Please review the Caveat’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
Portland, OR
- Date: Monday, June 13, 2022
- Time: Doors 7:30pm, show 8:00pm PT
- Location: OMSI, Empirical Theater – 1945 SE Water Ave, Portland, OR 97214
- Tickets: $18 general admission, $15 OMSI member, $10 youth
The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is giving Portland a place to celebrate these incredible invertebrates—octopuses, squid, cuttlefish, and nautilus—together. Join us for an evening of talk, tentacles, and merriment with fellow cephalopod enthusiasts! We’ll screen cephalopod cinema classics and hear from local experts with a lot of squid smarts.
Joining us for an on-stage conversation and audience Q&A are Annie Lindgren, Director of Portland State University’s Center for Life in Extreme Environments and expert on cephalopod evolution and phylogeny, and Mea Songco, graduate student at University of Oregon who is studying how octopuses see their underwater world—and how even their cells are special. Got questions? They’ve got answers!
The Empirical Café will be open and will have sandwiches, salads, movie snacks as well as alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks for purchase.
Please review the OMSI’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
Norwalk, CT
- Date: Tuesday, June 14, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:00pm, meet-and-greet 6:00-7:00pm, show 7:00pm ET
- Location: The Maritime Aquarium – 10 N Water St, Norwalk, CT 06854
- Tickets: $30 general admission, $25 CT Public and Maritime Aquarium members, $20 child
This event is sold out! (You can still get tickets to our event in nearby Mystic, CT)
The best place to celebrate Cephalopod Week? Your local aquarium! Join us at The Maritime Aquarium for a pre-show meet and greet, where guests can enjoy appetizers and drinks in the company of Ira Flatow, Science Friday’s host and founder. Following the meet and greet, we’ll convene in the theater, where we’ll screen short science documentaries (plus, a new 4D film all about octopuses!) and watch an interview hosted by Ira with two very special squid-y guests.
This year, our in-person experts include Barrett Christie, Director of Animal Husbandry at the Aquarium, who will tell us what it’s like to work with octopuses and write the go-to manual on cephalopod care, and Christopher Whalen, postdoctoral researcher at the American Museum of Natural History, who recently identified a new, 10-armed cephalopod in the fossil record. Come with your cuttle-y questions!
This event is presented in partnership with our friends at Connecticut Public and The Maritime Aquarium.
Please note: All guests age 5+ will be required to provide proof of vaccination (two doses + booster, two week prior to event date) at the door to attend this event.
Boston
- Date: Wednesday, June 15, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:00pm, show 6:30pm ET
- Location: WBUR CitySpace – 890 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
- Tickets: $10 general admission, $5 livestream
The cephalopods are descending upon Boston once again! Science Friday and WBUR are teaming up to present an evening full of cephalo-bration at CitySpace, where attendees can watch short science documentaries, hear from marine biology experts, take a backstage tour through a cephalopod culture center, and meet a real life octopus.
Joining us on stage this time are a few cephalopod celebrities:
- Bret Grasse, manager of cephalopod operations at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole.
- Anik Grearson, Master’s student in marine biology at Northeastern University and fellow at the Bellono Lab at Harvard University, who is studying all things undersea, with a soft spot for octopuses.
- Owen Nichols, director of marine fisheries research at the Center for Coastal Studies, who conducts research in collaboration with Cape Cod fisherfolk to support sustainable fisheries.
Dive deep with us in-person or plant your suckers at home with our livestream—no matter where you are, you can tune in to celebrate your favorite sea creatures.
Please review the CitySpace’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
Pittsburgh
- Date: Thursday, June 16, 2022
- Time: Doors Open 6:00pm, Reception 6:00-7:00pm, Show Begins 7:00pm ET
- Location: Carnegie Library Lecture Hall Oakland (Enter through Carnegie Museum of Natural History) – 4400 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, PA 15213
- Tickets: $12 general admission, $10 WESA, WYEP, and Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh members, $5 students/child
Science Friday, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and 90.5 WESA are joining forces to present an evening in observance of the octopus, a commemoration of cuttlefish, a saturnalia for squid—it’s Cephalopod Movie Night! Hosted by Pittsburgh native and SciFri’s director of news and audio, John Dankosky, attendees will view short science documentaries, hear from cephalopod researchers and other experts, and have a chance to ask our special guests their deep sea questions. Arrive at 6:00pm for a pre-show reception, including small bites and drinks and a chance to rub elbows with other cephalo-enthusiasts.
Our special guests are:
- Matthew A. Birk, biology professor at Saint Francis University studying the relationship between cephalopods and the oxygen in their environment.
- Nicole Gioia, senior biologist, fish and invertebrates at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium who helps care for octopuses and other undersea creatures.
- Tim Pearce, curator of the mollusks collection at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, who will show us how gastropods and cephalopods might be more similar than we think (plus, if we ask nicely, he’ll tell us a few snail jokes!).
This event is presented in partnership with our friends at 90.5 WESA.FM and Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Presented locally by Chatham University.
Attendees must show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination (final vaccine must be dated at least 14 days prior to the performance) at their time of entry with a government-issued ID (for guests aged 18 and older). Please review Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s COVID policies for events found on the ticketing page before purchasing tickets to this event.
Baltimore
- Date: Tuesday, June 21, 2022
- Time: Doors 6:30pm, lobby activities 6:30-7:30pm, show 7:30pm ET
- Location: National Aquarium – 501 E Pratt St, Baltimore, MD 21202
- Tickets: $15 general admission, $8 child, 20% discount for National Aquarium and Your Public Radio (WYPR and WTMD) members
Science Friday and the National Aquarium are joining forces to present an evening in observance of the octopus, a commemoration of cuttlefish, a saturnalia for squid—it’s Cephalopod Week! Attendees will view short science documentaries, hear from cephalopod researchers and other experts, and have a chance to ask our special guests their deep sea questions. Arrive at 6:30pm for a pre-show reception, including small bites and drinks and a chance to rub elbows with other cephalo-enthusiasts.
Joining us on stage are Thomas Cronin, marine invertebrate (including cephalopods, mantis shrimp, and more) researcher and visual systems expert from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Gül Dölen, neuroscientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who studies how brains—including the “distributed” minds of octopuses—are built and how that affects social behavior, and Peter Larson, senior aquarist at the National Aquarium who helps care for the giant Pacific octopuses on site.
This event is presented in partnership with our friends at WYPR 88.1FM, celebrating 20 years of commitment to community.
Please review the National Aquarium’s COVID policies before purchasing tickets to this event.
Meet the Writer
About Diana Plasker
@funkministerDiana Plasker is the Senior Manager of Experiences at Science Friday, where she creates live events and partnerships to delight and engage audiences in the world of science.