Please join us for NCSWA’s annual holiday dinner, traditionally our largest gathering of the year. Our speaker will be Stanford biologist Deborah Gordon, whose studies of the collective behavior of harvester ant colonies reveal how the ants maintain their networks without a plan or central control. She has found that the human immune system and ant colonies use similar distributed defense strategies to fight off intruders. Adapting the strategy, she suggests, could yield stronger internet spam filters.
Gordon’s research has shown how seemingly tightly controlled organization emerges from rules that individual ants follow. Fieldwork in Mexico led her to develop a simple algorithm that explains how ants create, repair and prune a network within a maze of vegetation. Her studies have been featured in National Geographic and other outlets. She is the author of two books exploring ants' "interaction networks" and how insect societies are organized.
The evening will include our always unpredictable NCSWA door prize contest and ample time to catch up on a year in the lives of your colleagues.
Schedule:
6 pm No-host bar
7:15 pm Dinner
8:30 pm Door prizes and speaker
Location:
Tres Tequila Lounge & Mexican Kitchen
130 Townsend St. (at 2nd St.), San Francisco CA 94107 (map)
(Two blocks from Caltrain, 0.9 miles from Montgomery St. BART station)
We will enjoy the buffet menu at this popular Mexican restaurant in the burgeoning neighborhood just one block from AT&T Park.
Menu:
Grilled baby carrots & broccoli and mole
Three-cheese blend & epazote empanadas
Sauteed seasonal vegetable enchiladas with chipotle & guajillo salsa
Braised beef with roasted tomatillo salsa
Slow-roasted pork rubbed with chile de árbol
Smoky chile ancho-marinated chicken
Housemade corn tortillas, Mexican rice, seasonal beans
Dessert sampler with Mexican chocolate cake and churros with caramel sauce
Cost:
Members plus one guest: $26 / Students: $16 / Non-members: $45
Registration:
Deadline to register has been extended to Fri., Nov. 30, 2018. No refunds will be given for cancellations after that date.
