Selected Events
2024
Imaginarium: Deep Sea Aquarium - Lawrence Public Library
Public friendly event for elementary school aged kids and parents to learn about research in the deep ocean! This included presentations on the history of SCUBA, deep sea fish, and deep sea jellies. Participants also got to interact with museum and live specimens and SCUBA equipment with researchers from the KU Natural History Museum!
Meet a Jellyfish Biologist! - STEAM Night Académie Lafayette
Public, family-friendly event with over 30 statiosn realted to science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics. In addition to sharing multiple kidns of polyps and jellies, I also showed participants how to use a microscope to better see a sea anemone "mouth."
2023
Ligthning Talks: Jellies - Seatlle Aquarium [Video]
"This episode of Lightning Talks is devoted to everyone’s favorite form of plankton: jellies! If you didn’t already know that they're plankton, you’re in for even more of a treat as each of our five guest speakers takes a five-minute dive into the jiggly world of jellies."
2021
Adaptation Day: Jellyfish Venom [Video]
KU Natural History Museum showed mustiple videos showcasing research from professors, curators, and students for a celebration of animal adaptions
"Did you know that some species of jellyfish have stinging cells that can fire at 700 nanoseconds? That's the fastest biological reaction on Earth! Learn all about jellyfish venom adaptations in this video from KU graduate student Anna Klompen."
NOAA 2020 Science Report Seminar [Video]
Featured in the NOAA 2002 Science report, I gave a short talk about the "stinging snot" project and update on my current Holling's research
"Measuring the economic benefits of the U.S. marine economy, uncovering the mystery of stinging water, conducting socioeconomic surveys about potential fishing policies, and observing air quality changes during COVID-19 lockdown measures - these are just a few of NOAA's scientific accomplishments that are highlighted in the 2020 NOAA Science Report. The NOAA Science Report celebrates NOAA’s R&D by showcasing science highlights, bibliometrics, NOAA's scientific workforce, and more. This seminar features 4 projects from the 2020 NOAA Science Report (to be released soon) related to social science, COVID-19, and an educational spotlight."
Earth Live Lesson Series: Lizzie Daly Wildlife TV [Video]
Live chat with the public about "How I Study Hydroid Venom"
"Today she will be talking about Hydractinia symbiolongicarpus, or 'hermit crab fur' hydroids! These tiny, colonial hydroids are able to make functionally specific tissues throughout the colony - similar to how we have specific organs to do specific tasks - and she is currently exploring what toxins may be specific to each of these different tissues."
2020
Live Event: NightSchool - California Academy of Sciences [Video]
"NightSchool: Heartless, Brainless, Lungless"
"Jellies have no hearts, brains, or lungs, and are made up of 95% water—how interesting can they be? Find out during an evening with venomologist Anna Klompen, science writer Juli Berwald, Academy biologist Riah Evin, & science illustrator Nick Bezio."
International Toxin Talks "Not so Scary" Event [Video]
"Mystery of Stinging Jellyfish Snot (Anna Klompen)"
This 10-minute presentation was on our work with stinging snot in the Upside-down jellyfish Cassiopea. It shows that despite many headlines noting the dangers of a jellyfish that can sting you without touching you, there were some really interesting findings from this work that are of particular interest to evolutionary venomologists!
OLOGIES PODCAST! [AUDIO]
"Jellyfish stings: what are they and why do they hurt? And who studies them? Toxinologist Anna Klompen, that’s who. Speaking from her lab in Kansas, surrounded by jellies, the self-described professional jellyfish nerd invites us into her scientific Polyp Parlor to chat about barbs, neurotoxins, quick sting fixes, panty hose, the deadliest jellies, the harmless ones, pee, her favorite moments in science and the species that have her heart forever. Also: how and why to “find a way.”
2019
3MT Finals: University of Kansas [Video]
3MT are competitions held across the globe for graduate students to talk about their thesis to a general audience, with only one slide, no props, in just three minutes! Here is my talk on dangerous box jellyfish venoms and how they might be more common than we think in non-dangerous jellyfish species.
Science Night - Lawrence Public Library
As part of an initiative to add a science communication component to our Graduate Student Retreat, three graduate students with top scores from science communication specialists were asked to give presentations at the Lawrence Public library. I gave a talk about how jellyfish venoms change over the life of a jellyfish, but just as importantly, the difference between poisons and venoms! We also had specimens, including live jellies and wood cuts, for participants that wanted to learn more about our research. Great work everyone!
Collections Up Close with KU Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum participates in many outreach events that feature the research taking place on campus. Their Collections Up Close is a two part event to specifically showcase natural history specimens: one part on the weekend for the general public and one at a union building during the week for students. I got to share some of the live animals we keep in my lab as well as preserved specimens from the invertebrate collection.
Inspire a Girl!
Inspire A Girl is a an annual celebration by the Girl Scout of NE Kansas and MW Missouri to " encourage Girl Scouts to work toward their Highest Awards (Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards) and celebrate service to others" (Inspire a Girl Webpage). During the event, Community Partners are invited to bring interactive activities to engage Girl Scouts of all ages at the STEM Expo. My fellow graduate student and I brought activities involving tree rings, sea turtles, and live jellies. We were lucky to talk to over 200 scouts at this event!
2018
The Lives of Jellyfish on the Mall!
Scorching heat and three hours of jellyfish fun, my return to DC as a Visiting Research Fellow naturally began with an outreach event for the whole Smithsonian community, along with several other interns at the Aqua Room run by Dr. Allen Collins. Check out this link to intern Daniel's account of the event!
PC: @boxjellytalk
Nerd Night is a community-organized, monthly series of three 20 min talks by anyone who wants to share something they are passionate about! Presentation titled “Tale of a Jellyfish Sting: Untold stories of the oldest venomous animals.” I loved the reaction from the audience when talking about how the venom of the Australian Box Jellyfish goes right for your heart!
SEARCH Symposium 2018
Graduate student organized event for STEMM graduate students seeking careers beyond academia. Composed of multiple panels, keynotes, short talks, and networking with researchers across various disciplines. This was a collaboration between Molecular Biosciences and Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I moderated the "Science Communication and Outreach Panel," shown to the right. Please see website for more information.
Red Hot Graduate Research, KU Commons
"Ode to the Jellyfish Sting," a six minute oral presentation given to to ~40 staff, faculty, and students across various disciplines at KU. These quick paced talks from a variety of disciplines are meant to foster connections between departments. See webpage for more details of these ongoing events.
2017
Science of the Macabre, KU Natural History Museum
My lab mate and I talking about parasitic jellies and venoms during the annual Science of the Macabre at the KU Natural History Museum is a regular fall event to showcase a variety of spooky aspects of the animals we study, like how cnidarians called myxozoans parasitize fish and venoms can target you skin and your muscles (and your brains, and your nerves, and your hearts).
GSKSMO STEM Expo, Camp Tongawood
Variety of modules developed by EEB graduate students, organized by Kaila Colyott and Andrew Mongue, to showcase marine animals, fish art, DNA extractions, plant morphology and insects to about 70 Girl Scouts.