NightSchool: After Life

Spooky season is upon us, and we're demystifying death — at least a little bit. From animals that hold funerals to environmentally friendly burial options for humans, we’re bringing together scientists, death-experts, and more to uncover what happens postmortem on NightSchool: After Life.

• Stephanie Dresen: What does it mean to have a “green burial”? Stephanie Dresen, Board Secretary for the Green Burial Council, delves into the realm of eco-friendly human burial practices, shedding light on the ways we can care for the deceased while having minimal negative impacts on the environment.

• Dr. Kaeli Swift: Western cultures have often associated crows with death, but it’s only recently that western science has explored what crows actually *think* of death. Corvid-researcher Dr. Kaeli Swift shares her research into crow funerals, exploring what these rituals can reveal about death in both these crows’ worlds and our own.

• Dr. Jessica Metcalf: When a living being dies, forces unseen by human eyes get to work almost immediately. Dr. Jessica Metcalf will untangle the stories of the bacteria, fungi, and other microscopic life that take up residence on decomposing flesh — and how they get there in the first place.

All NightSchool virtual programming is intended for audiences 21+.

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PAST NIGHTSCHOOL EVENTS

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