Chris Paparo, assistant director for Southampton programs and Marine Sciences Center Manager at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), marked the 10th anniversary of his public lecture series, now known as Geek Talks. The event began in 2015 when Paparo, a naturalist and wildlife photographer, sought to support a local brewery in Riverhead, Long Island, by hosting a science-themed talk.
Paparo recalled his first event: “I did one of my underwater fish talks, just talking about underwater life like the fish and crabs and scallops and other things you see here on Long Island. At the end everyone was saying, ‘This was great! Can you do it again?’” More than 100 people attended that initial lecture.
The success led to further events. However, they were initially limited to warmer months due to space constraints. By the third year, with an expanded tasting room at the brewery, Paparo planned to hold talks year-round until the COVID-19 pandemic forced a shift online. The virtual format still attracted dozens each week. “They showed up no matter who the speaker was or what that topic was,” Paparo said. “At that point I realized that we had built a reliable community of people.”
As Paparo’s own topics became exhausted, he invited colleagues from Stony Brook University and beyond to participate as speakers. After Moustache Brewing Company changed ownership and became übergeek Brewing Company, Paparo rebranded the series as Geek Talks to reflect its broader range of subjects.
“Calling it Geek Talks meant I could bring in anybody to give a talk because there’s always a topic that people geek out on,” he explained.
Geek Talks has since covered diverse topics such as colonial cooking, early baseball, jazz, female pirates, and witch trials on Long Island. SoMAS senior lecturer Tara Rider shared her experience: “I had the pleasure of giving several of the Geek Talks on topics including female pirates and the witch trial of Long Island. The crowd is always buzzing with excitement and full of great questions. It’s the kind of audience that makes you feel energized. It allows me to view my topic through a non-academic lens and consider how history and nature shape all of us.”
Paparo said demand for speaking slots is high: “It snowballed to the point where I’ve got a waiting list for people to present,” he noted. “I’ve already got speakers lined up for 2026 and it’s going great. 10 years…it’s unbelievable.”
Geek Talks are held every other Thursday during academic semesters at übergeek Brewing Company in Riverhead.
Paparo encourages more graduate students from Stony Brook University to get involved: “I think we as scientists can be better educated, and better educators,” he said. He believes making scientific topics accessible is important for public understanding: “And I think that when we have real-world challenges like climate change, people often don’t understand it because they haven’t heard it in a way that regular people can understand.”
He sets clear guidelines for presenters: “The only rule Paparo has for the lectures is ‘no charts, no graphs, no statistics, and no Latin names.’”
“I don’t want them to be a scientist; I want them to be a storyteller and tell the story of their research,” he added.
Paparo hopes these informal gatherings help scientists connect with audiences outside academia: “Most people have never given a lecture while having a beer,” he said. He encourages presenters not only to share their research but also personal stories from their fieldwork.
Reflecting on ten years of Geek Talks, Paparo said: “I’m amazed at the community that I’ve built doing this… People meet and form relationships… We even had one couple who met at a Geek Talk get married… To me, that’s been the biggest highlight of this.”
Those interested in presenting can contact Chris Paparo at christopher.paparo@stonybrook.edu
