Theme: Mind + Life

TEDxNewEngland is devoted to curiosity, wonder, and the pursuit of scientific knowledge. The half-day event will be on Wednesday, September 25, at the Groton Hill Music Center, which features a world-class concert hall and amenities. Our speaker lineup features researchers and visionaries who will share groundbreaking ideas and insights in science and technology.

Groton Hill Music Center
122 Old Ayer Rd
Groton, Massachusetts, 01450
United States

Aleena Garner

Cognitive Neurobiologist

Aleena is an assistant professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. She studies how memory regulates the way auditory and visual information interact in the brain to create perception. Her research focuses on how the brain constructs memories and expectations through experience interacting with the world and then decides what it will do with its future, given what it already knows and predicts will happen.

Amitai Shenhav

Behavioral Scientist

Amitai is an associate professor in the department of psychology at UC Berkeley. He researches the computational and neural mechanisms at the intersection between decision-making and cognitive control, focusing on how people weigh the costs and benefits of engaging in cognitively demanding tasks. Amitai serves on the editorial board of Social, Cognitive, and Affective Neuroscience, and his research is supported by NIH.

Asher Leeks

Evolutionary Biologist

Asher is an incoming assistant professor of evolutionary biology at the University of British Columbia who studies social evolution in viruses. Viruses are intrinsically social organisms; every aspect of the viral lifecycle can be influenced by social interactions, from replication within a cell to transmission between hosts. He uses social evolution theory to understand how these interactions evolve and to predict their clinical consequences.

Boston Dance Theater

Artist

Boston Dance Theater is New England’s premier contemporary dance company, presenting works of socio-political relevance. They’ve performed at Jacob's Pillow, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, and the Ailey Citigroup Theater in New York.

Ferris Jabr

Science Writer

Ferris is the author of Becoming Earth: How Our Planet Came to Life and a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and Scientific American. He has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, National Geographic, and Wired, among other publications. Ferris is the recipient of a Whiting Foundation Creative Nonfiction Grant and fellowships from UC Berkeley and the MIT Knight Science Journalism Program.

Harriet Lau

Geoscientist

Harriet is an assistant professor in the department of earth, environmental, and planetary sciences at Brown University. She studies the ebb and flow of ice sheets and planetary mantle convection over thousands to millions of years. Researching these geodynamic processes across vastly different time scales provides insights into our past and future climate and has profound implications for life on Earth today.

Jeff Sebo

Moral Philosopher

Jeff is an associate professor of environmental studies, an affiliated professor of bioethics, medical ethics, philosophy, and law, and director of the mind, ethics, and policy program at New York University. He studies bioethics, animal and environmental ethics, and AI minds and policy. Jeff advocates expanding our moral circle to include insects, microbes, and AI systems with transformative implications for our lives and societies.

Keith Hengen

Systems Neuroscientist

Keith is an assistant professor of biology at Washington University in Saint Louis. He studies how computation emerges from biological systems. Keith's laboratory uses cutting-edge systems neuroscience tools, theory, and molecular manipulations to shed light on why we sleep, how our brains support rich and diverse functions, and how disease impacts information moving through networks of neurons. His research is funded by NIH.

Kendall Ramseur

Artist

Kendall Ramseur is a music producer, composer, and recording artist who has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and NBC's America's Got Talent. His belief in the healing power of music fuels a passion for bringing comfort and solace to those in need.

Michael Wong

Astrobiologist

Michael is an astrobiologist and planetary scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science's Earth & Planets Laboratory. He researches planetary atmospheres, habitability, biosignatures, and the emergence of life. Michael also hosts a podcast called Strange New Worlds, which examines science, technology, and culture through the lens of Star Trek. His other passions include photography, writing, public speaking, and graphic design.

Nikta Fakhri

Biophysicist

Nikta is an associate professor in the department of physics at MIT and the physics of living systems group. She studies how to adapt and extend physics concepts to describe how tiny biological components give rise to living organisms. Her research group combines concepts from physics, biology, and engineering to decode non-equilibrium mechanisms in active living matter and exploit these mechanisms to engineer functional, active materials.

Philip Goff

Consciousness Philosopher

Philip is a professor of philosophy at Durham University, UK. His research focuses on consciousness and the ultimate nature of reality. He's best known for defending panpsychism, the view that consciousness pervades the universe and is a fundamental feature of it. Philip has published many academic articles and written extensively for newspapers and magazines, including Scientific American, The Guardian, and Aeon.

Sarah Kocher

Evolutionary Biologist

Sarah is an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics at Princeton University. She studies socially variable bees (solitary, social, and socially flexible) to understand the factors that shape the evolution of social behavior. Her lab integrates methods from many different areas of biology, from evolutionary and population genomics to neurobiology and field ecology.