Jennifer Gardy

We’ve all heard a multitude of truisms throughout our lives about the world around us. Drinking alcohol warms us up on a cold day. Eating grilled meat can increase your risk of cancer. Mosquitoes prefer biting women to biting men. But have we ever taken the time to explore whether or not these are truths, or myths? Jennifer Gardy explores some of our most commonly held beliefs to reveal whether or not the science actually holds up. Do we really lose most of our heat through our head? Does eating fast cause you to gain wait? From sight to sleep, from carcinogens to cancer, from hamburgers to hotdogs, this revealing talk takes a journey through the misunderstandings, misconceptions and downright lies that fill our headlines and dictate our lives, with one simple goal—discover whether they’re myth or science.

Being a scientist isn’t just about reading boring books and looking through a microscope. Dr. Jennifer Gardy puts herself in the middle of her own experiments—all for the sake of science, of course—as guest host of the “Myth or Science” episodes on CBC’s popular show The Nature of Things. Do mosquitoes bite women or men more? Is raw food better than cooked food? Do we really lose most of our body heat through our heads? Gardy knows first-hand. In this seriously funny and educational talk, she introduces young audiences to the way science impacts nearly every aspect of our lives. And, she shows that scientists don’t have to be lab-coat-wearing stereotypes—they can be just as cool (and fun and fearless) as Gardy herself.

What makes us human? Clearly our genome—the complete set of genetic instructions that encode a human being—must play a role, but where in that string of three billions As, Cs, Gs, and Ts is the recipe for our ability to create art? Language? Music? Culture? Are we the most complex creatures on earth because we have the most DNA? No. Is it the number of genes that make us complex? Nope, not that either. The answer is surprising, and lies in an area of the human genome that went largely ignored for decades. In this talk, Jennifer Gardy explores those areas, looking at the extraordinary functions contained within what used to be called “junk DNA.” To bring them to life, she uses a process called data sonification to turn the patterns in the DNA into melodies and rhythms that allow us to hear the beautiful complexity encoded in a previously forgotten part of our very own genetic code. This lecture premiered at the Thinking Digital Conference in 2014, with participants tweeting rave reviews including “unexpectedly poignant.” “hauntingly beautiful,” and “a serendipitous explosion of creativity and creation.”

Can medical marijuana treat chronic back pain? Does pain mean something is wrong? Is it possible to predict who will experience long-term disability and who won’t? In this talk, Jennifer Gardy looks at the science behind these questions and more, separating fact from fiction with the latest scientific evidence. She’ll also discuss how to communicate effectively with clients, empowering them to take action for a quick recovery and a healthy return to work.

From CSI to Law and Order, popular culture has always been fascinated by forensics, and how we solve crimes. In this talk, Jennifer Gardy delves into the real factors that separate a good forensic scientist from a bad one. As it turns out, is has less to do with technology—and more to do with careful observation of the natural world. Gardy shows how understanding the world surrounding a crime scene (from bugs to botany to microbiology) can unlock the keys to cracking a cold case. Partnering the latest technologies with nature’s own detectives produces a powerful combination that is giving law enforcement new and astounding advantages in this high stakes game of cat and mouse, and in this fascinating talk, Gardy takes her audience on an undercover exploration of the science of crime.