Teaching all day and nite

Imagine the nerdiest thing you can. Did you think of someone pursuing a career in environmental science after watching the 1986 film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home? Because unless you did, then UAA term professor of biology Rachel Mills has you beat.

"The reason I'm obsessed with humanity's impact on the planet is Star Trek IV," she recalls. "That's the one where humpback whales have gone extinct and an alien race comes to Earth and the only organisms they can communicate with are humpback whales. So the crew has to go back in time to get humpback whales so they can talk to the aliens. I was so horrified at the idea of humans destroying a species to the point of extinction, I became an environmentalist at that exact moment."

Unlike so many childhood aspirations inspired by genre movies, Mills worked to make her dream of working in environmental science a reality. The Seattle native earned a bachelor's degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from Central Washington University, as well as a master's degree in plant biology with minors in statistics and ecology evolution behavior from the University of Minnesota. Afterward, she made her way to Anchorage as a fully-fledged environmental scientist doing wetland delineations for the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation.

After losing at a local bar trivia night to a group of librarians in early 2014, Mills jokingly pitched two options to her husband and teammate Chris Linn: "Either we go over there and fight them, or we make friends with them." The pair chose the latter option, making friends with one of the librarians in particular, Darla Hane.

Over the course of several conversations, Hane mentioned to Mills and Linn a lack of free events in Anchorage for like-minded geeky people. Hane's hope was to start one of her own. Mills and Linn, who were still new in town and similarly in the market for such events, quickly agreed to team up. Hane pitched starting an Anchorage chapter of Nerd Nite, an event she encountered during her travels abroad. Linn, who was a manager at downtown restaurant Snow Goose at the time, was able to secure the venue's spare theater. Mills agreed to be the inaugural speaker.

If you ask anyone familiar with Nerd Nite or search the event online, one common description pops up: it's like TED Talks, but more fun! Occurring in more than 100 cities across the world, Nerd Nite typically happens each month and features two or three guest speakers who either volunteer, are nominated or invited by the event organizers, referred to as Nerd Nite bosses.

Speakers include hobbyists, academics and doctors, and are given the floor for 15 to 20 minutes to give an informational presentation on any nerdy subject they choose. Past topics at the Anchorage Nerd Nite include competitive beard growing, a history of the B movie genre, World War II propaganda in early Disney cartoons and the science of fungi, just to name a few.

Nerd Nite officially launched in Anchorage in December 2014. Not counting Mills, Linn and Hane, the first event had only six attendees, two of whom were Mills' parents. Despite the humble beginning, the group had a blast learning about barnacle anatomy from a passionate Mills. News quickly spread about Anchorage's trendy new event, and today, Nerd Nite attendance consistently sits at between 70 and 90 people each month.

"It promotes lifelong learning and it shows that lifelong learning is cool," Mills explains. "What I love about Nerd Nite is that the speakers may not be the most engaging public speakers, but that's not what Nerd Nite is. It's saying we are a community of people who are excited to learn whatever you have to talk about. You can either get liquid courage to get you going, or not, it doesn't matter, but we are going to support you and are excited to learn from you however you want to convey this material."

In June 2016, one and a half years after the first Nerd Nite, Mills was approached by regular attendee and UAA adjunct biology professor Travis Atwood looking for any recommendations to fill his soon-to-be vacant position. Mills knew the perfect replacement: herself. After facetiously reminding him of her credentials, not to mention all the Nerd Nite lectures she gave about biology with him in attendance, Atwood encouraged her to apply.

Two months later in the fall 2016 semester, Mills was given her first class, Introductory Biology at the Chugiak-Eagle River campus. Mills felt at home in the role, which was seemingly the culmination of her extensive background in biology and her recent efforts as Anchorage's most unconventional night school teacher. For her second semester, Mills was offered a second class to teach in Eagle River and Anchorage, Environmental Sciences.

"Environmental Science is like a buffet sampling of every aspect of science you could ever think of - physics, chemistry, biology, everything," says Mills. "It's the starter platter, or the flight, of science. Today we're going to be masters of nuclear physics because we'll be talking about nuclear fission, and tomorrow is going to be soil so we're going to become geologists."

Mills admits to encountering a steeper learning curve when preparing to teach Environmental Sciences. Thankfully, she's no stranger to befriending fellow nerdy academics.

"I had certain areas covered, but I wasn't an expert in all of it," Mills shares. "So I took it upon myself to go, 'Hey, Anchorage environmental science folks! Um, what do you do?' It's been a nice collaboration because I get to hear when they're discussing topics, they get to hear when I'm discussing topics, and then we talk about how we discuss them. It's really neat to see how we're all coming together to approach this subject and think about what's best for the students."

While it came as no surprise to Mills that her colleagues were collaborative, welcoming and knowledgeable, what she did find surprising was how those traits extended to her students.

"The students here have a lot more connection to the science," explains Mills. "I wasn't expecting to have students where I go in to talk about issues like drilling in ANWR, and they'll know exactly what I'm talking about and have a story to share. I was talking to a student about the initiative to repopulate wood bison, and that student was part of the team releasing the wood bison. I was like, 'Of course you are!'"

Mills frequently refers to her roles as UAA term professor and Nerd Nite boss as a full circle relationship. She was offered her teaching position because of the community she helped build, and conversely many of her fellow professors share their passions at her monthly event.

More recently, that circle extended just a little bit further with the addition of a Nerd Nite in Craig, Alaska. Located on an island 220 miles south of Juneau with a population of around 1,200, this version was started by one of her first students who was on the island conducting field work.

"It's a great self-perpetuating mechanism," she says. "There's so much interconnectedness, it's incredible."

Nerd Nite is a free event that occurs the first Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. in Williwaw in downtown Anchorage. Learn more about the next event on Nov. 7 here.

Written by Matt Jardin, UAA Office of University Advancement