Curious Brews
Sip. Learn. Connect.
Mission
At Curious Brews, we aim to make learning welcoming, social, and accessible.
We bring experts, storytellers, and curious minds together in community spaces to spark dialogue, share ideas, and build genuine connections.
By nurturing curiosity and creating space for meaningful conversations, we empower individuals to explore new perspectives and feel part of a more connected, informed community.
Everyone has something to learn. Everyone has something to share.
Meet the Curious Crew
Introducing the team committed to making meaningful conversations and community learning possible.
Co-Founder
Nicole Rodriguez, MSc
Nicole is a program leader who cares deeply about strengthening communities through learning and connection. With a Master’s in Medical Sciences focused on women’s mental health and child development, she brings both expertise and empathy to her work. Nicole has supported non-profit organizations, government initiatives, and students in higher education, always with an eye toward making knowledge more accessible. She is passionate about creating welcoming spaces where people feel encouraged to share and grow meaningfully. Her leadership is rooted in collaboration, curiosity, and a genuine commitment to the community she serves. In her downtime, she enjoys writing, reading, and spending time with her fur babies.
Co-Founder
Kleinberg Fernandez, PhD
Kleinberg is a scientific researcher and community advocate. He completed his Ph.D. in Chemistry and researched on heart disease treatment, food chemistry, and agricultural health. He has held leadership roles in several student-led initiatives advocating for equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM. Kleinberg has presented his research at conferences and thesis pitch competitions to diverse audiences, and he believes that science should be accesible to everyone. He thrives on developing programs and fostering conversations that spark curiosity, nurture meaningful connections, and amplify diverse voices. He enjoys to cook, garden, play sports, and has a goal to hike the Mackenzie Mountains in the Northwest Territories.
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Come join us for our monthly science lecture series featuring local experts and storytellers in a relaxed bar setting.
Speaker: Dr. Alison Criscitiello
Dr. Alison Criscitiello is an ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer. She is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at University of Alberta, and co-founder of Girls* on Ice Canada.
She explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Her work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Banff Centre's Summit of Excellence award last year, and the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in recognition of her contributions to Arctic climate research.
Lecture: The Canadian Ice Core Lab - Axel Heiberg Island Ice Core Expedition
Are we looking at our past, or watching it melt away right in front of us?
This month, Curious Brews is exploring the high Arctic. We’re joined by Dr. Alison Criscitiello for an urgent, eye-opening look at climate history written in frozen time.
Dr. Criscritiello is taking us behind the scenes of her team's expedition on Axel Heiberg Island, pulling back the curtain on how they teamed up with Danish scientists to pull off the deepest ice core drilling in Canadian history. We’ll look at preliminary results of what these ancient records reveal about sea ice and climate, and discuss why scientists are racing against time to extract these frozen archives before warming temperatures melt them away forever
🗓️ Date: Tuesday, September 8th, 2026
🕡 Time: 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
📍 Location: MKT Fresh Food | Beer Market (8101 Gateway Blvd NW, Edmonton, AB T6E 3X8)
Event Agenda:
6:00 PM - 6:45 PM: Social hour pre-lecture, sign in, food/drink
6:45 PM - 7:00 PM: Welcome and Speaker Introduction
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM: Lecture + Q&A
8:00 PM - 8:15 PM: Door prizes, sponsor acknowledgements
8:15 PM - 9:00 PM: Optional post-lecture networking