Here are profiles of all the speakers for the WeCanReason Conference 2024! Please note that all speakers and the schedule are subject to change; this list is accurate at the time of publishing. Please sign up for email updates as well as watch this page for the full schedule of speakers.
Please note that all the Speakers are choosing their own topics and own their presentations. WeCanReason and Rocky Mountain Atheists do not review or edit any part of them. The views expressed are solely those of the Speaker. WeCanReason is about critical thinking; discussion is encouraged! Disagreements should be resolved in a constructive manner and without personal attacks. Challenge ideas not people.
WeCanReason 2024 is proudly sponsored by CFI Canada. Your community for scientific, skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry.
Dr. Cara Santa Maria
Dr. Cara Santa Maria is a Los Angeles Area Emmy and Knight Foundation Award-winning journalist, science communicator, television personality, author, and podcaster. We are very honoured to have her speak to us. Dr. Santa Maria is a Clinical Psychologist with a concentration in Social Justice and Diversity. She co-hosts the Skeptics’ Guide to the Universe podcast as well as creating and hosting Talk Nerdy with Cara Santa Maria. She is a Founding Member of Nerd Brigade and co-founder of the annual SciCommCamp.
Cara is the science correspondent on National Geographic’s popular television series Brain Games as well as spokesperson for National Geographic’s Almanac 2019 and Almanac 2020. Previously, Cara was a correspondent on National Geographic’s Explorer, Netflix’s Bill Nye Saves the World, TechKnow on Al Jazeera America, and Real Future on Fusion. She also cohosted TakePart Live on Pivot TV, America’s Greatest Makers on TBS, Brain Surgery Live on National Geographic Channel, and FabLab on Fox. Before that, she was the Senior Science Correspondent for The Huffington Post and costarred in Hacking the Planet and The Truth About Twisters on The Weather Channel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cara_Santa_Maria and https://www.carasantamaria.com/
Hemant Mehta
Hemant Mehta is the founder and editor of FriendlyAtheist.com, a YouTube creator, and a podcast co-host. He is a former National Board Certified math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago and continues to coach a competitive public speaking team. He has written multiple books, published crossword puzzles in the New York Times, and was a Jeopardy! champion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemant_Mehta
James Fell
“Sweary Historian” James Fell has a master’s degree in history that his mom paid for. That was back in 1996. Then he got an MBA (that his wife paid for) because capitalist hellscape / need a good job to support a family. After an intolerable decade of being a marketroid for a variety of technology companies, he became a fitness writer, because that’s a logical career progression. Soon he was the fitness columnist for the Los Angeles Times, busting popular fitness and weight loss myths. A short time later he added another column in the Chicago Tribune that appeared in newspapers worldwide.
He had two books published, neither of which sold very well because science isn’t a popular product in the “I want to lose 30 pounds in 30 days” quick fix miracle weight loss market. In 2020, despondent over not achieving riches via fitness writing, he dusted off the master’s in history and began authoring a daily, profanity-filled Facebook column titled “On This Day in History Sh!t Went Down”. Much to everyone’s surprise, it immediately took off and led to two bestselling books of the same name. Religious f*ckery is one of his favorite historical subjects to write about.
In 2022, at the age of 53, he was diagnosed with ADHD, which explains a lot. In 2023 he gave a TEDx talk in Romania titled “ADHD and Creativity: A Superpower with Kryptonite.”
James Fell and the “The Holy Sh!t Moment” on The Social (via CTV, on YouTube)
Kat MacLeod
Kat works in the University of Alberta’s Registrar’s Office; however, she also plays a role in shaping the future of healthcare through her mentorship of pharmacy and medical students regarding the potential pitfalls of herbal remedies. Coping with the consequences of taking herbal supplements has given her a unique perspective that she shares with the next generation of healthcare professionals. Her experience transformed her into an advocate for informed choices and a catalyst for change. Kat encourages students to become vigilant advocates for their patients, armed with the knowledge that can prevent the kind of suffering she endured. Kat’s presentations highlight the importance of critically evaluating the safety and efficacy of these products.
https://skepticalinquirer.org/authors/kat-mcleod/
Interview with Kat at The Skeptic Zone
Jonathan Jarry
Jonathan Jarry is a science communicator with McGill University’s Office for Science and Society (OSS), dedicated to separating sense from nonsense on the scientific stage. He has a Master’s degree in molecular biology and he brings his experience in cancer research, human genetics, rehabilitation research, and forensic biology to the work he does for the public. With cardiologist Dr. Christopher Labos, he co-hosts the award-winning medical podcast The Body of Evidence, which aims to contextualize findings in the realm of health research and answer the public’s most pressing questions about the biomedical sciences while also being funny and entertaining. He talks about science most Fridays on CTV Montreal News and is regularly interviewed in both English- and French-language media.
Jonathan’s topic is coming soon, but you may experience the the Hawthorne effect while you wait .. stay tuned!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Jarry
Richard Saunders
Richard Saunders is best known as an international expert on skepticism, a documentary filmmaker and one of the stars of the top rating Australian paranormal TV show, “The One: The Search for Australia’s Most Gifted Psychic”. He is a life member of Australian Skeptics Inc., a Fellow of the Center for Inquiry and was part of the JREF $1,000,000 prize committee. Richard is the producer and host of “The Skeptic Zone” podcast, now in its 17th year, with thousands of listeners worldwide. An actor, author and origami expert with around twenty books and a DVD published, he also creates origami jewelry and invented ‘Origami Pigasus’ for James Randi. Richard is a founding member of the ‘Mystery Investigators’ live science show for schools now in its 21st year.
Roy Alexander – Emcee
Roy became a Christian 42 years ago at the age of 18. He spent 10 years as a Pastor at Centre St. Church helping families in the community access basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. He spent an additional 10 years as a fund developer for a Christian non-profit. He served on the executive of the Calgary Evangelical Ministerial Association where he founded Serve Day, encouraging over 15,000 people to do acts of service in their community. He served 9 years on his local Community Association Board, ran for Provincial office in 2012, co-founded an AIDS centre in South Africa and earned a Masters of Christian Leadership.
From 2006 to 2016, he re-evaluated the reasons for accepting the idea of a supernatural being and subsequently became an agnostic. Prior to Covid he was a secular chaplain at Mount Royal University. He currently volunteers at Canadian Blood Services and has donated over 1,000 times.
He has two adult children and a father-in-law to two wonderful spouses who have utterly failed at providing any grandchildren, so far. Roy is currently an entrepreneur who invests in Real Estate. He and his partner enjoy hiking, biking, travelling.
Brent Smith – Saturday Entertainment
Brent Smith is a Magician who specializes in strolling magic and is very popular among office parties, weddings, receptions or fundraisers as it will give everyone in the room a common topic to talk about and get to know each other. Brent Smith’s strolling magic is unbelievable! He can make potatoes and lemons appear in your glass or make a card, which you have personally signed appear in a sealed envelope that is inside a zippered wallet. Be prepared to be dazzled and amazed as Brent moves through the crowd trying to give his car away and making everyone feel welcome and at ease, giving a personal magic show in the palm of your guests. Brent is the first restaurant/strolling magician featured on the cover of ‘VANISH’, the international magic magazine for magicians worldwide.