Speaking at DC Science Café on May 5

On May 5, I’ll be speaking at the DC Science Café on “the power of citizen science”, appearing on a panel with author Sharman Apt Russell and Aurorasaurus project director Liz MacDonald. It’s an exciting opportunity to talk about my research with the public! The challenge, of course, is that my usual audiences are 1) other academics, 2) grad students, and 3) public sector staff with substantial background in science. In other words, not the general public! There’s so much I could say about citizen science that it’s hard to know where to start. Further, it sort of sounds like slides aren’t the usual choice–and I can’t really recall the last time I did a talk without slides. So this is an interesting challenge, especially given that it’s the end of the semester and I’ve got a lot of other big events on the calendar for that week! The event is 6:30-8:30 PM at Busboys & Poets at K and 5th (in DC). I’m told that audience members should arrive early to get a seat, since their capacity is 150. The DC Science Café is a free monthly event organized by the DC Science Writers Association. I’ve heard of these events before, as a form of public engagement in science communication, but I’ve never attended one—and I certainly didn’t expect to be on stage for my first science café experience. It should be fun; come join the...