5th Annual Wooster Science Café Discussions Continue This Semester
WOOSTER, Ohio – The fifth annual Wooster Science Café will continue this semester with four more discussions in the series. All four will be held at Spoon Market and Deli (144 W. Liberty St.) in Wooster starting at 7 p.m.
Laura Sirot, associate professor of biology at The College of Wooster and one of the co-founders and co-coordinators of the Science Café, says “We are incredibly excited to be celebrating our fifth anniversary of the Wooster Science Café and are happy to be able to continue to bring discussion of science-related topics to the Wooster community.”
The fifth discussion of the series will be on Wednesday, Feb. 6, with Paul Edmiston, professor of chemistry at Wooster, presenting “Water Testing 101: How to Measure What Is in the Water.” His presentation will discuss the types of water tests that are available, how the tests work, and how to find water testing services for testing well water or other water sources as well how water tests are performed and what special equipment is involved. A question and answer period will follow the presentation.
Paul Edmiston
The sixth Science Café will be on Wednesday, March 6, with Mark Wilson, the Lewis M. and Marian Senter Nixon Professor of Natural Sciences at Wooster, presenting “Anti-Science in a Post-Truth World.” He will discuss the current crisis of scientific authority and how the spread of pseudoscience and other nonsense challenges our society, using examples from belief in Bigfoot to denial of human-influenced climate change, to explore the phenomena and search for solutions.
Mark Wilson
On Wednesday, April 3, Niki Spahich, visiting assistant professor of biology at Wooster, will present “History of Infectious Disease: From the Black Death to Death By Rose Bush.” She will explore the stories behind some famous outbreaks and look ahead to the upcoming era of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections.
Niki Spahich
The final Science Café of the year will be held on Wednesday, May 1, with a visit from Doug Jackson-Smith, a sociologist and professor of water security in the School of Environment and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University. He will present “What Motivates Environmentally-Responsible Behavior?,” highlighting the importance of the social sciences as a critical part of understanding and addressing environmental problems and using examples from urban water system management and farmer conservation projects. Those examples will illustrate the ways that individual and structural factors interact to drive (and constrain) human environmental behaviors.
Doug Jackson-Smith
Sirot added, “Everyone is welcome! Come for the free appetizers and stay for the great discussion. Thanks to Spoon Market and Deli, The College of Wooster, and The Ohio State University for the ongoing support.” The other coordinators of the Science Café are Cathy Herms, research associate, and Victor Ujor, assistant professor, at The Ohio State University, and Stephanie Strand and Sarah Sobeck, both associate professors at Wooster.
Posted in News on January 28, 2019.
