Who inspired you?
When you think back to how you first became interested in science, was there a pivotal moment or a special person that comes to mind? Was there a moment where someone pushed open the door to science to show you a world ripe with intriguing questions and technical challenges? Would YOU be interested in sharing your science with teenagers in northern New Mexico? The New Mexico Café Scientifique, a new program of Los Alamos's Science Education Solutions in partnership with numerous research and educational institutions in New Mexico and funded by the National Science Foundation offers you the opportunity to do so.
Twice a month, four locations across northern New Mexico, young adults (ages 14-18) will gather in an informal social setting to learn a bit about some cutting edge discovery or new technology and then participate in discussions and activities designed to explore how the topic might affect their lives.
The program is modeled after the adult program called Café Scientifique, which is spreading like wildfire across Europe and the U.S. The adult version takes place in cafes, bars and restaurants, and has proven very popular because of the twin draw of hot topics in science and lively social interactions.
As a member of the Café team, your role would be to present a 20 minute overview on a current topic that you know well to teens with interests in the arts, science, business or politics. Your presentation should provide a basic overview in a way that relevant to the teens and address the social, economic, or political impacts of the discovery or its application, as well as how we know what we know about it and what we do not know yet.
If you decide to participate, you will be asked to present at each of the four locations-- Los Alamos, Española, Santa Fe and Albuquerque--during a month and then participate in a blog discussion thereafter. Your biographical information will be available on the New Mexico Café Scientifique program's website before the events and your presentation will be video-taped at one of the four events for download over the Internet in order to make them available to schools and youth groups across New Mexico and nationally. Each of your presentations will be followed by a short break for refreshments and then an hour or so of lively conversation and debate.
A follow-up meeting on the topic will be organized by staff from Science Education Solutions to encourage youth participants to pursue their own personal interests in the topics through such activities as science projects, podcasts or "radio" shows, interviews with other experts, creating webcasts, writing articles in local newspapers, organizing town hall meetings and the like. Mentors will be needed to help with these follow-up activities, providing further opportunities for you or other interested Los Alamos scientists.
To make things go more smoothly for you, Science Education Solutions will provide the training you need to communicate science to young audiences-and lay audiences in general. In fact, we've already done some research on what teens want to know. Topics of interest identified in conversations with local teens include:
- Cloning and the potential of cloning ancient DNA
- Terrorism psychology and terrorism defense
- Climate change
- Sustainable communities
- Population growth and the impact on natural resources
- Bioengineering
- Nanotechnology
- Doping in sports
- Deep space
.... the list goes on. Most importantly, these young adults get excited about topics that speakers make relevant and exciting to their lives.
Complete an Interest Form
If you'd like to make a contribution, as either a speaker or mentor, to the growth of scientific thinking in the lives of New Mexico's teens, complete an Interest Form and mail it to Michelle Hall at Science Education Solutions at hall at scieds.com or call her at (505) 663-5365. While the Café presentations will be held in the evenings and weekends, Los Alamos National Laboratory employees can request Community Service Time for preparation, training and blogging activities. Apply for Community Service Time by filling out Form 704 and follow the regular procedure for approval (on the form).
