The South Bend Science Café will launch the first of a monthly series of presentations on science and society tonight, September 9, 2013 at 6pm at Chicory Cafe in downtown South Bend.

The South Bend Science Café is a new initiative to encourage our community to participate in conversations about all types of science. The cafés will take place in casual settings, are open to everyone (although targeted towards adults), and are designed to give participants an opportunity to meet, hear, and ask questions of scientists.

The South Bend Science Café originated as part of a presentation at IgniteMichiana by Jessica Baron from ND's Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. To see the presentation, visit ignitemichiana.com.

September’s Science Café speaker is Chuck Bueter, organizer of the 2013 Comet Festival, and his title is "Celebrating the Uncertainty of Science: Comet Festival 2013.”  Bueter has led astronomy education and public outreach programs both regionally and nationally for over 20 years. In 2004 and 2012, he spearheaded Transit of Venus education, for which NASA recognized him as a significant partner in one of the largest education events in NASA history. Visit his website at nightwise.org.

October’s Science Café will feature Reilly Fellow and Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Marya Lieberman from the University of Notre Dame. Her presentation, titled "Finding fake drugs:  bringing chemistry out of the lab and into the world," will be held on October 14th from 6-7:30pm at Chicory Cafe.

For more information about the Science Café, visit southbendsciencecafe.com.

South Bend Science Café Organizers:

Jessica Baron, Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values
Frank Bouchard
Erica Cotter
Andrew Elegante, The State Theater
Sharon Emeigh, techie.com
Matthew Eng
Santiago Garces, enFocus
Jonathan Geels
Khoa Huynh, enFocus
David Matthews, Matthews LLC
Dan Neumann, NeuManagement and The Branch
Monica Schrek
Zack Terranova
Brianna Watts, techie.com
Willow Weatherall, Ignite Michiana