Bay Area Science Fair Coming in the Fall
Kishore Hari
Contributing Writer
Finally, the Bay Area has caught science fever! For ten days spanning October 29th to November 6th, the Bay Area Science Festival will host an explosion of fun, interactive science and technology events around the bay from Santa Rosa to San Jose.
With lectures, hands-on activities, exhibitions, guided tours, films, workshops, after-school programs and more on a dizzying array of topics, there is something for everyone of all ages. This ambitious science festival is a collaboration of the Bay Area’s leading academic, scientific, corporate and non-profit institutions whose aim is to provide accessible science and health programming to every Bay Area resident. Adhering to this mission, events will be held at local venues such as museums, cafes, parks, schools and libraries, with majority of the events being free. By putting science at our fingertips, the Bay Area Science Festival hopes to engage our community in the wonders of science and to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
The Bay Area Science Festival is organized and led by UCSF through the Student and Health Education Partnership (SEP), the venerable organization committed to improving science education by putting UCSF scientists in San Francisco K-12 classrooms. Bruce Alberts, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF and prominent champion of science education, is leading the charge.
UCSF professionals, scientists, engineers, and technologists from every discipline are invited to get involved by doing a number of things such as speaking to an audience about a science topic, hosting a hands-on experiment or demo, or showcasing a research facility to local high school students. Organizations that would like to team up with the Bay Area Science Festival (BASF) are also encouraged to apply. Please contact the BASF Director Kishore Hari (Kishore.Hari@ucsf.edu) if you’re interested in either of these opportunities. Think of how rewarding it will be to participate in getting science outside of the lab!
At a time when budget cuts have severely eroded science education programs despite the growing demand for American leadership in science and technology, the science festival is an antidote and it’s gaining momentum across the nation. Through the endeavors of the Science Festival Alliance and funding by National Science Foundation, there have already been three highly successful science festivals in Cambridge, San Diego and Philadelphia– with another 30 large scale festivals coming online in the next year and half.
So, visit their website www.bayareascience.org/festival for more information, mark your calendars, and prepare to “unleash your inner scientist.”
This article appeared in the June 2, 2011 issue of Synapse.
