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Science Cafés and Café Conversations are venues for students to informally share their interests during a conversational exchange with faculty, staff, and the community in a friendly setting.

We are working toward live captioning of the cafes for future events. Any individual who needs captioning in order to access a video should contact male-bru@ohio.edu.

Spring 2024 
Wed., 7 February, Katherine Jellison, History, "Does a Picture Rally Paint a Thousand Words?,"
Wed., 6 March, Duane Nellis, Geography, "Remote Sensing and Geospatial Analysis for Helping Save Our Earth,"
Wed., 3 April, Sarah Wyatt, Environmental and Plant Biology, "Growing (Plants) Beyond Gravity,"

Fall Semester 2023
Wed., 13 September, Saw Hla, Physics and Astronomy, "Groundbreaking Research: X-Raying just one atom,"
Wed., 11 October, Ryan Fogt, Geography, “Recent Extreme Antarctic Sea Ice Decline in a 20th Century Historical Context,”
Wed., 15 November, Hee-Jong Seo, Physics and Astronomy, “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Expanding Universe,”

Spring 2023 
Wed. Feb. 8, Jason Trembly, Professor, Mechanical Engineering, "Embodied Carbon an Climate Change,"
Wed, Mar. 8, Steven Evans & Julie Owens, Professors, Psychology,
Wed. Apr. 19, Ronan Carroll & Jan Balbo, Nathan Weyand, Associate Professors, Biology and Assistant Professor, Family Medicine, respectively, "What Happened to Sexually Transmitted Infections during COVID? It might not we what you think!"
Note: this café is recommended for ages 13 and up as it contains adult language and subject material.

Fall 2022
Wed, Sept. 7, Nate Szewczyk, Professor, Biomedical Sciences, "Worms in Space: Improving Astronaut Muscle Health,"
Wed., Oct. 5, Viorel Popescu, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, "The Secret Lives of the #RealBobcatsofOhio",
Wed. Nov. 2, Lynn Harter, Professor, Communication Studies, "The Poetics and Politics of Storytelling,"
Wed. Dec. 7, Kim Thompson and David Rosenthal, Associate Professors, Environmental and Plant

Spring 2022
Tues. Feb. 15: Harvey Ballard, Professor, Environmental and Plant Biology, "Globetrotting for Violets," .

Fall 2021
Thurs. Oct. 14, Sarah Wyatt, "Professor, Environmental and Plant Biology, "Plants in Space: Athens, we have a problem,"

Spring 2021
Wed. Feb. 24: Karen Coschigano, Assoc. Professor, Biomedical Sciences and Guy Riefler, Professor, Civil Engineering, "Wastewater: A COVID-19 Early Warning System,"
Wed. Mar. 17: Dustin Grooms, Steven Pfeiffer, Janet Simon, Applied Health Sciences & Wellness, "The Brain, Body, and Biomechanics of Injury Recovery,"
Wed. Mar. 24: Pete Harrington, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, "Chemotyping Natural medicines Using Spectroscopy and Machine Learning," .

Fall 2020
Wed. Sept. 02: Athens City-County Health Department, "College with COVD:  One Community, One Mission,"
Wed. Sept. 16, Rob Brannan, Professor, Applied Health Sciences and Wellness, "The North American Pawpaw:  Superfruit or Southeastern Ohio Curiosity?",
Mon. Oct. 5, Witmer Lab, (Larry Witmer, Professor, Biomedical Sciences and his lab), "Random Acts of Anatomy- A Live Tour of WitmerLab;"
Wed. Oct. 21: Paul Benedict, Director of Center for Entrepreneurship, "Impact Research-Rallying People and Resources to Your Cause;
Mon. Nov. 16, Geoff Dabelko, Professor, Environmental Studies, "Pursuing climate Change Resilience in Unexpected Places;"
Wed. Nov. 18, Nathan Weyand, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, "Microbial Colonies and Protective Blood,"

Spring 2020
Jan. 22: Daniel Karney, Assistant Professor, Economics, "The Future of US Climate Policy,"
Feb. 5: Don Miles, Professor, Biological Sciences, "Will Cool Lizards Succumb to a Hot Climate,"
Feb. 19:Rebecca Snell, Assistant Professor, Environmental and Plant Biology, "How Will Forests Respond to Climate Change?"
Feb. 26: Luke Pittaway, Professor, Management, "Spaces for Entrepreneurship Education:  A New Arms Race?",
NOTE: this cafe will be in the CoLab, 3rd floor Alden Library.
Mar. 4: Andrew Weems, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, "3D Printing a Better Future: Health Care and Sustainability Considerations,"
 

Fall 2019
Sept. 18: Guy Riefler, Professor, Civil Engineering, "Cleaning up Pollution by Turning It into Paint,"
Sept. 25: Felipe Aros-Vera, Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering, "Interconnected Networked Societies:  The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,"
Oct. 2:   Rebekah Crawford, Visiting Professor, Social and Public Health, "The Prevalence and Pitfalls of Seeking Emotional Support through Religious Organizations,"
Oct. 16:Shiyong Wu Professor, Chemistry & Biochemistry and Director, Edison Biotechnology Institute, "Solar Ultraviolet Light, Friend or Foe,"
Oct. 30:  Shannon Nicks, Assistant Professor, Social and Public Health, "Improving Rural Breast Cancer Inequities: Is Psychosocial Health the Key?,"
Nov. 13: Deb McAvoy, Professor, Civil Engineering, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Are We Headed for a Crash?,
Dec. 4: Cory Cronin, Assistant Professor, Social and Public Health, What Does the "Community' in Community Hospital Really Mean?,"

Spring 2019
Jan 23: Doug Clowe, Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy, A Dark and Lonely Place: Dark Energy and the Future of the Universe,
Feb. 6: Lawrence Witmer,  Professor, HCOM -BioMedical Sciences, Digital Dinosaurs-Fleshing Out the Past,
Feb. 20:  The OHIO Museum Complex
March 6: Ryan Chornock, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Black Holes:  Fact and Fiction,     
March 27: Jacqueline Wolf, Professor, HCOM Social Medicine, A High Cesarean and Low Breastfeeding Rate:  How did we get here?,  
April 3: John Kopchick, Distinguished Professor & Goll-Ohio Eminent Scholar Biomedical Sciences, HCOM Is Growth Hormone an Anti-Aging Drug. Yes! Too Much of It Will Kill You,  

Fall 2018
Sept 19: Scott Moody, Professor Emeritus, Biological Sciences, Athens, OH 240 Years Ago:  A Natural History,                  
Oct 3: Ronan Carroll, Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Vaccine Denial: Facts and Fiction,   
Oct 17: Natalie Daniels, Associate Professor, Voinovich School, The Long Road to Recovery from Coal Mining,  
Nov 14: Sarah Wyatt, Env. & Plant Biology, Plant Gravity Perception: from Earth to International Space Station,
Dec 5: Julie Suhr, Professor, Psychology, Detecting Deception,

Spring 2018 
Jan 24:   Viorel Popescu , Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences, Challenges for Conserving Biodiversity in a Changing World, 
Feb 7 :  Kimberly Rios, Associate Professor, Psychology, Perception of Science and Religion in the U.S. and Beyond,    
Feb 21:   Jana Houser, Assistant Professor, Geography, Tornadoes:  Unraveling the msteries of One of Earth's most Powerful Storms, 
March 7:   Hans Kruse, Professor and Director, School of Information and Telecommunication Systems, Can You Hear Me Now…Or Later, 
March 21:   Ken Walsh, Associate Professor, Civil Engineering, Preparing for the Big One: Protecting Critical Infrastructure,        
April 4:   Morgan Vis, Professor and Chair, Env. & Plant Biology, Algae: Friend or Foe, 

Fall 2017 
Sept 20 :  Lisa Crockett, Professor, Biological Sciences, Secrets and Perils of the Southern Ocean, 
Oct. 11 :  Julie Suhr, Professor, Psychology, You Are Getting Sleeepy,
Oct. 18 :  Paul Patton, Assistant Professor, Anthropology and Food Studies, Harvest the Past, Feed the Future,  
Revised Nov. 1:   Zach Meisel, Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy, Life after Death:  Element Creation in Stellar Explosions, 
Revised Nov. 15 :  Srdjan Nesic, Professor, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; Director, Institute for Corrosion and Multiphase Technology, I s Corrosion like Corruption? What's the cost? Can it Be Stopped?,   
Dec. 6 :  Nancy Stevens, Professor, Biomedical Sciences, and Matthew Borths, NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Before Lions Were King:  Discovering Africa's First Meat-eaters, 

Spring 2017 
Jan 18:   Joseph Shields, Professor, Physics & Astronomy, "The Quest for Supermassive Black Holes," 
Feb 1:  Brian Clark, Professor, Biomedical Science, Director OMNI, "Age of Champions: Healthy Aging in the 21st Century," 
Feb 15:   John Bowditch, Director, The Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab, Scripps College of Communication, "Disrupting Reality:  Immersive Media at 51����,"  
March 15:   Gerardine Botte, Distinguished Professor, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, "Electrons for Sustainable Manufacturing,"  

Fall 2016 
Sept 7:   Daniel Phillips, Physics, "Symmetries in Nature:  A Key to the Subatomic World",  
Sept 21:  Sarah Hormozi, Mechanical Engineering , "The Physics and Future of Cornstarch",   
Oct 5:   Guy Riefler, Civil Engineering; John Sabraw, Art, "Acid Mine Drainage: From Environmental Disaster to Art",
Oct 19:   Claudia Gonzales-Vallejo, Psychology, "Why'd I Do That?  Exploring Decision-Making Processes", 
Nov 2: Movie Night, "Popped Secret: The Mysterious Origin of Corn" 
Nov. 9 :  Catherine Early, Biomedical Sciences, "Dinosaurs, dodos and ducks:  A bird's-eye view of brain evolution",  
Nov 16:   Gurgen “Greg” Hayrapetyan, Mathematics, "Math, Zombie and the Language of the Universe," 

Spring 2016
Jan. 20:  Winfried Just, Mathematics, "Spread of Contagions:  Diseases, Rumors and Mathematical Models",  
Feb. 3:   Natalie Kruse Daniels, "The Mining Legacy of SE Ohio:  Learning from Past," Mistakes,"Environmental Studies/Voinovich School 
rescheduled Feb. 17 Mar. 16 :  Ronan Carroll, Biological Sciences, "The Rise of the Superbugs",  
Mar. 23:   James Thomas, Physical Therapy, 

Fall 2015
Sept. 9: Todd Eisworth, Mathematics, "To Infinity... and Beyond!", 
Sept. 23: TJ Cyders, Mechanical Engineering, "Rage Against the von Neumann Machine: 3D Printing, the Future, and You",  
Oct. 7: Sarah Wyatt, Environmental & Plant Biology, "Anatomy of a Space Flight", 
Oct. 21: Nancy Sandler, Physics and Astronomy, "Physics of New Materials: From Lasagna to Pancakes and Back", 
Nov. 4: Anne Loucks, Biological Sciences, "Fitness, Fatness, Fractures, Fertility, and Food", 
Nov. 18: Jennifer Hines, Chemistry and Biochemistry, "Molecules...Museum...Action!", 
Dec. 2: Alicia Stigall, Geological Sciences, "Turning into Stone: a tale from life to death to the ultimate fossil"

Spring 2015 
Jan. 21:   Carl Brune, Physics and Astronomy, “Cosmic Cooking:  the Origin of the Elements”,  
Feb. 4:   David Rosenthal, Environmental & Plant Biology, “Global Change and Agricultural Productivity”,  
Mar. 18:   Christopher France, Psychology, “ I'd Like to Give Blood but.....”,  
Apr. 1:  Elizabeth Gierlowski-Kordesch, Geological Sciences, “Reconstructing a Jurassic Landscape”, 

Fall 2014 
Sept. 10: Monica Burdick, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, "Stem cells, research and hype. Oh My!", 
Sept. 24:   Ryan Fogt, Geography, "All Coupled Climate Models are Wrong, Some are Useful" 
Oct. 8:  Brooke Hallowell, Communication Sciences & Disorders, "Harnessing the Power of the Eyes to Reveal Cognitive & Linguistic Abilities",   
Oct. 22:   Jason Trembly, Mechanical Engineering & Ohio Coal Research Center, “What the Frac?”, 
Nov. 5:   Doug Clowe, Physics and Astronomy, “The Dark Side of the Universe”,  
Nov. 19: Dina Lopez, Geological Sciences, “Reflections of use of Agrochemicals:  Illness versus Food Supply”,  
Dec. 3: Justin Holub, Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Biomimicry:  How Nature Inspires Mankind’s Innovation”, 

Spring 2014  
Jan. 22 : Sarah Wyatt, Environmental and Plant Biology, “Grounded by Gravity”, 
Feb. 05:   Saw Hla, Physics and Astronomy, Nanoscience:  Playing Soccer with Atoms and Molecules”,  
Feb. 19: Scott Moody, Biological Sciences, Endangered Species of Amphibians:  Why Their Survival is Vital to our Health”, 
Mar. 19:   Mark McMills, Chemistry and Biochemistry, “Modern Drug Discovery”,
April 02:   Julie Suhr, Psychology, Detecting Deception”, 

Fall 2013  
Sept 11:   Janet Duerr, Biological Sciences, "Genes:  Are We Just Big, Smart Worms?",
Sept. 25 : Larry Witmer, Biomedical Sciences, "Fleshing out Dinosaurs... in 3D!", ,  
Oct. 9:   Savas Kaya, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, "Nanoscale & Engineering:  Hype or Opportunity?”,  
Oct. 23:   David Tees, Physics and Astronomy, "Pulling, Pushing and Squeezing:  Physics and Adhesion Biology”, 
Nov. 6:   Alycia Stigall, Geological Sciences, "Fossil Invasion! Studying Ancient Species to Help Predict Consequences of Modern Invasion", 
Nov. 20:   Deb McAvoy, Civil Engineering, "Roadway Design for Dummies", 
Dec. 4: John Kopchick, Biomedical Sciences and Edison Biotechnology Institute, "Growth Hormone:  Too Much or Not Enough?”, 

Spring 2013 
Jan. 23: Jared Deforest, Environmental and Plant Biology, "Chemical Climate Change and Sustainability" 
Feb. 6:   Bob Klein, Mathematics, “Mathematics:  What’s Rural Got to Do with It?” 
Feb. 20:   Mario Grijalva, Biomedical Sciences, “Combating Tropical Disease through Social Development” 
Apr. 3:  Geoff Buckley, Geography, “Urban Sustainability:  Challenges and Opportunities for the 21 ^st&�Բ�����;���Գٳܰ���”

Fall 2012 
Sept 05:  Frank Schwartz, Specialty Medicine, "Socioeconomic Stress, Appalachia and Chronic Disease" 
Sept. 19:   Art Trese, Environmental & Plant Biology, "Sustainability:  Alternative Agriculture" 
Oct. 3: Christine Gidycz, Psychology, "Bystander Behavior and Violence on College Campuses" 
Oct. 31:   Natalie Kruse, Voinovich School, "Sustainability:  Mining and Mine Reclamation" 
Nov. 14:   Tad Malinski, Chemistry and Biochemistry, "The Science of Art Restoration & Identification" 
Nov. 28   Joe Shields, Physics and Astronomy, "Hunting Black Holes with the Hubble" 
Dec. 5: Martin Kordesch, Physics and Astronomy, "The Physics of Music"

Winter 2012  
Jan. 11 : Michael Braasch, Electrical Engineering and Avionics Engineering Center, "Iron Stomachs & White Knuckles - Navigation System Flight Testing" 
Jan. 12:  , Free Admission 
Jan. 25:   Molly Morris, Biological Sciences, "Beyond Match.com:  Alternative Mating Strategies" 
Feb. 08 : Greg Van Patten, Chemistry and Biochemistry, "The Big Deal about Small Stuff" 
Feb. 22 : Peggy Zoccola, Psychology, "Stress:  Bad Thoughts, Bad Health?" 
Mar. 07 : Madappa  Prakash, Physics & Astronomy, "Extreme States of Matter  from Explosive Events in the Universe"

Spring 2012  
April 04 :  Willem Roosenburg,  Biological Sciences, "Turtles:  Why Girls are Hot and Boys are Cool" 
April 18:   Keith Milam, Geological Sciences, "Virtual Geology:  Unraveling Planetary Secrets from Afar" 
May 02:  Darlene Berryman, Applied Health Sciences and Wellness, "Big Fat Myths:  What You Didn't Know about Obesity"

Fall 2011 
Sept. 14:  Brian McCarthy, Environmental & Plant Biology, "From the Brink of Extinction:  the American Chestnut" 
Sept. 28:  Erin Murphy, Biomedical Sciences, "Bacteria:  The Good, the Bad and the Resistant" 
Oct. 12 :  Dave Bayless, Mechanical Engineering, "Powering the World with Pond Scum" 
Oct. 26 :  James Lein, Geography, "The Geography of Tomorrow:  The Science of Futures Research"

Winter 2011 
Jan. 12: Martin Mohlenkamp, Associate Professor, Mathematics, "Developing in silico Methods to do Virtual Science."   
Jan. 26: Stephen Bergmeier, Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry, "Chemistry, the class you love to hate, and Drug Discovery." 
Feb. 9: Dan Hembree, Assistant Professor, Geological Sciences, "The Secrets of Burrowing Biota: Understanding Ancient Traces of Life through Modern Organisms." 
Feb. 23: Kelly Johnson, Associate Professor, Biological Sciences, Voinovich School, "Mayflies, Minnows, and Acid Mine Drainage: The Science of Stream Restorations." 
March 9: Brook Marcks, Assistant Professor, Psychology, "From Thoughts to Obsessions: A Closer Look at Obsessive Compulsive Disorders."

Spring 2011  
March 30: Alycia Stigall, Associate Professor, Geological Sciences, OHIO Center for Ecology and Evolutionary Studies, "Overturn of the Biotics: Predicting Biodiversity Change with Fossils" 
April 13:  Harvey Ballard, Associate Professor of Environmental and Plant Biology, "How Violets will Change the World" 
April 27:  Jolie Cizewski, Professor of Physics, Rutgers University, "The Magic Numbers of Maria Goeppert Mayer:  From the Manhattan Project to the Future" 

Winter 2010 
Jan. 13: Doug Clowe, Physics and Astronomy, "The Dark Side of the Universe"
Jan. 27: Julie Suhr, Psychology, "Measuring your Mind" 
Feb. 10: Morgan Vis, Environmental & Environmental Plant Biology, "Red Algae-Tree of life, huh?" 
Feb. 24: Damian Nance, Geological Sciences, "From Grains of Sand to Supercontinents:   Reconstructing Earth's Geographic Past" 
March 10: Jeff Rack, Chemistry & Biochemistry, "Chemical Chameleons"

Spring 2010  
April 7: Stephen Reilly, Biological Sciences,  "The Biology of Walking and Running" 
April 21: Ken Hicks, Physics & Astronomy,  "From Quarks to the Big Bang" 
May 5: Susan Williams, Biomedical Sciences,  "Food for thought: the Evolution and Ontogeny of Feeding Mammals" 
May 19: Ronaldo Vigo, Psychology,  "Molecules of the Mind" 
June 2: Maarten Uijit de Haag, Engineering/Avionics, "Navigation: Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere” 

Fall 2010  
Sept. 22: Gar Rothwell, Environmental & Plant Biology, "Paleobotany and Plant Evolution" 
Oct. 6: Shawn Ostermann (EECS), Hans Kruse (Information & Telecommunications Systems), Phil Campbell (Information & Telecommunications Systems), "Wireless Networking in Challenging Environments:  the Barbarism of Baker to the Perils of Pluto" 
Oct. 20: Julie Owens, Psychology, "Evaluating Treatments for ADHD:  A Multi-Dimensional Approach" 
Nov. 3: Eric Stinaff (Physics and Astronomy),"Where's my iQuanta:  Is quantum information processing the future of computers?"

Fall 2009 
Sept. 30: Gerri Botte, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, "Alternative Energy:  The Search for Fuel" 
Oct. 14: Larry Witmer, Biomedical Sciences, "Fleshing Out Dinosaur Evolution” 
Oct. 28: Justin Weeks, Psychology, "Social Anxiety:  The Fear of Positive Evaluation"

Spring Semester 2019
Feb. 13: Julie Owens, Psychology, Community-engaged Research: Why It Matters, Fall Semester 2018
Sept 26: Laeeq Khan, Assistant Professor, Media Arts and Studies, Competing with Data Analytics in a Social World, 
Oct. 24: Julie Paxton, Professor, Economics, The Economics of Kindness,

Spring Semester 2018 
Jan. 31:   Jeff Russell , Assistant Professor, Applied Sciences and Wellness; Director, SHAPE Clinic, Keeping Artists in SHAPe:  Why Performers Need Specialized Health Care, 
Cancelled Feb. 28 :  Laeeq Khan, Assistant Professor, Media Arts &Studies; Director, Social Media Analytics Lab, TBD, video
Mar. 28 :  Tania Basta, Professor, Social and Public Health, An Honest Discussion about HIV:  Combating Misconceptions, 

Spring 2017 Schedule 
Jan. 25:  Rajko Grlic, Distinguished Professor, "The Constitution and How I Wrote It,"  
Mar. 22:  Andy Alexander, Scripps Howard Visiting Professional, Journalism. "President Trump and the Battle for a Free Press," 

Fall Semester 2017 
Sept 27: Colin Gabler, Assistant Professor, Marketing, To Buy or Not to Buy, That is the Question, 

Spring 2016 Discussions: 
Feb. 24:  Brian Schoen , History, "The US civil War and Global Crisis: Then and Now,"
Mar. 9:  Josh Sosin, Classical Studies, Duke University, "Ancient Texts in a Modern Age: The Promise and Perils of Digital Scholarship,"
Mar. 30:   Loren Lybarger, Classics and World Religions, "Radical Islam:  What's Religion Got to Do with It?",

Fall 2016 Schedule: 
Sept. 28:   David Mould, Professor Emeritus, Media Arts and Studies, Publish (maybe) Perish:  The Dangers of Journalism in Shady Regimes,
Oct. 26:   Aimee Edmondson, Associate Professor, Journalism; John Grimwade, Assistant Professor, Visual Communication. Inside the 2016 Election:  Data Visualization, 

Spring 2015 Discussions 
Feb. 11 :  Chester Pach, History, "1980s: the Age of Reagan and Madonna ", video 
Mar. 11 :  Katherine Jellison, History, "Unelected Leaders:  America's First Ladies",video 

Fall 2015 Discussions: 
Sept. 30 : Richard Vedder, Economics, "America's Leaders: You're Harming Our Future", 
Oct. 28 :  Stan Alost, Visual Communication, "Nobody Wants to See That- Images that Disturb and Our Freedom to Know",  

Spring 2014 Discussions 
Feb. 26: Haley Duschinski, Sociology and Anthropology, “Imagining International Justice”,  
Mar. 26: Roger Cooper, Media Arts and Studies, "The Power of Humor in Organizations", 

Fall 2014 Discussions 
Sept. 17 : Paschal Younge, Music, "African music, a big bowl of salad: the interdisciplinarity of the musical arts of Ghana",
Oct. 15:   Loreen Giese, English, “Courtship and Cruelty” 
Nov. 12:   Geoff Dabelko, Environmental Studies, “The Environment, What’s Security Got to Do with It?”, 

Spring 2013 Discussions 
Feb. 27:  Michele Morrone, Social and Public Health, “The Science? of Fracking” 
Mar 20:   John Sabraw, Art, Fluid Potential:  Why Scientists and Artists Should Get Together”
Mar. 27:  Tom Hodson, Journalism, “The Future of Media”

Fall 2013 Discussions 
Sept. 18:  John Gilliom, Political Sciences "The Death of Big Brother and the Rise of the Surveillance Society",  
Oct. 16:   Bill Condee, Interdisciplinary Arts, “Fracking the Opera House”, 

Fall 2012 Discussions 
Sept. 26: Andre Gribou, Music, "The History of Rock and Roll" 
Oct. 24:   Tom Vander Ven, Sociology and Anthropology, "Why Students Drink Too Much and Party So Hard"