A Bit About Science on Tap at Boulders
Bringing science out of the traditional academic setting into more casual environments like pubs, cafes, or community centers is not new. My friend Dr. Mohamed Fazel and I enjoyed this concept in grad school in our respective universities (University of New Mexico and Texas A&M). In November 2022, after a couple of beers at our local watering hole, Boulders on Broadway, Mohamed noted that a project like this was missing in Tempe. Shortly after, I contacted Boulders' manager to see if they would be on board, Mike Britton created a logo and lended his sound system, Mo and I contacted a bunch of researchers and advertised the event. Science on Tap at Boulders was born with the first iteration taking place in January 2023. In January 2024, Mohamed accepted an exciting new position in Washington D.C. Given the success of our first year, I decided to keep Science on Tap going.
​
Science on Tap is a free monthly gathering featuring two short scientific presentations followed by a public discussion on fun science topics. It is hosted at a local Tempe bar (Boulders on Broadway) every second Thursday of the month. Each speaker has 20 minutes followed by 10 minutes for questions. Between the two presentations we have a 10 minutes break. The goal of Science on Tap is to offer presentations that can be grasped by individuals with various educational backgrounds, including those without a college degree. We kindly request of our presenters that they consider this inclusivity when preparing their talks.
​
Science on tap calendar and speakers
Fall 2024
Summer 2024
Spring 2024
Fall 2023
Summer 2023
Spring 2023
​
December 12th - Sex or Gender?
Seema Plaisier (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
Brendan Pinto (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
​
November 14th - How to Make new materials
Dr. Christina Birkel (School of Molecular Sciences, ASU)
Arya Loloee (School of Molecular Sciences, ASU)
​
October 10th - Water you doing Arizona?
Haley Paul (Policy Director for Audubon Southwest)
Cora Tso (Kyl Center for Water Policy, ASU)
​
September 12th - Planned Insecthood: The Sterile Insect Technique
Dr. Marion Le Gall (M3 Agriculture Technologies)
Dr. Michael Garvey (USDA-APHIS-PPQ Science and Technology Insect Management and Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory)
​
August 8th - Should we worry? Are the bees happy?
Dr. Adrian Fisher II (School of Life Sciences, Psychology, ASU)
Dr. Jun Chen (School of Life Sciences, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU)
​
July 11th - Psychedelic research and therapeutic trips
Dr. Candace Lewis (School of Life Sciences, Psychology, ASU)
Dr. Sarah Mennenga (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
June 13th - I pill good: the science of addiction
Amanda Acuna (Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in Neuroscience, ASU)
Dr Janet Neiswander (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
​
May 9th - Artificial Intelligence
Nathan Noses-Gonzales (CEO, M3 Agriculture Technologies)
Dr. Tejaswi Gowda (School of Arts Media and Engineering, ASU)
​
April 11th - Mammals of Arizona
Laura Steger (Environmental and Zoological Collections Manager for NEON, ASU)
Dr. Dakota Rowsey (Vertebrate Collection, SOLS, ASU)
​
March 14th - How do we learn and make decisions: insights from cognitive science
Dr. Viriana Benitez (Department of Psychology, ASU)
Dr. Samuel McClure (Department of Psychology, ASU)
​
February 8th - It’s a wonderful worm
Geoffrey Osgood (The Arizona Worm Farm)
Daniel Domenech (The Arizona Worm Farm)
​
January 11th - Brain teasers and physical paradoxes explained (e.g. the Monty Hall problem, Achilles and the tortoise, etc.)
Dr. Pedro Pessoa (Department of Physics, ASU)
Taylor Colburn (Department of Physics, ASU)
December 14th - Human origins
Dr. Denise Su (School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU)
Dr. Yohannes Haile-Selassie (School of Human Evolution and Social Change, ASU)
​
November 9th - Criminal justice
Dr. Kwan-Lamar Blount-Hill (School of Criminology & Criminal Justice , ASU)
Dr. Adam Fine (School of Criminology & Criminal Justice, ASU )
October 12th - I see the light! A historical perspective on light microscopy)
Dr. Mohamed Fazel (Center for Biological Physics, ASU)
Dr. Doug Shepherd (Center for Biological Physics, ASU)
​
September 14th - Living with a cellmate: endosymbiosis
Dr. Jessica Warren (The Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, ASU)
Noah Spencer (The Biodesign Center for Mechanisms of Evolution, ASU)
August 10th - History and Philosophy of Science
Dr. Kate MacCord (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
Matt Tontonoz (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
​
July 13th - But it’s a dry heat
Dr. Brad Posch (Desert Botanical Garden)
Aryn Musgrave (Desert Botanical Garden) replaced by Marion Le Gall
​
June 8th - What happens in a black hole…
Dr. Cynthia Keeler (Department of Physics, ASU)
Dr. Ayush Saurabh (Department of Physics, ASU)
May 11th - Science on tap goes viral.
Dr. Simona Kraberger (Biodesign Center for Fundamental & Applied Microbiomics, ASU)
Dr. Arvind Varsani (Biodesign Center for Fundamental & Applied Microbiomics, ASU)
​
April 13th - It “mite” be cheesy
Dr. Jay Taylor (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
Sofía González Salazar (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
​
March 9th - Herpetology: frog loaves and nope ropes
Dr. Michael Britton (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
Jill Azzolini (School of Life Sciences, ASU)
​
February 9th - “Aliens”
Theresa Fisher (School Of Earth and Space Exploration, ASU)
Veronica Mierzejewski (School Of Earth and Space Exploration, ASU)
​
January 12th - Bugging out: entomological research is fly!
Christopher Brooks (Social Insect Research Group, ASU)
Dr. Marion Le Gall (Social Insect Research Group, ASU)
Let's Get
Social
