COPUS is delighted to share the news that the WGBH Educational Foundation, in association with the scientific research society Sigma Xi, has launched a Web site at www.sciencecafes.org to promote the growing Science Café movement in the U.S.

At Science Cafés, scientists and engineers share their expertise with the general public in a relaxed, friendly setting; discussions are typically held at local restaurants, coffee shops, or pubs. Topics have been wide-ranging, from bird flu, human space flight, chaos and global warming, to the Irish Potato famine, green building, the ivory-billed woodpecker, honeybees and dark energy/dark matter.

Sciencecafes.org is designed to assist in all aspects of planning and promoting these events, from publicizing and supporting them, to choosing topics, speakers and venues. The site was created with the help and input of many science café organizers and also features an interactive map to locate where around the country cafés are being held.

“By taking science to the people, Science Cafés help to personalize and demystify complex subjects, bringing science into everyday conversation, where it truly belongs,” said Laura J. Nigro, who runs Sigma Xi’s Public Understanding of Science program. “This partnership combines NOVA scienceNOW’s compelling video with the educational outreach of WGBH and Sigma Xi’s unprecedented access to the nation’s top researchers.”

“It has been a delight to watch the popularity of science cafés grow in the United States with the support of our organizations,” said Julie Benyo, director of educational outreach for WGBH. “From a handful of cafés a few years ago to more than 50 in the U.S. today, the café format has proven that people of all ages and backgrounds enjoy talking over the latest developments in science.”

For additional questions about this project, contact: Laura J. Nigro, Sigma Xi, scicafe@sigmaxi.org or 800-243-6534; Ben Wiehe, WGBH, ben_wiehe@wgbh.org or 617-300-3980

COPUS encourages you to check out a Science Café in your area – and to register your Science Café in the COPUS network and the public understanding of science program and event database.

If you are interested in joining other COPUS members to develop a Science Café in your community, contact Sheri Potter at spotter@copusproject.org.

Portions of this posting were excerpted from a Sigma Xi press release; For the full text please see http://www.sigmaxi.org/about/news/2007SciCafesWeb.shtml