What we’re about
Science on Tap is a science lecture series where you can sit back, enjoy a pint, and laugh while you learn. Listen to experts talk about the science in your neighborhood and around the world. You don’t have to be a science geek to have fun—all you need is a thirst for knowledge!
Upcoming events (3)
See all- What Lies Beneath: Nuclear Remediation Along the ColumbiaKiggins Theatre, Vancouver, WA$20.00
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
For more than 40 years, the federal government produced plutonium for America’s nuclear weapons program at Hanford Site, in SE Washington. Since plutonium production ended in 1989, the focus has shifted to the world’s largest and most expensive environmental cleanup effort.When people hear about the cleanup of nuclear waste at Hanford, reactions range from outrage to concern. The amount of hazardous waste is vast, and the cleanup effort took some time to find legs. This talk will give a quick history of Hanford Site and explore past and present effects on the Columbia River.
Near the Oregon border lay extensive contamination in hundreds of solid waste burial trenches and contaminated facilities, including 9 former plutonium production reactors and 5 large chemical reprocessing plants. About 50 miles of the Columbia River runs through Hanford Site before flowing into the state. Surface cleanup is nearly complete along the shoreline, and groundwater treatment has greatly reduced the amount of contaminants reaching the Columbia River.
Sara Lovtang works for the OR Department of Energy. Through Superfund regulations, she and other members of the Hanford Natural Resource Trustee Council strive to restore ecosystems injured by releases and cleanup activities at the Hanford Site. Before her career with ODOE, she was a plant ecologist with the USDA Forest Service and interpreted Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response standards for the OSHA in Washington DC.
COST:
$15.00 DISCOUNT (senior, student, it's your birthday, just can't afford the GA price right now)
$20.00 GENERAL ADMISSION
$35.00 VIP Premium seating (front center rows)
$45.00 SUPPORTER: Premium seating, pint glass (beer not included), and good feelings for supporting the programTICKETS: Get tickets!
WHERE ARE MY PEEPS?
This is an unhosted meetup event, but we will have a sign so you all can sit together if you like! (May get taken over if the show is sold out)IN-PERSON ONLY
We are no longer able to offer a live stream option for our live events. A recording may be available after the event on our Patreon (or sometimes also our YouTube channel) at the speaker's discretion.Visit the Science On Tap website
- Curing Climate Change? Smoke, Haze, and Solar InterventionAlberta Rose Theatre, Portland, OR$25.00
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
There’s a lot going more on in the skies that’s affecting climate than just fossil fuel emissions increasing CO2! Particles in the atmosphere — like smoke from fires and pollution from engines and industrial activities — are affecting our climate. Yet, their influence on climate might surprise you – they actually act to cool the planet and “mask” some of the greenhouse gas warming.
Research scientist Dr. Sarah Doherty will talk about how particles in the atmosphere are already affecting climate, how these influences are likely to change in the future, and whether these effects can be leveraged to rapidly reduce global warming to avoid many of the negative impacts of climate change.What are the ideas?
What’s being done so far?
Why are scientists considering these ideas?This talk will discuss the current climate trajectory, and why cutting emissions alone won’t be enough to keep global warming from exceeding the 1.5-2 C of warming that scientists have identified as “dangerous levels of climate change”.
Dr. Sarah Doherty is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Washington. Her interest in atmospheric science began with a year of work in Antarctica, where she was helping make measurements to better understand the ozone hole. She has also been involved with multiple scientific assessments, including the U.S. National Climate Assessment and two international assessments of the state of the ozone layer.
COST:
$15.00 DISCOUNT (senior, student, it's your birthday, just can't afford the GA price right now)
$25.00 GENERAL ADMISSION
$35.00 VIP Premium seating (front center rows)
$45.00 SUPPORTER: Premium seating, pint glass (beer not included), and good feelings for supporting the programTICKETS: Get tickets!
WHERE ARE MY PEEPS?
This is an unhosted meetup event, but we will have a sign so you all can sit together if you like! (May get taken over if the show is sold out)IN-PERSON ONLY
We are no longer able to offer a live stream option for our live events. A recording may be available after the event on our Patreon (or sometimes also our YouTube channel) at the speaker's discretion.Visit the Science On Tap website
- Indigenous Science: Seed Banks for Eco-RestorationNeeds location
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Many ecological restoration projects are one-size-fits-all: kill the weeds, then plant native seeds. But across the West, native plants have unexpectedly reestablished themselves via wind, water, or underground seed banks at restored properties in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California within various ecosystems—prairies, estuaries, sagebrush steppe, wetlands, and coastal sand dunes.Scientists, in particular Indigenous scientists, have found that native seeds can regerminate after decades of dormancy underground and that some species—even federally endangered ones—will regrow once invasive plants are removed, or water is returned.
This approach, known as “natural regeneration,” is understudied and overlooked by Western scientists. Yet Indigenous-led projects show that it is a more effective and more affordable way to restore degraded lands. This show will discuss a handful of tribally led restoration projects where native plants have returned on their own.
Josephine Woolington is a writer and musician based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. She is the author of “Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest,” which won the 2024 Oregon Book Award for general nonfiction. Her wide-ranging, long-form feature story on this subject was published in High Country News.
David G. Lewis (Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde), an OSU anthropology and Indigenous studies assistant professor who descends from western Oregon’s Takelma, Chinook, Molalla and Santiam Kalapuya peoples. Lewis has studied a Willamette Valley site, called Lake Labish, where wapato, a traditional food for PNW Indigenous peoples, has reappeared after a 120-year absence. He is the author of Tribal Histories of the Willamette Valley (2023).
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COST:
$15.00 DISCOUNT (senior, student, it's your birthday, just can't afford the GA price right now)
$25.00 GENERAL ADMISSION
$35.00 VIP Premium seating (front center rows)
$45.00 SUPPORTER: Premium seating, pint glass (beer not included), and good feelings for supporting the programTICKETS: Get tickets!
WHERE ARE MY PEEPS?
This is an unhosted meetup event, but we have a Meetup sign if anyone wants to volunteer to mark a row or two!IN-PERSON ONLY
We are no longer able to offer a live stream option for our live events. A recording may be available after the event on our Patreon (or sometimes also our YouTube channel) at the speaker's discretion.Visit the Science On Tap website
Image credit: Alex Boersma, High Country News