For Immediate Release

Inaugural Event: Join us at Takoma Park Middle School

Contact: Aimee Stern, Stern Communications, 202-744-5004, aimee@sterncommdc.com
Contact: Jennifer Collins, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, 703-731-9083, jen@paleobio.org

Washington, DC. - This October 2009, more than 100 of the D.C. area's best and brightest scientists will donate their time and energy to explain the wonders of science to K-12 students. Scientists will share information about the newest and coolest discoveries in neuroscience, the environment, biology, dinosaurs, our oceans, and other scientific disciplines.

They will explain how scientists conduct research and help students and teachers learn what it takes to become a scientist. Scientists will visit classrooms, work with teachers, hold special events at their labs, lead assemblies and conduct hands-on experiments with students. Free training is available for scientists who want to work with elementary school students.

Sponsors and participants in Meet the Scientist expect that it will forge relationships between scientific organizations and schools that can be extended well past October of 2009. The project's goal is to test the event in Washington, D.C. and use what is learned to develop a nationwide effort.

Here are the details for the first Meet the Scientist Event:

Where: Takoma Park Middle School, 7611 Piney Branch Rd., Silver Spring, MD, 301-650-6444

When: 9:00 -12:00 AM, Monday October 5th.

Who: Scientists from the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and three from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are participating.

The visiting scientists include:

Dr. Briana Pobiner of the Natural History Museum is a prehistoric archaeologist who digs up human and animal fossils - and artifacts - at sites in Kenya, Tanzania and Indonesia. Her web site can be found at: http://archaeonet.ning.com/photo/photo/listForContributor?screenName=xsikpesqkjm4

Dr. Alan Leonardi of NOAA explains the role scientists play in understanding the biological, chemical, geological, and physical mysteries of the world's oceans. Here's a video by one of his peers explaining their work. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMZWJN1djYs

Dr. Matthew Curano is the curator of dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum. He researches the evolution of dinosaurs over their 160-million-year history. His fieldwork has taken him to Madagascar, Chile, and the western United States looking for new fossils of dinosaurs http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Dinosaur_Dispatch_Days_3_and_4.html

The second Meet the Scientist event will be held on October 9th at Johns Hopkins for the entire seventh grade of Shady Grove Middle School.

FOR SCIENTISTS - You can fill out a brief survey and explain the type of science they specialize in, the level of student they are most comfortable speaking to, and when they are available. The link can be found at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=_2bEubTSoPzjcAMc0pnDbG3w_3d_3d

For TEACHERS AND ADMINISTRATORS - School personnel and teachers who would like scientists to visit their schools can fill out a form at this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=BS_2f9n7Czxa8SeoiZWllCuA_3d_3d

TO JOIN OUR TEAM - For updates on this project and other D.C. science events, and volunteer to help, please join our Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=33739102607&ref=ts

Meet the Scientist is sponsored by the D.C. Hub of the Coalition for Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), a grassroots effort by more than 850 organizations in 50 states. Scientists from the National Institutes of Health, Johns Hopkins Medical School, the National Science Teachers' Association, the Smithsonian, the Howard Hughes Medical Center, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Environmental Protection Agency, and many other groups have volunteered their time.