The University of Iowa

Science on Tap

 

Science is brewing at Hancher’s Stanley Café!

Science on Tap is an informal forum for UI researchers to engage the campus and the local community in a discussion of science in a fun and inviting atmosphere, while recognizing the great research and scholarship taking place at Iowa.
 

Past events:
Science on Tap: Iowa Watershed Approach

Iowa Watershed Approach

Thursday, April 23, 2020, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

In 2016, Iowa received a $96.9 million grant from the US Department of Housing and Development to fund its vision for a more resilient state: The Iowa Watershed Approach (IWA). The goals behind the IWA include reducing flood risk, improving water quality, increasing resilience, engaging stakeholders through outreach and education, improving quality of life and developing a replicable program. This is a ‘flood-first’ program that focuses on improving rural watershed resiliency through adoption of conservation practices targeting reduction in peak stream flow during heavy rainfall and improve water quality year-round.

Presenter: Larry Weber (Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

More info

 

 

Canceled

Science on Tap: Three Minute Thesis Showcase

Three Minute Thesis Showcase

Thursday, March 26, 2020, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition challenges graduate students to communicate their research in three minutes or less in non-specialist language. Participants represent a diverse array of disciplines and areas of study, and reflect the passion and thirst for discovery common among all of Iowa's graduate students. This year's winners will join Science on Tap to showcase some of the diverse research being done on campus.

Presenters: Winners of 2019 Three Minute Thesis

More info

 

 

Canceled

Science on Tap: The Scientific Concert

The Scientific Concert: New Music Distilled from Geology, Physics, and Chemistry

Thursday, February 20, 2020, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

Jean-François Charles will present how collaboration with musicians, scientists, and technicians has been at the core of the creative process for Scientific Concert, a show premiering on October 27, 2019. Charles will focus on the composition of “Petrasonic,” his sonata for double bass and percussion, which was created at the crossroads of music and geology. He will also demonstrate new musical instruments made of stones and detail some of the teamwork involved in the creative process.

Presenter: Jean-Francois Charles (Assistant Professor, Music)

More info
Free
Science on Tap: Robot Theater

Robot Theater

Thursday, November 14, 2019, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

Robots have integrated into our society, moving beyond manufacturing applications.  Robots can now be found working in hotels, hospitals, and schools.  They are learning to drive and deliver packages. Robots also appear in television shows, films, and plays.  Historically, when robot characters appeared in film or on stage, human actors played the roles.  Technological advances have made it possible for robots to perform character versions of themselves.  The University of Iowa’s Robot Theater Project (UIRTP) explores the impact of robot actors on theatrical performances, and also uses robot theater to advance STEM education.  For this presentation, NAO humanoid robots will perform a variety of skits and routines developed by UI students, and Denise Szecsei will discuss the development of the project.

Presenter: Denise Szecsei (Associate Professor of Instruction, Computer Science)

More info
Free
Science on Tap: Hybrid Cochlear Implants

Hybrid Cochlear Implants: Improving Hearing in Noise and for Music

Thursday, October 10, 2019, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

For more than 30 years, researchers in the Iowa Cochlear Implant Clinical Research Center (ICICRC) at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine have been studying outcomes with cochlear implants.  The Iowa team has developed an advanced cochlear implant strategy called the hybrid cochlear implant. There are significant advantages of the hybrid system that incorporates both residual acoustic hearing with electrical processing (acoustic + electric, A+E).  Some of the advantages of A+E processing are improved hearing in noise and music.  Current research is focused on how people separate speech from noise, which is a major problem of the hearing impaired. We are studying central auditory processing to better understand how we separate speech and noise.  This presentation will provide an overview of hearing impairment, state of the art understanding of cochlear implant technology, and how we are improving the ability to understand speech in noise and music.

Presenter: Bruce Gantz (Professor, Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery)

More info
Free
Science on Tap: Striving for Equity in Schools

Striving for Equity in Schools

Thursday, April 18, 2019, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

Achieving educational equity remains a fundamental challenge in education policy and practice. This presentation will describe the work of the Equity Implemented Partnership which aims to improve the equitability of school experiences and outcomes for students in the Iowa City Community School District by making data-informed decisions, drawing on research-based solutions, and using an inclusive decision-making process.

Presenters: Sarah Bruch (Assistant Professor, Sociology) and Kingsley Botchway (Chief Officer of Human Resources and Equity, Waterloo Community School District)

More info
Free
Science on Tap: Three Minute Thesis Showcase

Three Minute Thesis Showcase

Thursday, March 28, 2019, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

The Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition challenges graduate students to communicate their research in three minutes or less in non-specialist language. Participants represent a diverse array of disciplines and areas of study, and reflect the passion and thirst for discovery common among all of Iowa's graduate students. This year's winners will join Science on Tap to showcase some of the diverse research being done on campus including second language acquisition, human toxicology, pharmaceutics and translational therapeutics, and geographical and sustainability sciences.

Presenters: Tianlu Zhang (2018 Winner), Muhammad Taifur Rahman (2018 Honorable Mention), Timothy Acri (2018 Honorable Mention), and Oronde Drakes (2018 Audience Choice)

More info
Free
Southwestern Archaeology at the University of Iowa

Southwestern Archaeology at the University of Iowa

Thursday, October 25, 2018, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

The US Southwest is a stunningly beautiful and diverse region, with dramatic variation in physical environments and human cultures that developed in place over thousands of years. Momix's Opus Cactus at Hancher illustrates the Sonoran Desert in the south; to the northeast, University of Iowa researchers have studied Puebloan communities. Archaeologist Margaret Beck will describe her research with Matt Hill into Puebloan life during the Spanish colonial era, including use of the adjacent Great Plains as a refuge.

Presenters: Margaret Beck (Associate Professor, Anthropology) and Matt Hill (Associate Professor, Anthropology)

More info
Free
Music Therapy: Helping Teens Cope after Surgery

Music Therapy: Helping Teens Cope after Surgery

Thursday, September 20, 2018, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

Music therapy is provided in many settings, with a variety of individuals, to improve quality of life. Music therapy can be used in medical settings to help patients reduce pain perception and anxiety. Pain and anxiety after a surgery can be difficult for anyone to deal with, but it can be especially difficult for adolescents (and their parents) who undergo painful orthopedic surgery. This presentation will describe an interdisciplinary research study to determine the effectiveness of specific music therapy interventions on adolescents’ pain and anxiety after spinal fusion surgery for scoliosis. Due to the outcomes of this study, music therapy is now becoming an important clinical intervention for post-operative pain at The University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Presenters: Mary Adamek (Clinical Professor, Music), Kirsten Nelson (Clinical Music Therapist, The Stead Family Children’s Hospital), and Charmaine Kleiber (Associate Professor Emeritus, Nursing)

More info
Free
Growing Local Food: Small-scale farming in a big farm state

Growing Local Food: Small-Scale Farming in a Big Farm State

Thursday, November 9, 2017, 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
Stanley Café in Hancher Auditorium

In Iowa, agriculture looms large.  The state is the number one producer of corn, soybeans, and hogs and, most years, eggs.  Iowa’s Big Ag reputation has put the state in the epicenter of some of the most hotly contested debates about farming and the future of food production.  But Iowa is also home to a robust network of smaller scale farms that supply ever-expanding statewide and regional food markets.  The rhetorical tendency to pit conventional and alternative agriculture against each other becomes complicated when those two systems co-exist in rural neighborhoods. This talk considers the ways that local and global food systems overlap in Iowa, and how their interactions can contribute to a healthier local food system.

Presenters: Dr. Brandi Janssen (Director, Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Safety and Health; Clinical Assistant Professor, Occupational and Environmental Health)

More info
Free