10-Minute Talks Give Everyone a Chance to Explore Caltech

The Caltech Postdoctoral Association (CPA) will present weekly 10-minute science talks by Caltech grad students, postdocs, and researchers on Wednesdays from 5-6 p.m.

The talks, part of Explore Caltech, are targeted to a general audience, and recent discussions have focused on topics including 3-D printing, cosmology, climatological history, and the science of glaciers in Disney's Frozen 2.

Explore Caltech was launched in 2018 as Science for March, an event initiated by Caltech postdoctoral scholars seeking to share their passion for STEM with the local community. Scientists from all of Caltech's six academic divisions and JPL participated, bringing the joy of discovery to the more than 2,000 members of the local community in attendance.

Today, Explore Caltech aims to do online what the coronavirus has made impractical as an in-person event. John Bostick, CPA outreach coordinator, says the virtual sessions "engage the local community in science and enhance the community's understanding of what science is and what scientists do."

The next session of 10-minute talks, on Wednesday, May 20, will feature three discussions:

• "Next-Generation Batteries for Renewable Energy," by Brian Lee, graduate student in chemistry and chemical engineering;
• "Where Does Atmospheric CO2 Go during Ice Ages?" by Michael Kipp, postdoctoral scholar in geochemistry; and
• "Seafaring Robots: How Oceanographers Use Autonomous Vehicles to Better Understand Our Blue Planet," by Lily Dove, graduate student in environmental science and engineering.

Members of the Caltech community and the general public are invited to join the online discussions on Zoom.