LEXINGTON, Ky.—One of Lexington’s newest hot spots, West Sixth Brewing, is just blocks away from Transylvania University, in an old bread factory turned microbrewery and community creative space. It offers a variety of beer made on site, food from local food trucks and now…science lectures?
“In Lexington we have gallery hops, music concerts, poetry readings and Civil War roundtables, which are all fantastic,” said Kirk Abraham, associate professor of exercise science at Transylvania. “However, science topics are generally not a part of our public discourse. I wanted to take science out of the classroom and into a relaxed setting, where people who are not experts can be part of the conversation.”
To remove the academic formality of lectures in a class room, Abraham created the West Sixth Science Pub, which takes science topics out of the labs and into the taproom on the third Monday of each month from 6-7 p.m. Upcoming topics range from preventing diabetes with wine to preventing ACL injuries. All talks are free and open to the public.
The science pub concept has taken off in other states and it’s not uncommon in Oregon to have over 100 people attend a science pub talk and people are often lined up at the door when it opens. Abraham hopes the West Sixth Science Pub will generate the same kind of interest in the Lexington community. “I hope anyone who has a general interest in science will attend the events,” he said. “A topic that might be academically interesting to a university professor might also be practically intriguing to the amateur geologist or backyard gardener.”
October 15
Preventing Diabetes with Wine: A Pleasant “Treatment” for an Unpleasant Disease
Kirk Abraham, associate professor of exercise science, Transylvania University
November 19
Invasive Species: Aliens in Your Backyard
Sarah Bray, associate professor of biology, Transylvania University
December 17
Weakness, Fatigue, and Free Radicals
Michael Reid, professor of physiology, University of Kentucky Medical Center
January 21
Flavor Extraction from Oak Barrels by Bourbon and Wine
Jerry Seebach, professor of chemistry, Transylvania University
February 18
Germs: Good, Bad, or Just Ugly?
Paul Duffin, assistant professor of biology, Transylvania University
March 18
Can We Prevent ACL Injuries?
Daisuke Sugimoto, Ph.D. candidate in rehabilitation sciences, University of Kentucky
April 15
Is Morality an Adaptive Trait?
James Wagner, professor of biology, Transylvania University
May 20
Reading social science: Making (non) sense of pop psychology
Melissa Fortner, associate professor of psychology, Transylvania University