STATESBORO– With a presentation wrapped up on Tuesday and two more coming next month, Georgia Southern University’s “Science on Tap” lecture series is well underway.

Sponsored by a variety of colleges across campus, including the College of Science and Mathematics and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the event is a series of lectures on a variety of scientific topics delivered in a way that is interesting and easy to understand for all.

“The idea is that we bring a fun science topic taught by experts–one could argue world experts–in that field to the community at a level that the community can understand.” Dr. Brent Feske, the Associate Dean of College of Science and Mathematics said.

Hosted in both Savannah and Statesboro by local businesses, the lecture series invites faculty, outside experts, and even graduate students to discuss a topic they are passionate about in a fun and interesting way. Though often selected upwards of a year in advance, each speaker makes sure to discuss a completely new topic from the last to make sure every presentation is fresh and exciting.

Originally, “Science on Tap” was two separate programs, one at Armstrong University and one at GSU. GSU’s program was started by Biology professor Dr. Lance McBrayer, Philosophy and Religious Studies professor Jason Slone, and Assistant Professor of Middle Grades and Secondary Science Education Amanda Glaze.

“I was at a conference about five years ago, and it happened to be in a brewery and they had a similar event; it was called ‘Ask A Scientist’–this was in San Diego–and I thought it was a fantastic idea.” McBrayer said. Then after that I learned that lots of different museums or universities were having these kind of events to interface with the public about what it is that we do as scientists, and I thought that was a great idea.”

The three also organized the program for its first year before the duty fell mainly to McBrayer and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology Chad Posick. After the merger between Armstrong and GSU, however, the two events became joint-run by both campuses.

There are no current plans for a similar event on GSU’s Liberty Campus, though the presentations in Statesboro and Savannah plan to keep going strong.

“Science on Tap” presents every first Tuesday of the month in Statesboro and twice every semester in Savannah. Savannah lectures will be at Savannah Coffee Roasters, while Statesboro lectures will be held at Eagle Creek Brewing Company. Both events begin at 6 p.m. and are open to the public.

The next lecture, presented by biology professor Dr. Elizabeth Hunter and detailing conservation and restoration practices surrounding gopher tortoises, will be on April 2 in Savannah, followed by a lecture by Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Studies Dr. Kate Perry on human trafficking on April 7.

Davis Cobb, The George-Anne News Reporter, wc02248@georgiasouthern.edu