Unlike the newest chain store to open in Fresno, we’re always hungry for happenings that gets us excited–I mean really excited–about returning to the San Joaquin Valley. When we heard about Central Valley Cafe Scientifique, we had to learn more: mostly the who, what, where, when, why and how can we help out.

That’s because Central Valley Cafe Scientifique is a free monthly forum for the public to hear lectures and ask questions of local scientists. The talks are half-a-year-old, have no advertising budget and garnered no major media coverage, but organizers tell me that meetings have attracted as many as 60 to 80 participants and counting.

“It’s been an embarrassment of riches,” said Scott Hatfield, a Bullard High School science teacher, an evolution activist, and one of the organizers.

“It just shows that Fresno County is really starved for opportunites to hear science.”

A Worldwide Trend

Cafe Scientifique is a concept that started ten years ago in England and is catching on worldwide in Uganda, Japan, Hungary, Poland and now Fresno, California . The idea is to take science out of the classroom and into public spaces. It’s commonly held in cafes, bars and restaurants, where people can munch on chips and salsa while contemplating the cosmos.

A Growing Audience

Hatfield says people who have attended are part of the Fresno State community, but they are also members of the public–people who might watch public television, or be active in their communities. The crowd has grown so large that the group has stopped actively promoting its meetings to make sure the venues don’t overflow. They might even branch off into two cafes to meet the demand, and also become more accessible to participants in the north Valley– such as near U.C. Merced.

Think Globally; Learn Science Locally

One important draw is that the cafe will feature local scientists from academic institutions, private industry and also the local branches of governmental organizations– such those at the US Dept. of Agriculture, Dept. of Fish and Game and US Forest Service.

The cafe’s first topics demonstrate the depth of our science community. They’ve spanned the gamut of forensic biochemistry, social psychology, global warming and sexual diversity. The talks are billed as provokative, but also playful. The next meeting on June 2 is on “Finding your inner fish.” Reading the promo, we’re already intrigued and educated: Fish use tools? They can switch gender mid-life?

Would you like some Central Valley with your science?

Now, it’s no secret that since this is the Central Valley’s Cafe Scientifique, this is all going on in the midst of the creationism/evolution controversy. We’re not well-schooled in creationist battlegrounds, but at least one of the topics seem to take the religious alternative head on with lectures on the age of the universe. Hatfield says they welcome participants from all backgrounds to engage in mature scientific discourse.

If you’re interested in attending the next Central Valley Cafe Scientifique it’ll be held:

Monday, June 2

6:30 to 8:30pm

at Lucy’s Lair

10063 N Maple Ave

Fresno, CA 93730

(559) 433-9775