Due February 6th 2026 – The Science Cafe is a program that connects UI researchers and experts with Iowa community members. These one-hour events take place at a local coffee shop in Mt. Vernon, IA (about 30 mins from Iowa City) are structured around a presentation and group discussion about various environmental, health, and scientific topics.  

 https://uiowa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bq1LoK0QzwWYV4W (Fill out this form by Feb 6th) Eligibility: Faculty, staff, and graduate students at the University of Iowa 

The Science Cafes are usually on a weekday from 5-6 pm.  The structure of the event is 30 min talk by presenter (no slides are used but there is a paper hand out), 25 min discussion/Q+A, Dr. Brandi Janssen facilitates the events.    

Questions? Email Jackie Curnick jcurnick@uiowa.edu  

Visit the science café webpage https://ehsrc.public-health.uiowa.edu/communityengagement/science-cafe/ 

Topics that have been directly requested by the Science Café participants on evaluations: (though you can propose any topic) 

• Medical talks / Surgery 

• Climate Change 

• Research projects: study design and results  

• Options for farmers to improve water quality 

• Barriers to changing agricultural practices 

• “Pure Science”  

• Reasons Iowa is losing healthcare workers  

• Neonics and the home gardener  

• Food safety 

• Herbalism 

• Marine Biology 

• Geology or Archeology 

• Chemistry 

• Human composting 

• Stem cells and plasma joint injections to delay joint replacement 

• Nutrition 

• Dentistry 

• How does data science help with precision in medicine