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I love Science at SkepchickCon

I love science and you can help others fall in love too! If you just want to donate or “add your name to the hat” scroll past all the words to the photos of the colorful I Love Science hearts!

I love science. I mean it, I really do. Science teaches us about our place in the universe. Science helps us understand what medicine might help us and what might harm. Science teaches us about empathy and compassion and how to make reasonable, fact based decisions on everything from fire to food to fashion.

What I am hoping to express to you is that there is an aspect of science to everything. You can use the empirical data collection of science to help you learn more about literally any topic that interests you. There are always unanswered questions about the things and ideas that surround us and that means that there is always a challenging and fun mystery to be solved. Maybe you will be the next person to make a history changing discovery or solve one of the great puzzles of the universe. Or maybe you will just learn something new that will inspire you to ask even more questions.

One thing is for sure, you wont be able to solve life’s mysteries without the tools of science.

Science is the gift that keeps on giving.

It’s a gift that I want to give to you.

The Science Track at Convergence.

SkepchickCon logo

This year Skepchick is expanding their involvement with the programming at Convergence. Melanie, one of the Skepchicks is now part of the official programming team for the event itself and we are super thrilled about this! To celebrate we are bringing in scientists from across the globe in a vast array of fields to host panels on every kind of science we can cram into four days. We will feature panels on neuroscience, astronomy, molecular science, biology, physics, tech, sociology, math and more! We will offer fun and geeky panels like the forensic and chemistry science of Breaking Bad and the science of Game of Thrones and the Whedonverse . Even fun things like the science behind real life “monsters.” And rumor has it there is a very special Star Trek guest and panel in the works too.

We are also doing a lot more sandbox activities for the kids this year. Activities like edible astronomy taught by the Noisy Astronomer herself, Dr Nicole Gugliucci! Kids will learn about the moon and the size and distance of the planets. There will be other scientist led interactive workshops where kids can learn about glowing bacteria or how to extract DNA. We are also holding new salons in our party room all day long to teach topics like the science of molecular gastronomy. The salons will also give you a chance to talk one-on-one with the wide array of scientists that will be attending. Oh, and of course there will be lots of geek inspired art panels and cosplay and costume design! Many bloggers from Skepchick, Mad Art Lab and FTBlogs will be available to talk to you! Have a science question you have always wanted to ask a real scientist about? This is your chance! And we will of course have our every night parties where you can hang out, make new friends and toast with test tubes, “to science!”

Long story short: This is going to be the best Science track at Covergence yet! SkepchickCon 2014 is going to seriously geology! Er… I mean it’s going to rock! And I want to help some people get there.

 

Every year I make handmade jewelry and use it to raise money to buy passes for people to get in to science or secular events and THIS year I want to buy some passes to get you in to Convergence so you can participate in our bigger and better-than-ever, geekery and science track.

To do this, I have made a series of, “I love science” necklaces to help raise money.
I love science Surly-Ramics

I am making it easier than ever to participate this year. No more forms to fill out, no more gender identity requirements, none of that! If you need a little help covering costs to go to this event, just put a message in the comment section below with the words, “ADD MY NAME TO THE HAT.”  And PLEASE also include a way for me to contact you, such as twitter or FB or be SURE to subscribe to the comments so you will know if you have been chosen. If I can’t contact you within a day or two of selecting your name, I will have to pick another name.

If you want to donate to help me pay for passes for people to participate in our SkepchickCon science track, please click the donate button below. I promise I will pay for at least one person to go out of my own money, but I am just an artist and as always I would love your help to make this happen! The more money I can raise the more people I can pay for and every dollar helps!

Click here to donate directly:





Click here to purchase one of my handmade I LOVE SCIENCE necklaces!


Important info:


SkepchickCon 2014 takes place at CONvergence a sci-fi/fantasy conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota at the Doubletree in Bloomington, July 3-6, 2014.

If your name is pulled from the hat and you are selected for one of my grants, I WILL ONLY PAY FOR YOUR PASS. You have to find a way to get to the event and find a place to stay for the days you plan to attend. I will confirm you can do this before I buy your pass.
names in a hat

I will announce winners here in the comments over the coming months and I will bring you updates on the speakers and confirmed panels topics as the information becomes available.

Please stay in touch and please help me spread the word about this so people who would not be able to afford to go, can!

YAY SCIENCE!

Thanks so much and see you at Convergence!

ilove science for post

 

Amy Roth

Amy Davis Roth (aka Surly Amy) is a multimedia, science-loving artist who resides in Los Angeles, California. She makes Surly-Ramics and is currently in love with pottery. Daily maker of art and leader of Mad Art Lab. Support her on Patreon. Tip Jar is here.

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22 Comments

  1. Well now, that’s super cool. I’ve always thought the SF/F conventions needed a solid showing of science to facilitate discussion between the two communities — in no small part because so many scientists became such because of science fiction, and so many science fiction writers were either influenced by science or were/are scientists themselves. So this will be super cool!

    On that note, please do stick my name in the magic hat :)

    (Note sure if it gives you a way to email me, since I signed up via the Facebook thingy; if not, my website has my email on it in the contact area — http://wisb.blogspot.com/ — not a plug…just wanted to make sure you could contact me if you needed to.)

  2. This is great. I can’t make it to Skepchickcon, but I love SurlyRamics. I just wanted to say that they’ve made appearances not just at Skepticism and science fiction conventions, but at professional science meetings as well: I wore my SurlyRamic neuron tie clip to the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting 2013, to positive attention. Thanks, Amy, for helping me look good and feel confident while presenting my research!

  3. ADD MY NAME TO THE HAT .My asks are open at http://obscurefox.tumblr.com/ ( really the only place of mine online I look at everyday) otherwise I guess there is my never used twitter obscurefox, I can try and make an effort to keep an eye on that. I have gone to Convergence and , attended as many skepchickcon panals as I could the last two years. I highly recommend it to anyone who can be there and get to it .

  4. Please remove my name from the hat, given how the skepchick network has handled the latest situation involving ableism and how they have reacted toward developmentally disabled people . I could not accept anything if I were to be chosen, this situation saddens me as an autistic adult.

  5. ADD MY NAME TO THE HAT. This would be so cool. :) (Can be contacted at @FeministLane on twitter.)

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