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Houston Oasis

—  The Birth of the Science Communicator | Dave Farina | Weekly Sunday Gathering —  Baker Ripley, 6500 Rookin, Houston, TX

Join us in person or online

Main Topic:  The Birth of the Science Communicator

Main Speaker: Dave Farina

Music: Ken Gaines

Main talk Summary: 

What is a science communicator? The era of once-a-decade outliers like Carl Sagan is long gone. In this current era of internet-borne disinformation and science denial pandemonium, science communication has emerged as a vibrant and painfully necessary field, with an army of science scholars focusing their expertise exclusively on informing the public. Charlatans and anti-science propaganda have never been more prevalent, and the stakes have never been higher, as the existential challenge of the 21st century begins to materialize: How do we help people know what is true? This talk will clarify the issue and players involved, as well as highlight important strategies that can be identified toward winning this war with ourselves.

Speaker Bio: 

Dave Farina has a BA in chemistry from Carleton College and an MA in science education from California State University, Northridge. After years of teaching chemistry in the classroom, he turned his attention to science communication in 2015, focusing primarily on his YouTube channel Professor Dave Explains. Dave’s channel serves as a database of over a thousand tutorials in a wide variety of scientific fields. These educational videos have just enough detail to help struggling high school and undergraduate students while being visually engaging and general enough for any viewer who simply wants to learn a few things.


Musician Bio :

 Singer/songwriter, producer, teacher, and master of ceremonies Ken Gaines was a staple in the music scene on his previous home in Houston as well as throughout Texas. As of October, 2022 Ken now makes his home in Oregon City, South of Portland. He is the 2005 TMA Singer Songwriter of the Year and, for the past 24years produced the Thursday night, in the round series at Houston’s legendary Anderson Fair. He’s been featured numerous times at the Kerrville Festival and festivals and concert series across the country. 

As a teacher of song craft & performance Ken has developed a number of theme-specific seminars for adults as well as teens and children. For the past 11 years he has been a teacher for the Kerrville Summer Music Camp for Teens and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas. Ken has written and produced numerous performance lectures, 2 live-theater children’s shows, and several movie/video scores. As an MC Ken is known as the “voice” of both the Texas Music Awards and the Songwriter Serenade. He’s been active with FAI and SWRFA for 17 years, booking and hosting sponsored showcase rooms first for the Houston Association of Acoustic Musicians and then for Anderson Fair. He’s also a member of the health team for both conferences, mentoring traveling musicians on eating healthy while touring. In 2016 Ken became one of the primary developers and Vice President of Song Circle Houston, a 501c3 organization in Houston featuring regular gatherings as well as concert and performance arts seminars. There Ken hosted a monthly Gatherin’ song circle, co-produced a series of Master Classes, and is also a regular featured performer of his own original music. With bachelor’s degrees in Theatre Arts and Visual Arts Ken is celebrating his 54th year as a professional performer.

We are back to our regular start time of 10:30 AM. Doors open at 10:00 AM

Join In Person

Baker Ripley Community Center
6500 Rookin St
Houston, TX 77074

Houston Oasis meets in the Reunion Hall Gymnasium on the Baker Ripley campus. From Hillcroft St, turn right onto High Star Dr, then turn right into the Baker Ripley parking lot just past where the road curves to become Rookin St. You can park anywhere in this lot and follow the "Oasis" directional signs to the gym. Harris County is back at Level 3 - Moderate therefore we are relaxing our mask requirements


COVID-19 Policy:

Harris County is back at Level 1- Low. Therefore we are relaxing our mask requirements. Masks are now optional for all. **We are continuing to monitor the COVID situation and these rules are subject to change View our Covid Policy at https://www.houstonoasis.org/covid-19-policy

Join Online:

Can’t make it in person?
Join us on our Youtube page at youtube.com/HoustonOasisOrg1


To join via Zoom, please check the Houston Oasis Facebook private page, Houston Oasis on meetup.com, or message someone you know in Houston Oasis for the link. You can also join our mailing list at www.houstonoasis.org/join to receive future event links via email.


You can also join our mailing list at www.houstonoasis.org/join to receive future event links via email.