Year in Science 2009

I’ve just stumbled across a group called the Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) that bills itself as “a grassroots effort whose goal is to engage sectors of the public in science to increase their understanding of the nature of science and its value to society.” Well, we sure could use some of that. COPUS has declared 2009 the Year of Science, and has laid out an ambitious plan to encourage scientists, educators, and institutions to do something locally to excite their communities about science, like giving lectures, going into classrooms, and starting Science Cafes.

Each month has an assigned theme:

January - Process and Nature of Science; Communicating Science
February - Evolution
March - Physics and Technology
April - Energy Resources
May - Sustainability and the Environment
June - Ocean and Water
July - Astronomy
August - Weather and Climate
September - Biodiversity and Conservation
October - Geosciences and Planet Earth
November - Chemistry
December - Science and Health

COPUS has set up a website to coordinate and track events, provide links to educational resources, and support blogs and discussion boards. At the moment it looks a bit thin – so far there aren’t many events or many participants. The monthly themes won’t be addressed before their time, so there isn’t much content yet. January does include a link to UC Berkeley’s new Understanding Science website, which also looks like it could be good but isn’t quite complete.

It will be interesting to check back in during the next few months and see if the Year of Science picks up steam, or remains a well-meaning endeavor that never quite takes off.