CSI Forensic Science to be next Pier Aquarium SciCafé

Contact: Emily Stehle, APR
The Pier Aquarium
Office: (727) 803-9799, ext. 207
Cell: (727) 688-7993
estehle@pieraquarium.org
www.pieraquarium.org
Christine Vivian
National Forensic Science Technology Center
Christine.Vivian@nfstc.org
http://www.nfstc.org

For Immediate Release
CSI Forensic Science to be next Pier Aquarium SciCafé
What’s Fact, What’s Fiction?

St. Petersburg, FL (July 9, 2010) – Bring your imagination and put yourself in the shoes of a CSI in training and discover for yourself if what you see on the popular CSI shows is, in fact, reality at the next Science Café.

The Pier Aquarium’s July 20 science café will take you behind the doors of the National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) in Largo. There, visitors will rotate through (at their own pace) several activity stations to learn about the exacting process of crime scene investigation, and be able to ask the questions they’ve always wanted to ask CSI Las Vegas heroes Katherine Willows, Nick Stokes or Greg Sanders.

This interactive experience will demonstrate how the NFSTC staff supports the justice community through innovative research, programs, evaluation of the latest technologies and laboratory quality reviews. The evening concludes with a panel discussion with a crime scene investigator, DNA specialist and chemist and Q&A session moderated by Kevin Lothridge, NFSTC CEO.

"NFSTC is pleased to host this event with The Pier Aquarium to enhance science discussions and general knowledge,” says Lothridge. "Science is central to our mission and is the basis for all the work we do.”

SciCafé St. Petersburg ’10 is a free, informal quarterly discussion series presented by The Pier Aquarium, the American Chemical Society and NOVAscienceNOW (WGBH Educational Foundation). It was created in 2009 "to raise awareness and satisfy a person’s curiosity about things scientific” according to E. Howard Rutherford, President & CEO, The Pier Aquarium.

The science café is in international program that brings the discussion of science in the mainstream. No one organization "controls” or claims credit for creating the science café concept in the United States, but many science cafés were inspired by Café Scientifique based in the United Kingdom and informally hosted at a local restaurant, bar or pub.

SciCafé St. Petersburg, the first science café created in the Greater Tampa Bay area, has brought the topics of caffeine, green chemistry, nanotechnology, photovoltaics and the Gulf Oil Disaster to a community forum. This CSI presentation is the first not held at a restaurant because of the unusual, participatory nature of the discussion topic.

The National Forensic Science Technology Center (NFSTC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Largo, Florida. NFSTC provides training, assessment, technology assistance and evaluation to the justice and forensic communities to ensure quality forensic services nationwide. The organization receives funding from the National Institute of Justice and other federal agencies.

EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT AND PHOTO OPPORTUNITY

WHAT: SciCafé St. Petersburg ‘10
TOPIC: CSI Forensic Science: Fact or Fiction
WHEN: 6-7:30pm Tuesday, July 20, 2010
WHERE: National Forensic Science Technology Cetner (NFSTC) 7881 114th Ave. N, Largo

RSVP Requested: www.pieraquarium.org/event/csiscicafe

CSI Agenda
5:30pm Doors open
6pm Welcome
6:05pm-7pm Activity Stations
7-7:30pm Panel discussion and Q& A moderated by Kevin Lothridge, CEO, NFSTC