Written by Sean Beckwith, PhD student
ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Chemistry experiments erupted from beakers, critters crawled and slithered, programmed robots marched across a laboratory floor, and dry ice vapor filled the air on Saturday, October 20th, during the 2018 St. Petersburg Science Festival. Held in conjunction with the FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s (FWRI) Marine Quest, the St. Pete Science Festival continued its year-by-year expansion with a towering rock wall, a code-your-own robot exhibit in the STEM Innovation and Robotics Lab, and more scheduled science shows and activities. In the USF College of Marine Science pavilion, grad students gave demonstrations of key topics related to their research.
This year’s booths included Ocean Microcosm, Paleo Experiments, Ocean Iron Plinko Board, pH Races, Gulf Detectives: Fishing Sediments, and Oil Spills, and an art exhibit of high-resolution Electron Microscopy imagery. A commonly overheard phrase from visitors to the festival was that they did not realize how expansive the festival is. There is truly a lot to take in from the docks of FWRI to the WMNF sponsored Poynter Park Stage on the other side of the harbor. And, there’s plenty of time to find an outlet and get involved in next year’s St. Pete Science Festival, so contact an organizer and make your science connection.
Check out photos from this year’s festival on our Facebook page.