UMaine Student Produces Science Storytelling Event
University of Maine marine biology graduate student Skylar Bayer is co-producing a live science storytelling event at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17, at the Frontier in Brunswick.
Five scientists, including UMaine alums Jennifer McHenry and Ryan Elizabeth Cope, will share true experiences of being caught “On the Hook” for The Story Collider, which produces live shows and podcasts where people tell stories about how science has affected their lives “on a personal and emotional level.”
Bayer was featured in a February podcast for The Story Collider titled “Phoning Home from Alvin.” In the 15-minute podcast, the Massachusetts native shares a touching and humorous experience about facing her fears and taking part in a deep-ocean dive in a submersible named Alvin.
Bayer has dreamed of being a marine scientist since she was 8; she is pursuing her Ph.D. in marine reproductive ecology at the Darling Marine Center in Walpole. Bayer also manages, edits and writes the blog, Strictlyfishwrap. She might be better known as “the lonely lady scientist” from a 2013 feature titled “The Enemy Within” on “The Colbert Report.” Bayer is co-producing the storytelling event with Ari Daniel, who has reported for NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered” and “Weekend Edition.” Daniel earned a Ph.D. in biological oceanography at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Scheduled storytellers also include Jeffrey M. Schell, associate professor of oceanography with Sea Education Association; Meredith White, postdoctoral researcher at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences; and Nick Bennett, an environmental advocate. Tickets may be purchased online at eventbrite.com. The theater is at 14 Maine St., Mill 3 at Fort Andross, in Brunswick.