Scientists Face Frontiers at Storytelling Event

A field biologist, science writer, river restorer and senior producer will share their experiences at a science storytelling project 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at One Longfellow Square, 181 State St., in Portland.

Skylar Bayer and Ari Daniel are co-producers of the event for The Story Collider, which creates live shows and podcasts in which people convey how science has personally affected their lives.

Frontier is the theme for the storytellers, who will talk about learning about themselves and their disciplines. Scheduled participants are: Chuck Lubelczyk, field biologist at Maine Medical Research Institute; Laura Poppick, science journalist and educator; Molly Payne Winn, monitoring coordinator with Penobscot River Restoration Trust; and Erin Barker, senior producer for The Story Collider, two-time winner of The Moth’s GrandSLAM competition and guest on the Peabody Award-winning show “The Moth Radio Hour.”

Bayer is pursuing her Ph.D. in marine reproductive ecology at the University of Maine Darling Marine Center in Walpole, Maine. She was featured in a prior podcast of The Story Collider titled “Phoning Home from Alvin.” Bayer manages, edits and writes the blog Strictlyfishwrap and was the “the lonely lady scientist” in a 2013 feature titled “The Enemy Within” on “The Colbert Report.”

Daniel tells stories about science using radio and multimedia. He has reported for PRI’s The World, NOVA, Radiolab and NPR. Daniel earned a Ph.D. in biological oceanography at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Tickets are $10 online at and $12 at the door.

Contact: Beth Staples, 207.581.3777