We started our journey with Café Scientifique in 2007. It’s a free, fun way for teens to explore the latest ideas in science and technology. Stimulating conversations with scientists, engineers, and inventors take place in an informal and relaxed setting. Free food is served!
The program is run by teens for teens at central locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Española, Los Alamos, Rio Rancho, and Taos. It was inspired by the adult Café Scientifique programs that have become popular throughout the world. Other organizations in New Mexico have also started teen cafes in Las Cruces, Farmington, and Questa, NM.
Our primary goal is for the teens to gain new perspectives on the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in their lives. We do this by introducing them to cool science in the news, such as cybersecurity, robotics, bioengineering and more. In the process, teens come to a new understanding of the nature of science. Meeting real scientists and learning about their pathway to success helps teens develop a realistic perception of scientists and the lives they lead, something they typically do not get in school. We want teens to realize that a scientist is a real, complex, multidimensional human, like them.
Our secondary goal is to help our scientist-presenters to effectively communicate the fruits of their own science to the public, especially our teens. Many scientists find teens to be intimidating, but we provide them experiences to help them connect!
As the details of our Teen Café model have been refined through trial and error over the years, the program has proven increasingly popular with the teens. Our evaluations tell us that we have been successful in achieving our goals.
All teens are welcome at Café Scientifique. And, we are always looking for energetic Teen Leaders to help guide and organize the Café events. Visit cafenm.org for updated information.
Teens search photos of Antarctica for meteorites the Cafe Scientifique program, Searching for Meteorites by Dr. Nina Lanza. Later teens identify real meteorites from “meteor-wrongs” among a group of rocks. The young man shown on the right is now an adult leader of a teen science café.