San Antonio Science wants people to know the city's whole story

San Antonio is home to the Spurs, the River Walk, multiple military bases, great margaritas, and some of the best Mexican food anywhere in the world. It is also home to multiple public and private universities, the largest military medical center in the world, the largest captive primate colony in the world, and a growing biotech sector. We are world leaders in cybersecurity. We played an integral role in the development of the first personal computers and the microprocessor. Perhaps most exciting, in the last 20 years, two Nobel prize winners in chemistry have been products of San Antonio. We are known for the river, the Spurs, the military, and the Mexican food, but our achievements in science and technology go largely unnoticed.

Last year, a group of scientists at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (2 students, 2 faculty), myself included, were simultaneously observing that very little communication about science occurs between scientists and those outside of our profession, and that most people outside our tiny community of scientists had no idea how important the work we do is. Knowing that our city is growing fast, we worry that if our community doesn't know about our strengths in the sciences, we won't know to build on those strengths. To remedy this, we founded San Antonio Science to raise awareness, understanding, and enthusiasm for science in San Antonio. It is our vision that San Antonio will be known for its science in the same way it is known for the Spurs and the River Walk.

• Twitter: @SanAntonioSci / @ScienceFiesta
• Website: www.SAScience.org / www.sciencefiesta.org
• For more information, email us at info@sascience.org

Travis Block, PhD
UTHSCSA and SAScience