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It isn't every day that you get to chat directly to a researcher and pick their brain on their area of expertise.
The coronavirus pandemic was just taking off in Australia when community science initiative Science at the Local had planned to kick off their sixth year of events.
They were forced to cancel their opening event and like everyone else consider how to operate in a COVID-19 world.
Science at the Local is a community science series featuring chats with scientists at a local pub. The events are usually held in Lithgow and Springwood each year.
Their first event, and all events for the foreseeable future, will now be held online, with the hosts, speakers and audience dialling in from their homes while people continue to self isolate.
"We're really excited, and a little nervous to be honest, to be holding our first ever remote Science at the Local," co-founder Kevin Jospeh said.
"I'm not game to call what we do an essential service, but one thing I think the pandemic is teaching us is the importance of community.
"We're really proud of the community that's built up around our little science initiative."
The first event will feature one speaker, Science at the Local's Hamish Clarke, on the topic "The eastern Australian megafires of 2019/20: outlier or harbinger?" on Sunday, June 21 between 2.30 and 3.30pm.
Mr Clarke is a bushfire researcher at the Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires at the University of Wollongong. He studies the drivers and effects of planned and unplanned fires, working closely with fire managers.
Mr Clarke did his PhD at the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of NSW.
The second event will be one week later at the same time, with Dr Susanna Guatelli of the University of Wollongong talking about the science of radiation and health at 2:30pm on Sunday, June 28.
More dates will be announced soon. To get involved, go to scienceatthelocal.org.
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