NPR science correspondent Joe Palca to speak at UI

IOWA CITY - Joe Palca hopes those who hear his presentation next week at the University of Iowa leave feeling science is something they can better wrap their arms around.

Palca, National Public Radio's science correspondent, presents a program titled, 'Reporting on Remarkable Science and Remarkable Scientists” from 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 16, in 100 Phillips Hall, 16 N. Clinton St., Iowa City.

The event is free to the public.

'I've been trying the last four years to report on the process of science rather than the result,” said Palca, speaking from Washington, D.C., where he lives with his wife. 'Results are great, but if you talk to scientists, they'll tell you one result leads to more questions which leads to more results which leads to more questions.”

He said by talking about the process, he hopes to accomplish two things.

'One, I want to bring people in so science doesn't seem so mysterious and magical,” Palca said. 'Two, I want to show that scientists are regular people who just became interested in asking questions and trying to figure things out.”

Fear not, says Palca, his presentation is for everyone.

'There's no special knowledge you need,” he said. 'And the nice thing about speaking to a live audience is that people who don't understand something can just raise their hand.”

Palca's appearance is part of the University of Iowa Public Policy Center's Forkenbrock Series and the Office of Research and Economic Development's Creative Matters Series. His visit also is sponsored by Iowa Public Radio.

Palca said his road to giving the speech actually began this year at RAGBRAI, where he road with someone from the Public Policy Center who asked if he'd be interested in coming to campus to give a presentation.

'They asked if I'd ever be interested in doing something like that and I said, ‘Only if you ask me,'” Palca said, noting taking part in the annual bicycle ride across Iowa was something that had always been on his bucket list.

During his time at NPR, Palca has covered a range of science topics - everything from biomedical research to astronomy. He is currently focused on the eponymous series, 'Joe's Big Idea.” Stories in the series explore the minds and motivations of scientists and inventors.

He comes to journalism from a science background, having received a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz where he worked on human sleep physiology.

Palca has also worked as a television science producer, a senior correspondent for Science Magazine and Washington news editor of Nature. He has won numerous awards, and, with Flora Lichtman, is the co-author of 'Annoying: The Science of What Bugs Us.”

For more information, visit ppc.uiowa.edu.