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Updated: September 29, 2026 @ 2:24 pm
The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is reflected off the Elk River in 2018.

The Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is reflected off the Elk River in 2018.
A national science think tank is holding a free public forum in Charleston on Saturday to help shape the future of American science, and it will pay you to attend.
The interactive discussion, called a Citizen Forum on American Science, will explore past and current U.S. science policies and will be used to develop a plan for the future of science based on the values and priorities of the opinions shared at the forum.
No prior science knowledge or training is required, and organizers say they don’t need participants to solve complex science problems. They just want to know what’s important to you.
WHEN: 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Oct. 3
WHERE: Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center, 200 Civic Center Drive, Charleston
COST: Free
INFO: Breakfast, lunch and snacks provided. Each participant receives a $200 gift card. Info: wvstep.org/a250 Register online: bit.ly/CWV_ScienceForum_Register
“We want to give people a seat at the table,” said Mahmud Farooque, associate director of the Consortium for Science, Policy & Outcomes at Arizona State University. “And understand what your values are.”
The forum initially had 75 available spots. Participants may preregister online for the roughly 30 seats remaining as of Monday night. The event lasts eight hours, and participants are asked to stay for the entire event. They will be fed breakfast and lunch, and they will receive $200 Visa gift cards for their time.
There’s no hard sell at the end to buy timeshares in Myrtle Beach or anything else.
“We’re really trying to gather good information,” said Kensey Bergdorf-Smith, executive director of the West Virginia Science and Technology Policy Initiative, which is helping to organize the event. “If they’re going to share eight hours with us, we want to pay them for their time.”
The forum is sponsored by American Science@250: Rethink, Reimagine, Redesign, a nationwide initiative led by CSPO.
“Longstanding concerns about the ability of federally funded science to deliver social, economic and security benefits have intensified since 2020,” according to Bergdorf-Smith, referring to the effects on science from the COVID pandemic.
“Science was laid bare in 2020,” Bergdorf-Smith said. “The process was exposed,” she added, referring to the need to alert the community to the virus’ health risks and precautions.
“While recent years have seen the creation of new mission-oriented and translational structures,” the WVSTPI says on their website, referring to how science is brought to the public, “they have also witnessed declining public trust, weakened science advisory capacity and growing tensions over the goals, governance and purpose of publicly funded science.
Similar forums will occur Saturday in Boston and Phoenix, according to Farooque, who was connected with the WVSTPI through Mountain State leaders, including House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.
“I wanted to put West Virginia in people’s consciousness, because many don’t understand West Virginia’s role in the founding of the National Science Foundation,” Farooque said.
The NSF was supported by Sen. Harley M. Kilgore, D-W.Va., a Harrison County native who served from 1941 to 1956.
The Green Bank Observatory, in Pocahontas County, was established by the NSF in 1956.
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Christopher Millette is the editor of the Charleston Gazette-Mail. Reach him at 304-348-5124 or cmillette@hdmediallc.com. Follow @cmillette on X.
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