Steven Farkas is not a scientist, but he has met lots of fun ones

First off, let me state for the record that I am not a scientist. That may be an odd way to start considering this is an article about science communication, but it does make the point that you don’t need to have a background in science to be scientifically engaged.

I am lucky enough to have a partner who is a scientist and our social circle includes many more, and that is ultimately what led to my involvement with the Oxfordshire Branch of British Science Association.

As someone who stopped taking science subjects as soon as I could in high school, I probably represent one of the target audiences for the SciBar events organised by the group, also known as Oxford SciBar.

For those who don’t know, The British Science Association (formerly known as the BA) is a nationwide charity, with over 30 branches throughout the UK that exists to advance the public understanding, accessibility and accountability of the sciences and engineering in the UK.

Which may lead you to ask, what exactly is a SciBar? Well it is exactly what it sounds like – science in a bar (or in this case, a pub!) For the last five years I have been helping the group organise events in the city, which are currently based in The Blue Room at St Aldates Tavern, usually on the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm.

Putting it simply, we invite scientists, or people engaged in science in some way, to come to the pub and deliver an informal talk about their work over a drink or two.

We really want our events to feel like a conversation about science over a few drinks, so in general we do not allow our speakers to use PowerPoint and keep the events free so we can be as inclusive as possible. The Q&A sessions that follow each event are normally quite lively and many guest speakers have found the questions from our audience some of the most challenging, but all of this adds to the informal and friendly vibe that we attempt to cultivate at our events.

Feedback from former guest speakers has been overwhelmingly positive and our audience continues to grow so it seems we are doing something right!

One of the most interesting things about being involved in the group is getting to know the people who agree to come and speak and seeing just how nice, normal and very much the opposite of all the stereotypes associated with scientists they are, in addition to being incredibly passionate about their chosen field.

Since 2009, we have hosted people across the scientific spectrum, including two Sirs and a Dame (Walter Bodmer, Colin Blakemore and Jocelyn Bell Burnell) as well as many other academics and science communicators.

We are very excited about 2015, which kicked off with a fantastic January event with Oxford University genomics professor Chris Ponting talking about the human genome and last week we hosted our first science comedy event, featuring Guardian blogger and science comedian Dean Burnett, Professor Alison Woollard and Francesca Day.

Prof Woollard, lecturer in biochemistry at Oxford University and presenter of the 2013 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, returns to us this month, this time speaking about her work with nematode worms, and whether ‘worming around’ can help us understand the meaning of life.

This event is also part of the Oxfordshire Science Festival, which runs until March 22.

Personally, involvement with Oxford SciBar has enthused and delighted me about science in equal measure and also developed long-lasting friendships which hopefully highlights the friendly atmosphere we try and create at our SciBar events and the work we do to promote understanding of science.