A team of Yale postdoctoral associates and graduate students, including four members of Yale’s Wright Lab, coordinated the 2026 Pint of Science Festival in New Haven, held from May 18-20, 2026.
The Pint of Science Festival is an annual global event, created in 2013, that takes place all over the world. This year’s event was held in 27 countries worldwide, with 20 locations across the United States. The first Pint of Science Festival to be located in New Haven was in 2024, and was initiated by former Wright Lab postdocs Pranav Sanghavi, Jorge Torres, and Fernando Flor.
This year’s coordinators included postdoctoral associate Elise Le Boulicaut Ennis and graduate students Jacqueline Baeza-Rubio, Ryan Hamilton, and Maya Moore, as well as Wu Tsai Institute postdoctoral associates Santiago Castiello de Obeso, Ashlea Segal, and Sydney Smith; Wu Tsai postgraduate Paula Soric; and Wu Tsai graduate student Laura Heidiri.
The Pint of Science Festival included several scientists from Yale having casual conversations with the general public at local pubs and a coffee shop, with the intent to discuss science being done locally with the audience.
Baeza-Rubio said, “The entire goal of outreach events like Pint of Science is to bring the science done in the community to the doorsteps of our neighbors. By bringing informal lectures to relaxed environments, we can reach audience members outside of the Yale sphere.”
Baeza-Rubio continued, “Our Q&A sessions were filled with wonderful questions from engaged participants, making it clear that the public is very curious about the work that takes place just a few blocks away from their community. Several attendees asked about next year’s dates, and one of our hosting venues asked if we would be interested in turning this into a monthly event. Evidently, discussing science with a drink in hand is in high demand. I am very happy that our hard work paid off, and am excited to do it again next year.”
The themes and agenda for each of the days are below:
Hidden Earth: Rethinking Climate Solutions
Monday, May 18 at Spruce Coffee
- Juliana Teixeira, postdoctoral researcher at Princeton, “Not all green is good: climate change mitigation actions in tropical savannas”
- Mariela Garcia Arredondo, postdoctoral associate in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), “Beneath Our Feet: Where Plants and Minerals Shape Living Ecosystems”
- Mareli Sanchez Julia, postdoctoral associate in EEB, “Mycho-What? The tiny fungi that build soil and run the world’s forests”
Ghost Particles & Little Bangs
Tuesday, May 19 at Armada Brewing
- Michelle Dolinsky, visiting professor of physics (at Wright Lab) from Drexel, “Mysteries of the ghost particle”
- Isaac Mooney, postdoctoral associate in physics (at Wright Lab), “Little Bangs, Huge Implications: Recreating the Universe in the Lab”
Minds on the Edge: AI, Gaming, and Mental Health
Tuesday, May 19 at East Rock Brewing
- Shirley Wang, assistant professor of psychology, “The Shape of a Mental Health Crisis”
- Jennifer Park, postdoctoral associate in psychiatry, “Gaming disorder: From pastime to problem”
- Phil Corlett, associate professor of psychiatry, “Seeing is believing or vice versa?”
The Price and Place of Health
Wednesday, May 20 at Armada Brewing
- Alka Menon, assistant professor of sociology, “Weighing the Costs: Ozempic and the U.S. Healthcare System”
- Sathvik Namburar, hospital resident, “Place Matters: The History, Present, and Future of Place-Based Healthcare Disparities in New Haven, CT”
The 2026 Pint of Science Festival in New Haven was cosponsored by Yale Wright Lab, the Yale Physics Department, and the Wu Tsai Institute.
This story is adapted from wht Wright Lab news story of May 28, 2026, by Victoria Misenti. Please see below for links to the original story and to the Flickr photo album.