Who are we?
The Friends of Berkeley Lab is a forum for individuals who share the desire to enhance knowledge and understanding of science and technology. We are educators, students, community members, laboratory employees, and anyone else with a curiosity about the natural world and our understanding of it.
Why is it important?
Today, technologies and scientific advances have profound impacts on the way we live our lives and plan our futures. Only through informed and fact-based evaluations can the issues surrounding these advances be debated and decided. A scientifically literate citizenry can help to shape the decisions and policies that guide research activities in health and medicine, in energy production and efficiency, and in many other fields, including environmental stewardship.
Public agencies have studied the role that science plays in the
development of public policy. They have recognized the need for
greater public understanding of scientific programs and activities
in order to facilitate broad participation in the shaping of those
policies. And they have encouraged more communication among scientists,
government leaders, and the public to facilitate reasoned discourse
on the issues.
The Friends of Berkeley Lab, sponsored by Berkeley Lab, is designed as a mechanism to provide essential and interesting information that will benefit those who maintain an interest in the value and impact of scientific research in our lives.
Why Berkeley Lab?
For more than 70 years, Berkeley Lab has been an international leader in the study of natural phenomena and fundamental processes. Starting as a particle physics laboratory that eventually became the mecca for the study of nuclear matter, Berkeley Lab is today a multi-program research facility engaged in non-classified studies of high energy and nuclear physics and astrophysics, biosciences and health, materials and chemistry, energy and earth sciences, and computational science. The Laboratory is managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy. Among its missions, the Lab commits itself to improve science education in schools and to increase public understanding of science through outreach and service.
As a Friend of Berkeley Lab, you will:
- be a more informed participant in the dialogue about research, its benefits and its challenges
- receive notices about special programs and activities designed to broaden your understanding of science
- get regular news about research programs at Berkeley Lab and elsewhere
- learn about local, regional and national issues in science that impact your life
- have access to multiple resources that offer investigations into the world of science as deep as your imagination will permit
- be able to tour and ask questions about some of the world's most sophisticated research facilities and programs
And it's free to members as part of Berkeley Lab's public outreach program.
Membership includes:
- Friends of Berkeley Lab lectures and tours
- Special mailings of publications
- Regular e-mail communications
