Photograph courtesy of Science ATL
Last spring, Meisa Salaita, cofounder of Science ATL, which organizes the Atlanta Science Festival, touched a human brain. “Each year during the festival, a brain is displayed,” she explains. “It’s one of our most popular exhibits, with a long line of visitors eager to participate. But I never wanted to touch it myself. The idea gave me the heebie-jeebies.”
That changed when a graduate student hosting the exhibit at last year’s festival shared her story. “She told me that as a kid, she came to the festival and touched the brain, and that moment inspired her to become a neuroscientist,” Salaita says. Then, with a smile, the student challenged her: “I’ll say that again on camera if you touch the brain.” Salaita accepted. “So,” she laughs, “I have now touched a human brain.”
This moment encapsulates what the Atlanta Science Festival is all about: transformative experiences that spark curiosity and even inspire careers. Since its debut in 2014, the two-week springtime festival has become a family favorite, with citywide celebrations of science featuring more than 80 partner organizations, 300 volunteers, and hundreds of events that turn Atlanta into a science playground.
The fair routinely draws nearly 50,000 adults and curious kids. Over the years, participants have hiked up Stone Mountain with geologists, crafted herbariums, built puppets, studied microplastic pollution, and even learned the science behind cheese and chocolate. Events span Atlanta’s neighborhoods and culminate in the grand finale: the Exploration Expo at Piedmont Park. This daylong event features 100 interactive booths offering hands-on activities such as mural painting and exploring an aircraft engine.
Photograph by Wedig + Laxton
Salaita, 45, cofounded the Atlanta Science Festival to spotlight the city’s scientific brilliance. A mother of two with a PhD in chemistry, she now works full-time as coexecutive director of Science ATL.
“I was inspired by science fairs in Europe and wanted to shine a light on all the amazing science happening in Atlanta,” she says. “I also wanted kids to know all the cool careers out there that could one day be theirs.”
Launching the festival wasn’t easy. Salaita and her cofounders, Sarah Peterson and Jordan Rose, spent two and a half years preparing for the first festival, securing their original funding from Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and the Metro Atlanta Chamber. These days, corporate sponsors number in the dozens and include Delta Air Lines, UPS, Google, and many universities; the diverse programming partners range from Zoo Atlanta and nature preserves to museums, churches, and recycling centers.
Families eagerly await the festival lineup each year. Tabitha Aberts, a Mableton mom, has attended with her son, Tyrion, since 2016. “I make a spreadsheet of events and project it on the TV so we can plan as a family,” she says. “We try to cluster events to hit three in one day.”
Tyrion, now 10, credits the festival for sparking his love of robotics. “I’ve gone from building with foam blocks to animating text,” he says proudly. “This year, my friend and I are going to build a robot.”
Photograph courtesy of Science ATL
That nudge toward a career in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—known as STEM—is a draw for many parents, notes Salaita. “Parents know that a career in STEM opens doors of opportunity for their children. And we are very proud of the diversity we attract. The demographic data we have gathered shows that our audience demographic closely matches that of the metro Atlanta region.”
Case in point: Christina Jordan, a 17-year-old Atlantan who attended Global Impact Academy, a STEM magnet school in Fairburn. She first became interested in the science of food when she was seven, thanks to the Atlanta Science Festival. “We were able to mash up strawberries and put them in a solution and see the strings of DNA separate,” she recalls. “And I thought, This is so cool. This is what I want to do someday.” She’s now a first-year student at Georgia Tech, studying chemical engineering.
Photograph courtesy of Science ATL
Photograph courtesy of Science ATL
Photograph courtesy of Science ATL
This year’s festival kicks off on March 8 with a four-hour event at Georgia Tech, which will draw thousands of visitors to about 50 exhibits spread across half a dozen buildings. Attendees will have a chance to build paper rockets, create a prosthetic hand out of cardboard, and—yes—touch a human brain. “Every time I see an atom visualized in our lab, I’m amazed all over again,” says Mikkel Thomas, associate director for education and outreach at Georgia Tech and a key member of the university’s organizing committee for the festival.
“Science is beautiful,” Salaita says. “With the festival, we show others the same beauty we see every day in our work. And it’s for everyone.” She remembers meeting Abdullah, a 15-year-old who had fled the Syrian civil war, at a science festival event. He told her, “We don’t have science classes where I came from, but I love science.”
“My tears wouldn’t stop,” Salaita says. “We did something that let this boy be amazed by the world around him.”
This article appears in our March 2025 issue.
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