Dr. Kate Biberdorf, known as ‘Kate the Chemist,’ has significant plans as the University’s professor for the public understanding of science. The chemist and self-described science entertainer is the first person to fill the newly created position.
The professorship comes with multiple goals, including making science more accessible to wider audiences, amplifying research done at Notre Dame, connecting with the South Bend Community and raising the profile of Notre Dame within the scientific community.
Biberdorf, a prominent figure before her appointment, appears regularly in popular media, hosts a podcast with NPR affiliate KCUR Studios and has written eight books.
Creating the professorship has been on College of Science dean Santiago Schnell’s mind for years. He completed his doctoral studies at the University of Oxford, which, in 1995, became the first university to appoint a professor for the public understanding of science.
“It was done primarily because science has become so technical, so complicated, that you need to have a spokesman on behalf of the University who can explain science to the general public,” Schnell said.
The University Strategic Framework, published in August 2023, recommended the establishment of the faculty position at Notre Dame.
The position was offered to Biberdorf after she delivered the College of Science’s annual Christmas lecture last year. At the time, she was an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin. Biberdorf said shortly after returning to her hotel room from the lecture, she received an email asking if she would be available to meet with Schnell the next morning.
“I thought, ‘How am I in trouble? Like, what did I do?’ I couldn't believe it, but then he offered me the job like the next morning,” Biberdorf said.
Unbeknownst to her, the Christmas lecture was actually a mini audition of sorts for the position.
“The Christmas lecture was my way to invite people who were exceptional public speakers, who were at the same time scientists, to see if they could come to Notre Dame,” Schnell explained. “Then if one of these speakers was exceptional, then we [would] try to recruit them aggressively.”
Schnell said he could tell Biberdorf was the right fit for the role.
“When Kate came in … it was incredibly obvious,” he said. “She had the right personality and the energy that was required to take the position.”
Schnell explained he was looking for someone to fill the role who already had a public profile and had achieved recognition. He believes Biberdorf will be able to serve as a public figure affiliated with the University.
“We don't have a public intellectual in science at Notre Dame, and when Kate came in, it was obvious that she could be that representative,” Schnell said.
He said his first goal is combatting a perception that Catholicism is at odds with science.
“People think … that a Catholic institution is not an institution where science can be promoted,” Schnell said. “The first thing is that [Dr. Biberdorf] has to be somebody who is using the name of a Catholic institution and say: ‘We are not afraid of talking science.’”
Three months into her new role, Biberdorf hopes to build public trust in science while boosting Notre Dame’s visibility through a series of initiatives on campus, in the South Bend community, nationally and globally.
At Notre Dame, Biberdorf is currently working on two projects. The first is the creation of a new studio-makerspace she will use for science demonstrations. It will be equipped as a wet-lab, but it will also include audio-visual technology for her to produce content for television or Instagram, a platform on which she has over 125,000 followers. Additionally, Biberdorf has over 287,200 followers on TikTok.
Biberdorf hopes to feature other Notre Dame scientists in her studio and amplify their research.
“I really want to get [Notre Dame researchers] comfortable on camera,” she said.
Additionally, Biberdorf is working to create a science communication minor, with two distinct tracks: a writing track and a multimedia/video track. She said she is currently working with both the College of Science and the College of Arts and Letters on the new program, which she expects will be ready to launch in the fall of 2025.
“She has to train the new generation of individuals who are going to be helping to engage with the general public on science or any other discipline,” Schnell said.
Training in scientific communication allows researchers to publish better papers, become more engaged with the academic community and write stronger grant proposals, Schnell explained.
“You can be an exceptional scientist in the laboratory, but if you are not an exceptional communicator, you don't get very far,” Schnell said. “Only the best communicators are the ones who advance in science, and they end up winning the biggest awards.”
Beyond campus, Biberdorf hopes to bring the Pint of Science Festival to South Bend. The festival, which occurs annually in May, encourages scientists to share their research in an accessible manner in locations such as bars or pubs. Pint of Science has over 500 participating cities globally. However, there are currently only 5 U.S. cities listed as hosting an event in 2025, with no locations in the Midwest or Great Lakes regions.
“I want to bring it here to South Bend and have it be one benchmark for all of the northern United States,” Biberdorf said.
Additionally, Biberdorf is planning a traveling science show that would journey across the United States alongside the Notre Dame football team throughout their season. She is currently working on acquiring an RV that could serve as a traveling lab. She hopes to first take it to local South Bend schools and get feedback from students.
“Then, once it’s optimized, we will take this out, and it’s going to go to every away football game,” Biberdorf explained. “Next year, we're going to Arkansas. We've never been to Arkansas before, so why don't we just kick the door down and just announce it in the name of science?”
She also hopes to host community engagements the day after the games with citizen science projects.
Her plans don’t stop at national borders, though. She’ll be traveling to the annual conference of The Network for the Public Communication of Science and Technology (PCST) in Aberdeen, Scotland in May 2025. At the conference, Notre Dame will be bidding to be the host of the PCST 2029 conference. If successful, it would be the first time the event would be hosted in the United States.
“[The PCST conference organizers] really want to bring this to the U.S. Science communication is hopping over in Europe. Everybody’s doing it there,” Biberdorf said. “We’re like 30 years behind.”
Biberdorf’s new role comes at a politically fraught moment. Trust in the scientific community has fallen significantly in recent years, which Schnell acknowledged.
“I think the two parties are responsible for the division. One is not communicating effectively to the other, and maybe, in some occasions, they call them idiots,” Schnell said. “The other person, maybe, what he needs is more help, and we haven't provided the right help.”
He also argues scientists should be careful to maintain political neutrality.
“It hasn't helped that the scientists, some scientists, have adopted political positions that make [some people] suspicious,” Schnell said.
He emphasizes the importance of “building bridges,” a common refrain of University President Fr. Bob Dowd.
“Building bridges for communicating more effectively … part of [Dr. Biberdorf’s] mission is just doing that,” Schnell said.
Biberdorf is also worried about Americans’ decline of trust in scientists. She said she sees it as part of her responsibility to advocate for science in the public square.
“I will speak up for things that are truly backed in science. I will use my platform to talk about it as much as I can, in a way where I’m hopefully not polarizing anyone on the other side.”
Yet, she admitted, there are issues on which she is deeply passionate about and feels compelled to speak up about.
“I will fight you until I die on climate change. Vaccines, I will fight you for that,” Biberdorf added.
Biberdorf will have plenty of opportunities to advocate and educate over the next few months. She said she has media appearances scheduled every four to eight weeks and currently has dates booked for both Today and NBC Nightly News
Known for her theatrical demonstrations, often featuring explosions and pyrotechnics, Biberdorf said her first goal is to create a memorable experience for viewers and then start to incorporate scientific communication afterward.
“I will light my hand on fire, and then after I'm fine and not screaming, now the students want to know how that works, right? That's when I can teach them about the specific heat capacity of water. That's when I can teach them about thermodynamics components,” Biberdorf said.
She prefers not to lead with combating misinformation, though she acknowledges the importance of that work. Instead, she said she tries to build trust through engagement.
“I like the flashy piece. I don’t say, ‘Here’s our science lesson, and we’re going to learn about moles,’” Biberdorf said. “My entire strategy is to be as sneaky as possible and hope people like the science.”
She hopes other scientists at Notre Dame will adopt her methods.
“I'm hoping that I can use my brand to kind of push that out on all other scientists, starting here at the Notre Dame community,” Biberdorf said. “We can just work on the science communication skills of each scientist, one at a time. I hope that I can then create an army of science communicators that will then go out nationally, internationally, and talk about science in a positive way.”
She believes her methods could help to boost the prestige of the University.
“Hopefully, honestly, with [this strategy], our international ranking for Notre Dame should go way up. We should be way higher than we currently are,” Biberdorf said.
Schnell said Biberdorf’s style may be outside the comfort zone of some researchers at Notre Dame.
“We have really exceptional scientists at Notre Dame who are geeks and nerds like I am. We prefer to be writing our own papers,” he said.
Yet, he too hopes they can learn from Biberdorf by observing her methods and replicating them.
Biberdorf is not just teaching though. She said she continues to learn about her new home at Notre Dame and South Bend.
“I love the people here. The people are amazing. I'm from the Midwest, so I can feel the Midwestern piece. I love that so much. I love the campus. It is gorgeous, gorgeous,” Biberdorf said.
However, she said the move from sunny Austin to northern Indiana had its drawbacks as well.
“If I'm real with you, I'm struggling with a cold,” Biberdorf confessed. “I had to drive in like snow and ice, and I was basically screaming the entire drive to the airports.”
One thing she said she will not have trouble with, though, is getting groceries.
“There are six grocery stores near my house, and I can't get over how convenient that is,” Biberdorf said. “You can get baking soda anytime you need.”
