Events
Public lectures, the annual banquet, and working meetings. All times are given in Pacific Time, the local time in San Diego.
Science and the arts around San Diego
Talks, screenings, festivals, and outings run by other organisations that members have flagged as worth a look. ★ Sigma Xi Pick marks the ones we especially recommend. Details and tickets are with the organiser; check their page before you go.
October 2026
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Tuesday–Sunday, October 13–18
San Diego International Film Festival
The San Diego International Film Festival celebrates its 25th year with six days of independent films, studio premieres, documentaries, shorts, filmmaker conversations, panels, and special events. Programming brings together filmmakers and audiences to explore ideas, cultures, and contemporary issues through cinematic storytelling.
Why go: The festival includes documentaries and socially engaged filmmaking as well as programming connecting film, art, critical thinking, neuroscience, and San Diego's biotech and life-sciences community.
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10:00 PDT
★ Sigma Xi Pick Meteorites as Artistic Matter
Artist Ulrike Arnold joins astronomer Gerard van Belle, PhD, former Director of Science at Lowell Observatory, and SDMA Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Rachel Jans, PhD, for a conversation examining meteorites as both scientific objects and artistic materials.
Why go: A particularly strong interdisciplinary program bringing astronomy, planetary materials, scientific inquiry, curatorial scholarship, and contemporary art into one conversation.
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14:15 PDT
Sky Tonight: Palomar Observatory Experience
Explore astronomy from historic Palomar Observatory during this special adult experience presented through the Fleet Science Center. Palomar has played an important role in modern observational astronomy and remains one of Southern California's extraordinary scientific destinations.
Why go: A chance to experience an internationally significant astronomical research site while engaging directly with observational science.
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18:00 PDT
★ Sigma Xi Pick Arrival: Film Screening and Conversation with Ted Chiang and Kim Stanley Robinson
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Arrival with a live conversation and Q&A featuring award-winning science-fiction writers Ted Chiang, whose "Story of Your Life" inspired the film, and UC San Diego alumnus Kim Stanley Robinson. The conversation begins at 6:00 PM, followed by the film screening at 7:00 PM.
Why go: Science fiction at its best uses scientific ideas to ask deeper questions about communication, time, knowledge, technology, and humanity.
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18:30 PDT
Oceans at Night: Halloween
Explore Birch Aquarium after dark during this adults-only evening combining Halloween festivities with hands-on ocean science. Activities include interactive science stations, deep-sea biology and whale-fall exploration, research pop-ups highlighting work at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and underwater pumpkin carving.
Why go: An informal and entertaining opportunity to engage with marine biology, oceanography, deep-sea ecosystems, and active Scripps research.
November 2026
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10:00 PST
Resident Free Tuesday at The Nat
San Diego County residents can explore five floors of natural-history exhibits at The Nat during its monthly Resident Free Tuesday. The museum connects visitors with the biodiversity, geology, paleontology, and natural history of Southern California and the Baja California region.
Why go: An accessible opportunity to explore regional biodiversity, natural history, evolutionary science, and scientific collections.
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Wednesday–Sunday, November 4–8
Coronado Island Film Festival
Five days of films, premieres, panels, workshops, filmmaker conversations, and special events bring filmmakers, screenwriters, artists, industry professionals, and audiences together in Coronado for the festival's 11th year.
Why go: Beyond filmmaking as an art form, the festival provides opportunities to examine the technology, craft, communication, and ideas behind modern visual storytelling.
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Thursday–Saturday, November 5–14
27th San Diego Asian Film Festival
Presented by Pacific Arts Movement, the San Diego Asian Film Festival returns for its 27th year with screenings and programming celebrating Asian and Asian American cinema, filmmakers, cultures, and perspectives.
Why go: Film offers a powerful intersection of art, technology, communication, culture, and the exchange of ideas across disciplines and borders.
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Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, November 10, 12 & 13
★ Sigma Xi Pick Fleet Week San Diego: Student STEM Days & Innovation Zone
Fleet Week's Student STEM Days and Innovation Zone showcase hands-on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics activities alongside technologies connected with maritime, defense, and military operations. Additional Fleet Week programming continues throughout the week, including public ship tours November 13–15.
Why go: A direct connection between STEM education, engineering, applied technology, innovation, and real-world maritime systems.
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19:30 PST
Las Migas: Flamencas
Latin Grammy-winning all-women ensemble Las Migas returns to San Diego with Flamencas, blending expressive vocals, guitar, rich harmonies, and the traditions of flamenco while continuing to expand the possibilities of the form.
Why go: A celebration of the arts as an evolving form of human knowledge, cultural expression, creativity, and innovation.
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19:00 PST
★ Sigma Xi Pick Film Screening and Talk: Why Dinosaurs?
Why do dinosaurs continue to fascinate us? Why Dinosaurs? follows dinosaur enthusiast James and his filmmaker father Tony around the world as they meet leading paleontologists, investigate new discoveries, participate in fossil digs, and explore the enduring cultural fascination with dinosaurs. A conversation with the filmmakers follows the screening.
Why go: An excellent combination of paleontology, scientific discovery, science communication, documentary filmmaking, and public engagement with science.
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Opens Friday, November 20; runs through January 3
Lightscape 2026
Lightscape returns for its fifth season with a mile-long illuminated trail featuring more than 20 newly reimagined installations by artists from around the world. Light, color, sound, sculpture, landscape, and technology transform the Botanic Garden into an immersive nighttime environment.
Why go: A striking intersection of art, technology, lighting design, sensory perception, and the natural environment.
Recent past events
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22 Sept 202618:00 PDT
Attending
Lectures are free and open to the public. Registration is only there so we know how many chairs to set out and so we can send the video link.
Venues are wheelchair accessible. If you need a hearing loop, live captioning, or anything else to take part, write to us at least [number] days ahead and we will arrange it. See the accessibility statement.
Propose a speaker
If you are a researcher visiting San Diego and would like to give a talk, or you want to suggest someone, write to the programme chair. We schedule roughly six months ahead.
Talks run 45 minutes with 20 minutes of questions, for a mixed audience with no assumed background in your field.
Know of an event we should list?
Members and visitors can suggest research events in the San Diego area. Suggestions are read by an officer before anything appears on this page — nothing is published automatically.