The Science of Scents & Fragrances

Date: 

Saturday, April 20, 2024, 2:00pm to 3:30pm

Location: 

Harvard Museum of Natural History, Classroom B (Third Floor), 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Flowers and a vial of cosmetic oil.

In-Person Workshop

$30 members / $35 nonmembers

 

Register

 

Instructor: Kathy Liu

 

Have you ever smelled a scent that conjured a memory, transporting you to a different place or time? Have you ever wondered why perfumes smell so different? Scents and fragrances are an incredible mixture of science, art, business, and culture. In fact, scents are connected directly to our memories and emotions. This workshop will demystify scents, providing a scientific foundation to analyze fragrance formulations and examine their roles in the business and psychology of fragrances. Then, workshop attendees will craft a personal fragrance to take home. No prior science background is required to participate in this class. All attendees must be 18 or older.

Kathy Liu is a Ph.D. student in Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering at Harvard. She develops stimuli-responsive materials—materials that react to the world around them—for medical and biomimetic applications. The fragrance world combines her fascination with scent perception as remarkable chemical systems built by nature with her passion for broadening the audiences for materials science.

See also: Adult Classes