Since its founding in 1973, ASTC has been committed to increasing the engagement of all people with science. In support of this commitment, we have implemented a variety of projects to improve members’ understanding of and skills to reach diverse communities. Ten years ago, the ASTC Board formalized this commitment by ratifying the ASTC Equity and Diversity Initiative. Instituted to realize the Board’s vision of ASTC and its member institutions as models of excellence in inclusion, the initiative focuses activities around five components: leadership support, assessment, communication, professional development, and career pipeline/recruitment. ASTC has accomplished much during these first 10 years, including establishing and continuing to support the ASTC Diversity and Leadership Development Fellows Program, and becoming the only museum association with full-time staff solely dedicated to furthering issues of equity and diversity.
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“I don’t get it.” This phrase, to students and educators alike, can signal intense frustration, or it can represent the starting gun for an exciting sprint toward new knowledge. Sometimes “I don’t get it” means “I’m not interested”; sometimes, it means “I thought something different”; and sometimes, it simply means, “I can’t conceive of it in the form in which it’s being presented.” In every instance, science centers and the activities that they offer can be instrumental in transforming “I don’t get it” into opportunities for understanding and engagement. (more…)

In 2002, as a member of the U.S. Department of State, I attended the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa. There, I led a team responsible for forming global partnerships in resource management and social welfare. Organized by the United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development, the summit was convened to build upon the landmark UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held 10 years earlier in Rio de Janeiro. (more…)

Several months ago, during a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, I watched a young boy gazing in fascination at the health exhibition YOU!, The Experience, even as a national initiative to stem obesity is targeting children across the United States. At the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, I observed students of markedly diverse backgrounds probing the issues of race and bias in science.  (more…)