April 22, 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of the first Earth Day, and science centers are joining the celebration with their own festivals, service projects, and even musical performances.

The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, is kicking off the week with their Earth Day Festival, April 17–18. Among the many activities offered, visitors will be able to check out the Academy’s electrofishing boat used by scientists to collect fish for study, meet local groups committed to protecting the environment, and practice digging a sediment core to read the history of pollution and climate change that’s written in the mud from a salt marsh.

Impression 5 Science Center, Lansing, Michigan, is coordinating a river clean-up day on April 18. After spending a few hours hard at work, participants will be invited back to the science center for demonstrations and workshops about the Grand River watershed.

Two museum celebrations will feature special musical performances as part of their Earth Day celebrations. On April 18, the Springfield Museums, Springfield, Massachusetts, will host The Boys of the Landfill, a bluegrass band that performs environmental songs. The following Saturday, Bash the Trash will perform an interactive show about the importance of recycling and the science of music at Maryland Science Center, Baltimore.

To learn more about Earth Day, visit www.earthday.org.

About the image: Participants in Impression 5’s 2009 river clean-up day learn about the Grand River watershed through a hands-on activity. Photo courtesy Lansing Board of Water & Light

On April 5, ASTC members brought hands-on science to the White House lawn during the annual Easter Egg Roll. Thousands attended the event, themed “Ready, Set, Go!” following U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! initiative to combat childhood obesity.

Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, California, ran a kite-making acitivity, to help kids learn about wind energy and flight. Volunteers helped students experiment with different designs and gave them tips to continue learning at home.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Washington, D.C., offered Science of Spring activities, inviting visitors to dissect green been seeds, look at them under a microscope, take beans home to plant, and document their progress online.

The National Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C., provided several health-related activities. Families were asked to contribute to a large-scale fabric mural by sharing their pledges to live a healthier lifestyle. To help them remember how to plan well-balanced meals and stay active, children were encouraged to make a “Healthy Food on My Mind” crown and decorate Frisbees.

About the image: Lawrence Hall of Science staff members and local D.C. volunteers at White House Egg Roll. Photo by Jason Meagher

On March 9 and 10, high school and college students from this decade’s four Olympic host countries—Canada (2010 Winter Games), the United Kingdom (2012 Summer Games), Russia (2014 Winter Games), and Brazil (2016 Summer Games)—gathered for a video conference sponsored by the Ontario Science Centre, Toronto, and the British Council to discuss the challenges of and potential solutions to climate change.

The event, entitled the Climate Change Exchange, was moderated by Nishin Nathwani, a high school student and human rights activist from Fergus, Ontario. He was joined by panelists from universities in each of the host countries and hundreds of people from around the world who watched the sessions live online. The students who participated not only heard from panelists, but also offered their own solutions, focusing on the importance of leadership to affect the sort of large-scale, legally binding regulations it will take to meet a challenge of this magnitude.

“The remarkable young people we have heard from over the past two days are true agents of change,” said Lesley Lewis, CEO of Ontario Science Centre. “They are responding to a real global environmental challenge and challenging us to develop solutions.”

In December 2009, Ka’iu Kimura was named Interim Director of ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center of the University of Hawaii at Hilo. She is the first alumnus of the ASTC Diversity & Leadership Development Fellows program to be named as executive director or CEO of an ASTC-member institution. Kimura has been involved with the center since initial planning began in 2001 as an exhibit content researcher, leading the development of Hawaiian content for exhibits and helping define the mission of the center. After the center’s opening in 2006, Kimura served as experience coordinator, designing and implementing educational programs and engaging the community in development of programs that met the needs of Hawaiian youth. In 2007, she was named associate director as part of the center’s commitment to developing native leadership and its larger sustainability plan.

Kimura was selected as an ASTC Diversity & Leadership Development Fellow in 2006, attending her first ASTC annual conference in Louisville, Kentucky. The ASTC Fellows experience was her first exposure to the larger science center field and the ASTC community. She notes that the program provided her the “opportunity to meet other Fellows who experienced similar challenges in their own institutions, understand informal science education on a higher level, and network with professionals in the community outside of educational programs and exhibit designers.” Kimura also acknowledges that the program provided guidance on how to be engaged in the conference, ask questions, network effectively, allowing her to enjoy a more nuanced conference experience.

Participation in the ASTC Fellows program opened the doors to other professional development opportunities, including the CAISE Fellows program. Participation in the 2008 program helped her overcome geographic isolation; network with diverse professionals from different informal science education sectors; and gave her insight into the priorities of organizations funding informal science education.

Reflecting on how these experiences have shaped her as a science center leader, Kimura notes, “Imiloa’s mission is to bring together culture in science to benefit all parts of its community, especially to engage youth as the next generation of STEM leaders. Coming to ASTC and CAISE has helped me understand what’s going on in the larger community, and the opportunities for contributions from ‘Imiloa on bringing together culture and science for the benefit of all communities.”

On February 23, 2010, Anne-Imelda M. Radice, the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) director, and Susan Sher, U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, presented the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation’s highest honor for museums and libraries, at a Washington, D.C., ceremony. The National Medal is awarded each year to five museums and five libraries that have demonstrated a long-term commitment to public service through innovative programs and community partnerships. Three ASTC members were among the honorees—Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI), Tampa, Florida; and Cincinnati Museum Center (CMC), Ohio.

The ceremony highlighted how the museums’ programs have benefited individual community members. Brittani Brown participated in the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s YouthALIVE! after-school program from the sixth through eighth grades, became a museum volunteer in high school, and was later promoted to a paid position as a youth puppeteer in the YouthALIVE! Puppet Troupe. Faith Anne Brown is a graduate of CMC’s youth leadership program, where she facilitated interactive programs for families at CMC’s Duke Energy Children’s museum. She recently completed her undergraduate degree with honors in chemistry at Howard University. At age 14, Vivian McIlrath joined MOSI’s YES! Team, a leadership development/mentorship program for teens facing multiple risk factors, and her program scholarship stipend helped to financially support her family. She went on to gradauate from the University of South Florida and was the first scholarship recipient of the National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award. Today, McIlrath heads the YES! Team program, helping to share with students the same opportunities she was once offered.

In addition to the National Medal and a $10,000 award, each Medal recipient will have the option of a three-day visit by StoryCorps, an independent, nonprofit, oral history project that records conversations with community members that can be shared through a free CD and are preserved at the Library of Congress.

About the images: Anne-Imelda M. Radice, IMLS director, and Susan Sher, First Lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff, present the 2009 National Medal for Museum and Library Service to Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati Museum Center, and MOSI. Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, top, left to right: Sher; Brittani Brown, community member; Jane Werner, museum director; Jennifer Broadhurst, museum board member; Radice. Cincinnati Museum Center, center, left to right: Sher; Douglass W. McDonald, museum director; Elizabeth Pierce, museum vice president of marketing and communications; Radice. MOSI, bottom, left to right: Sher; Judith Lombana, museum vice president; Vivian McIlrath, head of the museum’s YES! Team program; Wit Ostrenko, museum director; Maruchi Azorin Blanco, board member; Radice. Photos by Earl Zubkoff