IN THIS ISSUE November/December 2010 With their firm grounding in science and expertise in public engagement, science centers and museums are in a unique position to help scientists communicate effectively with the public. In this issue, we share stories of how science centers are bringing scientists and the public together to facilitate dialogue and enhance... Read More
By Alan I. Leshner From ASTC Dimensions November/December 2010 We in the scientific community, including both scientists and science centers, are living, as Charles Dickens would say, in “the best of times and the worst of times.” The scientific enterprise has never been more productive, as scientific advances are coming at an almost incredible pace.... Read More
“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... Read More
IN THIS ISSUE September/October 2010 As respected members of their communities, science centers are well equipped to tackle science-based global issues in ways that are locally relevant. The United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) outline some of the most critical issues facing the world today, many of them with a basis in science: eradicating extreme... Read More
By Hela Sheth From ASTC Dimensions September/October 2010 Every summer, staff members at the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile, Alabama, get together to review weather disaster plans in preparation for a major hurricane. We look at our insurance policy, take down the tent in our courtyard, and get new batteries for our weather... Read 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... Read More
IN THIS ISSUE July/August 2010 This issue of ASTC Dimensions highlights how small science centers generate outsized impacts in their local communities and beyond. For the purposes of this issue, we define a small science center as one with 25,000 square feet or less of interior exhibit space, or an operating budget of U.S.$2.5 million... Read More
By Emily O’Hara and Beth Krusi From ASTC Dimensions July/August 2010 As a small, regional museum drawing from a small population, the Montshire Museum of Science in rural Norwich, Vermont, attracts a high proportion of repeat visitors. About 80 percent of visitors have been to the museum before, and we average 18 individual visits per... Read 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... Read More
IN THIS ISSUE May/June 2010 The United Nations has declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Defined as the variety of life on Earth, biodiversity refers not only to the world’s diverse array of species, from animals to plants to micro-organisms, but also to the genetic variation within species, and the ecosystems where... Read More
