For forty years between 1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on 399 black men in the late stages of syphilis. These men, for the most part illiterate sharecroppers from one of the poorest counties in Alabama, were never told what disease they were suffering from or of its seriousness. Informed that they were being treated for “bad blood,”1 their doctors had no intention of curing them of syphilis at all. The data for the experiment was to be collected from autopsies of the men, and they were thus deliberately left to degenerate under the ravages of
CENTC's (Center for Enabling New Technologies Through Catalysis) outreach is focused on partnerships with science centers. Initially we worked with the Pacific Science Center (PSC) to train our students in effective communication of science concepts to public audiences. Later we developed a short-term exhibit, Chemist - Catalysts for Change in the Portal to Current Research space. As part of the CCI/AISL partnership program, we partnered with Liberty Science Center to create an activity on a multi-touch media table, "Molecule Magic." We are currently developing another exhibit with PSC.
This is the opening talk of the session titled "Impacts of Citizen Science," delivered on day two of the Citizen Science Toolkit Conference at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, New York on June 20-23, 2007. Stephen Baillie, Director of Populations Research at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), shares examples of how research and monitoring undertaken by the BTO, based largely on volunteer surveys, has had an impact on conservation and environment policy in the U.K. Specifically, Baillie discusses a project related to the conservation of farmland birds and work on Avian Influenza.
"Human +" is a collaboration among the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI), NSF Quality of Life Technology Engineering Research Center (QoLT ERC) of the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), and the Institute for Learning Innovation. The project will engage engineers, educators, designers, and people with disabilities in a process of participatory design to create a 2,500 square foot traveling exhibition entitled "Human +". The STEM content is engineering, specifically the extraordinary technological advances being made to enhance human abilities. The project is making three significant contributions to the Informal Science Education (ISE) field: 1) It is a model of close integration of an NSF-funded engineering research center into an ISE project. (2) It engages people with disabilities, both as participants and audiences. (3) It broadens engagement with engineering as a participatory, creative, and socially important ISE undertaking. Project deliverables are: (1) a model for participatory design of ISE activities to generate innovation among engineers, people with disabilities, ISE professionals, and designers; and 2) a 2,500 square-foot traveling exhibition engaging the public in the science, technology, and social issues of human enhancement. Front-end evaluation will be conducted by OMSI to explore pre-existing knowledge and attitudes, integrating significant numbers of people with disabilities including veterans, young people, and older people. Formative evaluation will likewise be integrated with the participatory design process, with prototypes being tested both by audiences and by the core "Human +" participatory design team. Summative evaluation by Institute for Learning Innovation will address both the effectiveness of the participatory design process and the effectiveness of the exhibition in addressing the National Academy for Engineering goals for public understanding of engineering as a creative and socially engaged field. An estimated 700,000 visitors will experience the "Human +" exhibition at OMSI and NYSCI. In addition, OMSI will tour the exhibition through its extensive and diverse network of science centers, with 24 science centers having expressed interest as potential host sites. The Science Friday webcast/podcast will reach an estimated 1.3 million listeners. Public audiences will engage in the topic of engineering and better understand its importance to human existence through experiencing one compelling research area. The project team will work with the Veterans Administration and DARPA to engage veterans with disabilities both as participants and as audiences. The exhibit with its human-focused content will also stimulate interest among older adults and promote the engineering field to groups underrepresented in engineering such as people with disabilities, girls, and minority youth. The project places cutting-edge technology and engineering practice in a profoundly personal context. "Human +" will contribute to the empowerment of the great majority of people who have, or will have, disabilities during their lifetime and for those of us who care for people with disabilities.
WGBH is requesting funds to produce a four-hour NOVA television special with accompanying Web and outreach activities about the pervasive role of materials in our lives. The overarching goals of the project are to: 1) enhance public engagement in and understanding of materials science, including appreciation of its effects on society; 2) promote collaboration among educators, scientists and community-based organizations to reach a broad audience; and 3) create effective methods of expanding informal science learning that can be evaluated for their lasting impact on the field. The mini-series, "STUFF: The Materials that Shape our World," will offer an appreciation of the human and scientific factors that drive innovation in materials science, from ancient breakthroughs to today's explosion of biological and nanomaterials. The four episodes, themed around "Stronger," "Smaller," "Smarter" and "Cleaner" will provide a clear focus on the interdisciplinary nature of materials science and showcase dramatic stories of past inventions and exciting new discoveries. The NOVA team in association with the Materials Research Society (MRS) will produce the series. The "STUFF" series is anticipated to be broadcast on PBS in the fall of 2008. WGBH and MRS will work with local PBS stations to train local scientists in public outreach. Multimedia Research will conduct formative evaluation of the project components, and Goodman Research Group will conduct summative evaluation of both the series and the outreach efforts.
The Fred Friendly Seminars is producing a three-part, prime-time television series about the ethical, legal and social implications of advances in genetic research and technology. The audience for the series is the general public with special emphasis on the scientific and policy-making communities. Each of the programs will begin with a presentation of the basic genetic science linked to a specific ethical and policy issue and then will engage a panel in a Socratic dialogue based on a hypothetical situation related to that issue. The panel will represent a wide range of perspective including scientists, policy makers and people experiencing the dilemmas presenting in the hypothetical situations. Outreach material for the project will be developed by the National Center for Science Literacy, Education and Technology and Exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History. The center will produce a 16-page discussion guide designed for by a variety of informal education organizations that reach the general public. This guide will be available in both print and on the project web site. In addition to the guide, the web site include guidelines about how to use segments of the series as catalysts for discussion, a list of annotated resources on genetics, and a behind-the-scenes look at the genomic research labs of the museum.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Richard Kilberg
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The Scientists Institute for Public Information (SIPI), a non profit organization of scientists and media professional that works to strengthen reporting of science, will organize annual briefings for television news directors and producers by leading scientists during the next three years. Each year 35- 50 local news directors from across the country will meet face- to-face with nationally prominent scientists for two days of discussions of leading stories in science, health and the environment. Science is underreported on commercial television, and this targeted intervention has a substantial opportunity to directly improve the quality and quantity of science reporting by America's television industry. SIPI's Media Resource Service has developed an international reputation for its provision of scientific and technical sources for journalists. The prototype TV News Director's Briefing, held March 10-12 1989, demonstrated in a practical way the potential of the project, reaching 35 key journalists from 17 states. The briefings will be attended by a geographically distributed group of professional scientists and journalists who are well supported in their discussions by extensive pre-meeting work by SIPI staff. Extensive news coverage of the topics discussed will take place and be documented by SIPI staff. A continuing evaluation study by an independent contractor will analyze the impact of the briefings on the participants. NSF support will amount to 28% of the $660,000 project total.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Fred Jerome
resourceprojectProfessional Development, Conferences, and Networks
The World Congress of Science Producers is an annual event of leading broadcasters and independent science producers from around the world. This year's congress is being planned and osted by WGBH. For this Congress, WBGH will add two new dimensions to the meeting: 1) involve working scientists in the meeting to increase the dialogue and contact between broadcast journalists and scientists, and 2) partially support attendance by individuals who are either are considering entering science journalism or are newly involved in the field. Sessions that include scientists include: an exploration of the most important science stories that journalists should be covering, an in-depth analysis of a specific science issue, a discussion of ethical issues related to genome research, legal issues related to science in the courts, an examination of coverage of science vs. pseudo-science, and visualization of science.
National Video Resources, in collaboration with the American Library Association and the History of Science Society, is developing and implementing six-week discussion programs at 100 libraries across the country. The "Research Revolution and the Shaping of Modern Life" discussions will illuminate the organization and goals of scientific-technical work, the critical outcomes of research and development, the material and social byproducts of such work, and the ethical issues that sometimes result. During the program participants will screen and discuss documentary films on topics such as: an introduction to the rise of organized laboratory research and its results; new developments in quantum technologies and nanotechnology; recent developments in materials science and how artificially created materials have defined a modern way of life; the impact of genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project; medical imaging from x-rays to MRIs and CT-scans; and the science of meteorology and the problems of global climate change. Discussions will be lead by local scholars from Universities and research laboratories located near a participating library.
In April 2001, the Museum of Science in Boston launched the Current Science & Technology Center, an effort to engage public and school audiences in leading edge research and to provide depth and context for science and technology stories in the news within a museum context and through various outreach methods. Health science programming in the CS&T Center is researched, produced and delivered to primarily public audiences in partnership with selected New England area medical and public health schools, teaching hospitals, and biomedical research institutes. This Health Science Education
The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA is organizing a workshop, The National Ocean on the Edge Workshop, which is convening more than fifty leading scientists, exhibit designers, film makers, informal science educators, and communicators for two and one-half days, May 12-14, 2009, along with follow-up activities. The participants are taking four of the booklets in the National Academy of Sciences Ocean Science Series as the point of departure for developing concrete exhibit and program ideas to exchange, entertain, educate, and empower the public. The four themes are: Coastal Hazards, Ocean Pollution, Marine Ecosystems and Fisheries, and Oceans and Human Health. Workshop participants are exploring and evaluating several modes of communicating with the public and preparing a tool kit for each theme. Each tool kit will include: a revised booklet based upon the NAS document;a set of references suitable for the general public; a set of recommended films and exhibits on the topic that have worked for general audiences; and concrete ideas for connecting with the public. In addition to traditional modes of communicating with the public, a variety of social networking techniques are being explored.
Three and a half billion people currently live in cities, and this is projected to rise to six billion by 2050. In much of the world, cities are warming at twice the rate of rural areas and the frequency of urban heat waves is expected to increase with climate change throughout the 21st century. Addressing the economic, environmental and human costs of urban heat islands requires a better understanding of these complex systems from many disciplinary perspectives. The goal of this four-year Urban Heat Island Network is to advance multidisciplinary understanding of urban heat islands, examine how they can be ameliorated through engineering and design practices, and share these new insights with a wide array of stakeholders responsible for managing urban warming so that the health, economic, and environmental impacts can be reduced.
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TEAM MEMBERS:
Peter SnyderPatrick HamiltonBrian StoneTracy TwineJ. Marshall Shepherd