2019 was busy.
This past year, we added another three sets of teacher ambassadors, bringing the total number to 47. Our new website has a page for each and every one; I think you’ll enjoy getting to know them. And of course, while it was painful to say goodbye to Brad Hoge, who got the Supporting Teachers program off to such a good start, we are thrilled to have found Lin Andrews to help these master teachers take their ability to train their peers to new heights.
Along with growing our group of ambassadors, we introduced our Graduate Student Outreach Fellowship initiative. We now have two cohorts of fellows in the midst of their training and a third about to begin. They’re learning science communication and outreach skills through a bi-weekly seminar and by doing the actual work of outreach. Our new website features activity kits they’ve begun to develop, which sit alongside a set of fun, engaging, and informative hands-on activities that have already been developed by our Director of Community Science Education Kate Carter, our new Program Coordinator Emma Doctors, and their merry band of volunteers. It isn’t easy to make evolution and climate change come to life, but Kate and company have done it with slime, colored blocks, role-playing games, and myriad objects that scream out to be played with.
