Research, Regrets, & the Land Where Marsupialia is King

I’m proud to formally introduce a research report, informally posted on the Nanoscale Informal Science Education (NISE) Network site.

What’s “Informal Science Education (ISE)”? That’s when people learn about science somewhere OTHER than school. And we know that people learn a lot MORE in informal science settings when they feel like the material is RELEVANT to them. So we did an exploratory study to see what it looked like when people found relevance in a museum exhibition––what they talked about, how they talked about it, and what the exhibition did to help all that happen. Here’s a little ditty about what we found:

NISE Net Research on How Visitors Find & Discuss Relevance in the Nano Exhibition (co-author with colleagues at Museum of Science Boston, University of Notre Dame)

What else is new? I’m headed to Melbourne in a few weeks, to join some of the weirdest, coolest, nerdiest folks currently thinking about––urm––all sorts of things. We’re called the “Brains Trust” (shoutout to a cleverly dodged copyright infringement), and we’re scientists, writers, artists, comedians, and “all-of-the-abovers” who will be answering the public’s questions and posing even MORE questions about the future of knowledge. It all goes down at INTERROBANG: A Festival of Questions. Many thanks to the Wheeler Centre for Books, Writers, & Ideas for having us.

courtesy of Interrobang & the Wheeler Centre

Stay tuned, Dolphinteers, as I’ll be back soon to tell you about some more projects lurking just beyond the horizon:

REGRET LABS…? A scientific/comedic look into what folks should have learned in science class but maybe didn’t

GHOSTWRITER…? A multi-media piece in which fact meets fiction meet potentially rude visual art

The Project Formerly Known as MOTHER LOVER….? Because the Earth is your Mom and you luuuuuv her.