The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2015 that Science, Technology, Engineering and Math - STEM - collectively accounted for only 6% of the U.S. workforce. Is science a pursuit of the smart, the privileged and the wealthy? Or is science something that everyone can do? And more to the point, can we present science in ways that are attractive to everyone? Could an R1 university of the future create open science that was truly open to all? What might that look like? And can we teach that? (How) could university students and the public create better science – both discovery and solutions? Citizen science, community-based science, extreme science, participatory action research -- these are all forms of engaging non-professional, mostly unpaid volunteers (aka the rest of us) in the scientific endeavor, from gaming protein design to crowd-sourcing African mammal photo identification to bringing down the Flint water authority with irrefutable evidence of lead pollution. Join us as our faculty panelists give their perspectives and experiences on what happens when we open the gates of the ivory tower and invite everyone to join the science team. Panelists:
Philip Bell, Professor, College of Education
Cleo Woelfe-Erskine, Assistant Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs
Jennifer Otten, Assistant Professor, Environmental Science and Occupational Health
Gregory Wilson, Associate Professor, Biology |