Welcome to Science in Museums! In the fast-paced world of scientific discovery, we’re here to bring you the latest on anything and everything related to science, museums, and the complex issues museums face in presenting science to the public in a new weekly column. Check back each Wednesday for posts on all things science and museum-related. We’ll be launching our first post next week, but in the meantime we science-bloggers thought we’d introduce ourselves:

Catherine Sigmond:

Hello everyone! I’m a first year graduate student working towards my M.A. in Museum Education at Tufts. I’m passionate about finding innovative ways to teach and communicate science to people of all ages and backgrounds. Prior to coming to Tufts, I studied Biological Anthropology, French, and History at the George Washington University in Washington, DC. I use this diverse background and particular love of natural history and linguistics to craft ways for the public to engage with and develop a better understanding of the scientific issues that affect our lives. Prior to coming to Tufts, I helped organize international traveling exhibitions at Exhibits Development Group, taught English in the south of France, and developed educational programs at the National Constitution Center and the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. When I’m not in class or blogging you can find me at the Museum of Science, Boston, where I work as a school visits and youth programs intern, or at English At Large, where I help develop English as a Second Language curriculum for immigrants in the Boston area.

Kacie Rice:

I’m a first year student in Tufts’ Museum Education M.A. program, and my focus is teaching people of all ages about science. While studying biology as an undergraduate at Barnard College, I worked on educational projects with the Houston Museum of Natural Science and the American Museum of Natural History. After college, I spent two years as a molecular biology researcher before coming back to the museum world, and I’m so excited to share my love of science with museum visitors! My main goal is to teach adults and children about science topics such as climate change and public health that will impact our global community into the 21st century. In addition to writing for the Tufts Museum blog, I’m also working as a paleontology Gallery Guide at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and as an intern at the Public Health Museum in Tewksbury, MA.

Cira Brown:

Hello! My name is Cira and I’m a first-year student at Tufts concentrating in museum education. My background is in the history of science and technology, and I’m particularly interested in transformative power of science in culture. My previous work has examined media climates during the US/Soviet Space Race and educational methods on the historical narrative of quantum mechanics.
It’s my ambition is to work in the field of science exhibit development. I feel strongly about the value of informal education and I am in love with the craft of interpreting and presenting information for wide audiences. I’ve learned that effective experiential design is a mish-mash of different disciplines, and my strategy has been to gain as much experience as possible to prepare me for the field. I have previously worked as a teacher, graphic designer and web developer, all of which inform the way I approach science communication. I recently completed two internships at the Museum of Science: first, as a engineering advocacy/research intern with the National Center for Technological Literacy, and second, as the exhibit development intern where I got to participate in many aspects of the development process. I am also a floor demonstration affiliate and volunteer at the MIT Museum, and this semester I will be developing two new demos for public engagement: one on the usage of gyroscopes in navigation, and the another on the Apollo Guidance Computer. I will be documenting the progress of developing and testing these projects in this blog, so stay tuned!

 

Cheers,

Catherine, Kacie, and Cira