Dear NISE Net Participants and Supporters,
Thank you for all the great work you have done over the past decade. It has opened up totally new possibilities for the decade ahead.
We are excited to let you know that with the completion of NSF funding for the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, and the soon-to-be-announced NASA-funded Space and Earth Informal STEM Education project, the NISE Network is transitioning to a new, ongoing identity as the National Informal STEM Education Network! While we'll still be known as the NISE Net, network partners will now engage audiences across the United States in a range of STEM topics. Several new projects are already underway and others are in discussion for the future.
Current NISE Net projects include:
- The original Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), focusing on nanoscale science, engineering, and technology (funded by NSF and led by the Museum of Science, Boston)
- Building with Biology, focusing on synthetic biology (funded by NSF and led by the Museum of Science with AAAS, BioBuilder, and SynBerc)
- Sustainability in Science Museums (funded by Walton Sustainability Solutions Initiatives and led by Arizona State University)
- Transmedia Museum, focusing on science and society issues raised by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (funded by NSF and led by Arizona State University)
- Space and Earth Informal STEM Education (funded by NASA and led by the Science Museum of Minnesota)
The "new" NISE Net will be led by the Science Museum of Minnesota in collaboration with the Museum of Science and Arizona State University. Network leadership, infrastructure, and participating organizations will include existing Network partners, and others attracted to the new topics. We will be in touch through the newsletter, blog, and website in the coming months to share more about our plans for the Network and its projects.
In the mean time, work is continuing with partners within the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network throughout 2016, with an award end date of February 28, 2017. Although there will not be a new NanoDays 2016 kit, we encourage our partners to continue to engage audiences in nano by hosting NanoDays events in 2016 (March 26 - April 3) and in the years ahead using their existing kit materials. The Network will continue to host and update nisenet.org and the online catalog that includes 627 products of which 366 are NISE Net products (public and professional), 261 are Linked products, and 55 are Evaluation and Research reports. The Evaluation and Research team is continuing to work on final Network reports, and the Museum and Community Partnerships project has awarded 100 Explore Science physical kits to partners to create new or expanded collaborations with local community organizations to reach new underserved audiences not currently engaged in nano. These collaborative projects are taking place spring-summer 2016.
Thank you again for making this possible through your great work.
Best regards,
Larry Bell, Paul Martin, and Rae Ostman
Larry Bell
Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives
Museum of Science, Boston
Paul Martin
Senior Vice President, Science Learning
Science Museum of Minnesota
Rae Ostman
Associate Research Professor
Arizona State University