NISE Network Blog

Revised July 6, 2020

We know many NISE Network partners have canceled public events and temporarily closed facilities in order to slow the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19 and protect your communities. At this time, we want you to know that the safety of your...

Nano mini-exhibitions looking for new homes

We have recently learned about several copies of the Nano mini-exhibition that are looking for new homes. The NISE Network distributed 93 copies of these small-footprint 400 square-foot interactive exhibitions across the United States...

These are indeed difficult times. We have been challenged by a series of racist killings by police that once again have laid bare the systemic institutional racism that persists in the United States. The Lawrence Hall of Science is the University of California, Berkeley’s public science center and much of our work in science education is motivated by our values of equity and social justice as well as our hope for a better future. However, recent events led us to realize that we had yet to do enough and that we need to take further and immediate action.

Many of our partner institutions are going through a process of reflecting on racial justice and how we can all move forward to eliminate racism.

With its sights focused on another record setting experience in 2020, COSI and its partners prepared for an assortment of exciting programs as well as the infusion of new cities from across the state. With a broader regional focus and a year’s experience under our belts, the possibilities seemed endless. However, as the impact of the pandemic grew, COSI was forced to execute a broad-based strategy to engage public, private, and nonprofit partners to produce digital experiences around science and technology.

In May, the NISE Network's Sustainability Fellowship Program led by Arizona State University hosted its first virtual workshop, due to COVID-19, for its final cohort of fellows. Over four days, 28 fellows delved into defining what sustainability means to them, for their institutions, and how to apply this knowledge to a sustainability project over the next few months, especially as we all adjust to living in times of COVID-19.

Since March 15th the Hawaii Children’s Discovery Center closed its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many children’s museums, we were faced with the challenge of keeping our families and the greater community engaged with hands-on interactive learning without a physical facility. While the Center has never done much online content development before, our staff quickly shifted gears and learned new skills in video production, editing and social media.

During the quarantine, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens has supplied gardening kits and flowers to the local school lunch program. In April, we made 180 mini garden kits that were made available to students at lunch pickup spots throughout the peninsula as well as delivered to individual homes.

In January 2020, thirty-four museum professionals from across the NISE Network came to Arizona State University as part of the Rob and Melani Walton Sustainability in Science and Technology Museums Fellowship. Following their time in Tempe, fellows returned to their organizations with new tools, resources, and relationships cultivated from the workshop to conduct their projects, ranging from updating exhibits to planning museum renovations to providing professional development at their organization about sustainability.

Take part in the free, interactive STEM for All Video Showcase, May 5-12. This online showcase gives you the opportunity to learn about the latest research efforts to transform STEM education, communicate directly with researchers and practitioners, and vote for your favorite videos. Be sure to take a look at this short 3-minute Let's Do Chemistry! New Attitudes about Learning Chemistry video!