Mixing Brains - Art meets Science

I was so pleased the other day to find out that a poem I wrote was accepted for publication in a literary magazine. Seeding the Snow, according to its website, has the very neat mission of "offering women the opportunity to express their love for the natural world." I first heard about it when my extremely smart boyfriend purchased a copy for me from the Morton Arboretum's gift shop. A writer himself, he said something like, "Here's one journal I can never get into, since, well, I'm a man. But you should try." I'm very glad my boyfriend is ineligible, I have to say.

My poem is about soil. Imagine that, a soil scientist writing a poem about that. A stretch, right? I had to do loads of research in preparation: two years of grad school and a thesis. At least I can tell you that I'm not so off my rocker that it's a love poem. (Although, that would be a cool idea!) I wrote this poem a while ago when inspiration struck, and when I saw this journal years later I immediately thought of dusting off my old soil poem.

When I was in college I not only took a few courses in soil and environmental science, I also took an elective in something called Aesthetics. I don't think I quite knew what that meant when I signed up -- it was the lesser of some other weird choices for electives -- but it turned out to be centered around the question: "What is art?" This is a far more complex question than you might think, because it is definitely in the eye of the beholder. I know my cat has created a few hairballs that he probably considers masterpieces, or you might see something that wouldn't be much of an improvement at the modern art museum. Anyone who's walked through a museum has thought it before, I'm sure. You turn a corner, come upon a piece that is just a large blue square, and wonder,"Who decided to call that art?"

Share your voice -- but save it!

The biggest mistake I made the first time I spoke in a middle school classroom for the entire day was planning to talk too much. I had so many lovely things to share! I had snazzy cool photos of working out in the field and my coworkers acting goofy in the lab. And I had so much to say-- a little something about how the environmental research I do applies to their world, what I liked and disliked about being a scientist, what a typical day was like, how much it rocks that I get to wear jeans to work every day (one of the kids yelled out, "So do I!!").

And so, by the time I got to sixth period, and my sixth time giving my talk, I was totally dead. My voice sounded like I'd been crawling through the Sahara for days without water. And I was just a little bit cranky and not nearly so glowy and enthusiastic as I was when the day began. I'm guessing if you charted my effectiveness as a speaker throughout the day the slope would've been negative. Sad when I started out with spirits so high!

Carrots and Sticks

Getting a busy scientist to volunteer is an art. If they're not already specifically interested in volunteering and outreach, or if there's no incentive at their workplace to sign on, they all just huddle out of sight and hope you won't call on them.

It's not that they don't want to help. They'd love to! It's fun! They can probably even name some situations where someone volunteered and made a difference in their own lives once upon a time, so how great to give back the good karma. But who has the time? Grant proposals, papers, meetings, committees, and that's just what's going on at work -- they also have commitments in their personal lives.

I am learning by clawing my way up a very steep -- I'm talking Himalayan steep -- learning curve on this. If you leave enough room in your lasso for someone to wriggle out of, say good-bye! It's tough because you understand it's a lot to ask, even when it's just a little smidgen of time. You know that everyone is always asking for another little smidgen of time, and lots of smidgens add up to, well ... a smadgen of work not getting done.

Here are 2 things I've learned so far for recruiting scientists to help with outreach:

ABC's for Interacting with High School Students

Just last year I began to get involved with a really neat outreach event for high school girls. It's been going on for 25 years now, is very popular (over 300 students and teachers are able to come, though the interest is much more ... unfortunately our capacity gets maxed out), and is run by a group of extraordinary volunteers who have fine-tuned the program over the years to maximum benefit. In one very busy day the girls participate in career panels, poster sessions, a career fair, keynote speakers and lunch with scientists and professionals. And that's not to mention the separate program put together for the teachers that runs simultaneously.

I'm a newbie to this program compared to the others involved so I 'm still trying to learn the ropes and also find the ways that I can best help out, but thus far I've been involved in a subcommittee for the lab tours. According to feedback from the girls, the lab visits we arrange can be the highlight of their day, so I'm so pleased to be involved in this part of the picture. For one hour during the day the girls are divided into smaller groups and taken to visit one or more of the many different labs we have on site. There they get a chance to interact with a scientist, see where they work, and perhaps learn a little bit about what they do and what it's really like to work in science day to day.

I'm rather proud of my latest contribution to the project. Recently our committee reviewed feedback from last year's participants and saw that while the response to the tours were very positive, it would seem that some of the girls were a bit overwhelmed by all the information. I suggested that maybe it's not been enough in the past to advise our scientist tour guides to speak at the right level and to keep things visually interesting and engaging. Perhaps it would help to be a little more specific. After all, scientists are not really trained to teach high school kids science.

So I came up with this guide, called the ABC's of a Great Lab Tour. Not that I'm an expert in this -- I hope to keep working toward that, that's what this blog is all about after all! Instead I consulted my own personal experts: my teacher friends. I emailed them and asked "What advice would you give to a scientist or other professional coming into your classroom to talk about what they do? How would you advise them not to talk over their heads and keep them engaged?" My awesome friends and sister -- you know who you are -- supplied me with great advice, which I was able to summarize into a one-page handout. (I knew from my expertise working with scientists that I wouldn't get their attention for very long from their busy schedules, so I tried to make it short and sweet).

Path Analysis to a Science Career

How did I get here? Isn't that an interesting question for anyone? One day follows on the next, you follow one path to another, reaching for one opportunity which leads to another and another. One day you look up and realize that you couldn't have planned where you are even if you'd tried. But somehow, here you are now. My path led me to a career in scientific research. Perhaps thinking about my story could be useful when considering how to encourage young people to pursue careers in science.