Elementary, Secondary, and Informal Education Conference: 'Museums, Media, and the Public Understanding of Research,' Science Museum of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, September, 2002

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The Science Museum of Minnesota is requesting $279,577, of a total budget of $339,074, to plan and conduct a four-day international conference exploring issues, current practices and future directions related to furthering public understanding of current research in science and technology. The conference will bring together leading museum professionals, scientific researchers, science journalists, television producers, web developers and others who are already engaged in preliminary work for such an effort and who stand to learn from each other's experiences. The conference will center on the role of museums in informing the public about research, but will include representatives from other media and institutions crucial to its success. The specific goals of the conference are to:Explore challenges and barriers that hinder the development of public understanding of research programs.Identify "best practices" and promising models, tools and technologies for presenting current research to the public.Develop partnership strategies for creating public understanding of research program collaborations across the museum, media and research communities.Identify strategies for selecting significant research stories that are relevant to the public.Develop funding strategies and operational approaches that help sustain a consistent public understanding of research effort.The project will be under the direction of David Chittenden, Vice President for Education at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Advisors to the project include: Carol Lynn Alpert, Museum of Science, Boston; John Beatty, Distinguished Teaching Professor, University of Minnesota; Graham Farmelo, Head of Science Communications, Science Museum of London; Richard Hudson, Twin Cities Public Television, St. Paul; Ken Keller, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota; Rob Semper, The Exploratorium; David Ucko, Koshland Science Center and Science Outreach, National Academy of Sciences; and Bonnie VanDorn, Executive Director, Association of Science-Technology Centers.