Citizen and Community Science with Oriel Science

Oriel Science是斯旺西大学的一个公众参与项目，展示了我们大学在社区的研究。斯旺西大学的研究人员在欧洲核子研究中心制造反物质，使用卫星对南极洲断裂的巨大冰架进行成像，并对活鲨鱼进行3D扫描-但这项研究在我们的社区中几乎是未知的，这是一个巨大的，错过了参与和推广的机会。有没有更好的方式来激发，激发和参与我们的社区与科学，技术和教育，而不是让他们参与这项惊人的研究，今天正在做的，在他们当地的大学，由人们谁住在他们身边-由像他们这样的人？我们在斯旺西市中心举办了一个非常成功的试点展览，欢迎16，000名公众游客和1，000名学生参加有组织的学校旅行。我们的游客人口统计数据匹配斯旺西地区的社会经济概况证明我们达到了所有。我们的访客的第一次大学体验的整整40%是在Oriel科学。我们通过在购物区设计一个吸引人的、互动的和热情的空间来实现这些结果，这是一个“商店”，游客可以在那里获得他们的科学（免费）。自我们的试点以来，我们已经在100多个活动中与近10万人进行了互动。这些都是在博物馆，科学节，图书馆，学校，社区中心，高中招聘会，并在中心城市广场。我们最近收到资金，建立一个新的场地在市中心的6个月的租约。我们计划利用这一点来杠杆更长期的资金在同一处所更永久的Oriel科学.这个场地，加上我们的访客人口统计，为公民科学提供了完美的工具，特别是在代表性不足的社区.我们有四个令人兴奋的公民科学工作包。在工作包A中，我们的公民科学家将学习如何收集外星星尘，就在地球上。这些微陨石将被分析，以帮助气候科学家了解这些粒子坠落地球时的地球大气层，在某些情况下是数千年前，因为它们在坠落时吸收了一些氧气。我们的科学家参与者将在工作包B中观察他们自己花园中的昆虫，为他们和其他人建立一个数据库，以帮助了解不同环境如何影响生物多样性。我们的社区科学家将使用应用程序上传他们的观察结果，包括有助于识别物种的照片。重要的是，我们的公民科学家将帮助我们建立一个更好的Oriel科学场地。我们的工作包C的参与者将共同设计一个展览，集中在一棵150岁的树，这是在Penllergare庄园，这本身是在维多利亚时代的“公民科学”的网站非法砍伐的树木切片。这将被未来的游客用来在这棵古老的红杉的年轮上绘制出他们自己的历史。在我们最后的工作包中，我们将运行一个具有真实的遗产价值的公民科学项目。我们经验丰富的社会科学研究人员将运行焦点小组，混合年龄和背景，以了解我们应该如何设计我们的长期Oriel科学场地。我们坚信，学术界没有资格定义这种设计。我们的场地的成功将最大限度地提高，如果它是共同设计的使用输入从这个场地的目标观众-这是公民科学家在这些焦点小组谁将是这个未来的场地的创造者。

Oriel Science is a Swansea University public engagement project which showcases our University's research in the community. Swansea University researchers make antimatter in CERN, use satellites to image huge ice shelves breaking off Antarctica, and make 3D scans of live sharks - but this research is virtually unknown in our community, a huge, missed opportunity for engagement and outreach. Is there a better way of enthusing, exciting and engaging our community with science, technology and education than by involving them this amazing research, being done today, in their local University, by people who live alongside them - by people like them? We launched our project with a hugely successful pilot exhibition in Swansea's city centre which welcomed 16,000 public visitors and 1,000 students on organised school trips. Our visitor demographics matched the socio-economic profile of the Swansea region proving that we reached all. A full 40% of our visitors' first University experience was in Oriel Science. We achieved these results by designing an engaging, interactive and welcoming space, placed in the shopping precinct, which was a "shop" where visitors went to get their science (for free).Since our pilot, we have engaged with nearly 100,000 people in over 100 events. These have been in museums, science festivals, libraries, schools, community centres, high school career fairs, and in the central city square.We have recently received funding to establish a new venue in the city centre on a 6-month lease. We plan to use this to lever longer term funding for a more permanent Oriel Science in the same premises.This venue, together with our visitor demographics, provides the perfect vehicle for citizen science, particularly in the under-represented communities. We have four exciting citizen science workpackages.In workpackage A, our citizen scientists will learn how to collect extraterrestrial stardust, right here on earth. These micrometeorites will be analysed to aid climate scientists understand the earth's atmosphere when these particles fell to earth, in some cases thousands of years ago, because they absorb some oxygen as they fall.Our scientist participants will observe insects in their own gardens in workpackage B, building a database for them and others to help understand how different environments affects biodiversity. Our community scientists will use an app to upload their observations, including photographs which will help identification of the species.Importantly our citizen scientists will help us build a better Oriel Science venue. Our workpackage C participants will co-design an exhibit centred on a tree slice taken from a 150 year-old tree which was illegally felled in the Penllergare Estate, which was itself the site of "citizen science" in the Victorian era. This will be used by future visitors to map out their own history on the tree rings of this ancient redwood.In our final workpackage, we will run a citizen science project with real legacy value. Our experienced social science researcher will run focus groups, of mixed ages and backgrounds, to understand how we should design our long-term Oriel Science venue. We are adamant that the academics are not the ones qualified to define this design. Our venue's success will be maximised if it is co-designed using input from the intended audience of this venue - it is the citizen scientists in these focus groups who will be the creators of this future venue.