NEWS
NM ISE Featured on InformalScience.org
Our very own Education and Outreach Coordinator, Selena Connealy, wrote a blog for the website InformalScience.org, an online community and collection of informal STEM learning projects, evaluation, and research resources. The blog focuses on the NM EPSCoR–funded Informal Science Education Network. Read an excerpt below, or click here for the full article.
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The New Mexico Informal Science Education Network
When Charlie Walter arrived in Albuquerque to take the reins as the director of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (NMMNHS) in the fall of 2011, he had a vision for a statewide network of Informal Science Education (ISE) institutions. As a founding member of the Informal Science Education Association of Texas (ISEA), Charlie knew first-hand how a network of science-rich institutions could foster collaborations between formal and informal science educators.
The opportunity to start a New Mexico network came when New Mexico Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR) issued a call for proposals for Innovation Working Groups (IWGs) to support small groups organized around a research or education challenge. Equipped with $8,000 in funding to support travel, meals and housing for 20, plus the support of NM EPSCoR staff, Charlie and his team hosted the first meeting of the New Mexico Informal Science Education Network (NM ISE Net) at a research station on the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Nineteen people representing 11 institutions participated in the three-day meeting to learn about each others’ work and explore opportunities for collective impact.
In 2013, NM ISE Net secured nearly $360,000 as the External Engagement component of a five-year award that NM EPSCoR received from NSF (Award #IIA-1301346). NM ISE Net is charged with increasing public understanding of New Mexico’s potential for sustainable energy development, engaging more New Mexicans in STEM-related activities and disseminating NM EPSCoR research results. Funded activities include capacity building for NM ISE Net members through meetings and professional development opportunities, and a shared commitment to present an elementary teacher institute over five consecutive summers and development of three small exhibitions about energy research. Small seed grants are also available for members to present a public program on an energy-related topic.