June in Review
New Science Curricula Summit & Workshop
Smithsonian Science Education Center Director, Carol O’Donnell, traveled to San Francisco, CA to participate in the New Science Curricula Summit & Workshop on June 7th. The summit focused on generating new ideas and/or possible collaborations for experiments aimed at spreading science and scientific thinking more widely across both the US and the world. O’Donnell presentation to the group was centered around Community-based citizen science, specifically on SSEC’s Smithsonian Science for Global Goals Mosquito!.
Global Health Interest Group
O’Donnell and Science Curriculum Developer, Andre Radloff, led a Global Health Interest Group (GHIG) seminar at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on June 12th. The mission of the GHIG is to bring together members of the scientific community who are interested in the interdisciplinary field of global health and to provide young professionals and students in the health sciences with opportunities to explore careers in global health. The audience typically includes graduate students and postdoctoral fellows but also attracts more senior researchers and health science administrators. O’Donnell and Radloff presentation, “Smithsonian Science for Global Goals: Making STEM Socially Relevant”, focused on the UN SDGs and the Smithsonian Science for Global Goals project.
Sustainability Science 2.0: A US National Dialogue Series
On June 21st O’Donnell attended the Sustainability Science 2.0: A US National Dialogue Series conference at George Mason University – Arlington Campus. The event was part of a national dialogue series focused on the future of sustainability science in the United States. Working with the National Academy of Sciences Program on Science and Technology for Sustainability (STS), the convening was comprised of small groups of sustainability research and innovation leaders from different sectors and geographies to explore the future of sustainability science in the US. The goal of the event was to examine the training and networking needs for sustainability science in the US, explore the opportunities, leverage points, and scaffolding that we can use to support current and next-generation leadership in US sustainability science nationally and around the world, and uncover opportunities for linking research, innovation, and technology for sustainability
Biodiversity: Is There Hope?
O’Donnell attend the “Biodiversity: Is There Hope?” panel presentation and reception at the Embassy of France on June 18th. French and American biodiversity experts shared innovative success stories and discussed how more people may be engaged in France, United States and around the globe, with the mission to jointly build a sustainable future for our planet.
Images courtesy of C. O'Donnell
