1
its not that Education and Outreach is an
afterthought, its just the last thing I do
before I submit my proposal

• AGU San Francisco
• December 14, 2004

2
About the Ocean Institute

• Informal Science Center est. 1981
• 78,000 K-12 students/yr 60 programs avg. stay
  time 6.9 hours
• 130 staff 500 volunteers

3
CORE 2004

• Sea Floor Science Exhibition/Programs
• Smarter Sensing
• Southern California Coastal Ocean Observing
  System (SCCOOS)
• Watershed Education Program
• SeaTech High School Career and Technology
  Program
• Marine Life Refuge Project
• Long Term Ecological Research (LTER)

4
Slopes, Slides, Tsunamis SIO, MBARI, USGS

• What does it mean to have your materials
  translated SST
• Levels of involvement/having fun
• Results

5
SST became a lesson in stability
6
Communicating complex stories requires many
concurrent approaches
7
Best EO creates environments for geoscientists
to share their enthusiasm for their subject
8
Some results

• There was something there for all ages. The
  younger kids got a kick out of some of the rooms,
  like where you could play with block and other
  activities. Some of the exhibits were for older
  children that could understand and read about . .
  . Tsunamis. There were a lot of people around
  giving talks and if you had any questions they
  were more than willing to answer your questions.
  I think its a really great place for all
  ageslittle kids as well as adults. SST 7

9
Underwater Archaeology Texas AM MIT and WHOI

• Show what translation means to the
  materials
• Levels of involvement/having fun
• Results

10
Communicating complex stories requires many
concurrent approaches
11
Best EO creates environments for geoscientists
to share their enthusiasm for their subject
12
Some results
(What was your favorite experience at the
Institute?) I thought the class on ocean
archeology was very interesting for adults and
kids alike. (What was appealing about that?) Its
hands-on for kids and there were certain
elements of science that were interesting. I work
in engineering, so that appealed to me. You learn
some basic principles of science. In this case
they talked about electrolysis and the
restoration of the artifacts that are dredged up
out of the ocean. So my kids had fun and we all
learned something. UA 15
13
More results
(What, if anything, did you find out about
current scientific research?) Im glad theyre
the OI trying to share it with the public. I
think its very nice that theyre making an
effort. I dont know how to express it, but to
bring their work to us is really nice. Makes us
probably more aware of whats going on. So we
can share the excitement, too. Its not really
very available in many forums. This is a really
nice forum. (Was there anything, in particular,
that you found out of the research thats going
on?) Earlier today, I met this scientist from
M.I.T. thats working on ROVs. And then on this
Tour they talked about the site he was working
on. So, I guess I found out that new
technologies are being used in archaeology. All
speakers are adults Group Interview 2
14
The scientists perspective
I spent the first three days at the OI just
talking to everybody. . . . Since I was there
for a very short amount of time, I need
tothrough a very quick, iterative
processcommunicate this is what I want to do
and this is how I want to do the talks . . . and
then have them respond to me and say, You can
do that but you really need to change it in this
way, you need to be more accessible, . . . you
need to make this graph simpler, you need to make
this map explain more. . . . I had no idea what
a middle-school audience knows or doesnt know.
. . . Theres a culture here at OI, and they
actively try and grow this culture of always
getting better. So for the month that Im
here, Im going to develop a presentation, . . .
and then each time I give it Ill go back and
think about what I did right and what I did
wrongwhen did people stand up and leave versus
when did people start asking questions. So, I
its about constantly reviewing what you do.
(Brian Bingham)
15
The Extreme Environments Lab Experience SIO
WHOI Penn State UW and JPL

• Robotics and Sensors Lab
• ecoSystems Analysis Lab
• Structure and Function Lab
• Earth and Life History Lab

16
Some EO programs meeting higher societal needs
(its not just a web site anymore!)

• SeaTech using Bioacoustics and Marine Mammals
  to teach underrepresented high school school
  students career and technology skills
• Watershed Education Program involving over 2000
  students/yr in original research in their
  watersheds and developing interactions with
  policy makers
• SCCOOS developing a district wide 5th grade
  program that prepares students for 2007 No Child
  Left Behind assessments

17
Review 6 tips for Geoscientists

• Choose good Partners
• Be prepared to simplify your work
• In the end its all about efficiency
• Involve your graduate students, post-docs
• Dont undersell your budget
• Take some risk and have some fun