The Museum Goes to Washington

Dr. Judy Brown, the Museum’s Senior Vice President of Education, was recently an invited guest speaker at the Smithsonian Affiliations National Conference, which is held every year in Washington DC. Judy’s presentation, entitled Success with Science: New Approaches for New Audiences, centered on new ways museums might think about promoting science education to their respective communities, with the particular goal of stimulating science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills. Currently, the Museum leads the National GirlsRISE Museum project, which is a collaboration of museums nationwide committed to engaging girls in science. Using this model as an example, Dr. Brown shared the important role museums can play in developing the next generation of female scientists and engineers. Dr. Brown’s talk emphasized that these kinds of open collaborations are essential in working towards results that can impact local, regional, and even national audiences. Just another illustration that 2-way streets of communication are always better than 1-way!