Oranizations_4_Nadkarni_Lab

SBS Retreat

Nadkarni Lab Public Engagement Programs

The Nadkarni Lab houses three public engagement programs to support scientists in expanding public access to science by engaging in non-traditional venues.

Group Bio

The Nadkarni Lab is home to three public engagement programs: The STEM Ambassador Program (STEMAP), The STEM Community Alliance Program (STEMCAP), and the Initiative to Bring Science Programs to the Incarcerated (INSPIRE).

The STEM Ambassador Program offers a semester-long public engagement training program to guide graduate students, post docs, research staff, and faculty in designing and implementing public engagement with science activities. Activities take place outside traditional learning venues, such as museums and schools, to reach new audiences. Past Ambassadors have shared the role of microbes in making homemade sauerkraut with participants in a cooking class, discussed waterwise landscaping with inmates in a county jail’s horticulture job training program, provided bird identification training to outdoor recreation guides, and engaged residents at a senior center in discussions about neuroscience. STEMAP is developing online training to activities that adhere to social distancing guidelines in response to COVID-19. Subscribe to STEMAP’s newsletter for ways to get involved at www.stemap.org Links to an external site.. STEMAP is funded by the National Science Foundation (Awards 1514494 and 1906408).

The STEM Community Alliance Program (STEMCAP) fosters interest in science among Youth-In-Custody (YIC) through engagement with scientists, artists, and educators. Faculty and graduate students from across the University of Utah (and beyond) present a wide variety of programming to YIC through participation in STEMCAP. Programs have ranged from a hands-on Art-Science workshop about the role of turbulence in watercolor to an interactive presentation on a scientist’s current research to a poetry workshop focusing on expressing ideas about biodiversity loss to a conservation project that tasks students with raising Milkweed plants to provide habitat for migrating Monarch butterflies. Scientists can apply to present with STEMCAP on our website (STEMCAP.org) and select the workshop type that best fits their interests. STEMCAP is funded by the Utah State Board of Education.

Initiative to Bring Science Programs to the Incarcerated (INSPIRE) brings science education, conservation, and nature imagery to incarcerated adults in Utah. Since 2014, we have partnered with the Utah State Prison (USP) and the Salt Lake County Jail (SLCJ). Through INSPIRE scientists provide in-person presentations about their research, their scientific disciplines, and their motivations to be scientists. INSPIRE provides one lecture at USP and one lecture at SLCJ each month as well as summer conservation projects at SLCJ. Current and past conservation projects include maintaining a refuge pond for Least Chub (endangered Utah fish species), creating and monitoring Kestrel nest boxes, and growing sagebrush plugs. In addition to providing science content, INSPIRE provides scientists and participants opportunities for discussion and exchange.

How to get involved

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