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Afterschool professionals will be recognized in their work and gain practical tips, proven strategies, and new ideas at NAA25. Every learning session values human connection and inspired learning. NAA Convention is an inclusive community where afterschool professionals learn, play, and advocate for ourselves, each other, and our profession. Learn more and register.

The National STEM Learning Summit is now accepting applications for speakers for the 2025 National Rural STEM Summit located in Fort McDowell, AZ on August 26-29, 2025 at We-Ko-Pa Casino Resort. Designed to bring together rural educators, administrators, and community leaders who are passionate about science, technology, engineering, and math, participants will have the opportunity ... Read more

21st Century Learning in Natural History Settings Forum: An overview of contributed resources for the learning research agenda and field. This InformalScience.org online forum was a continuation of the 21st Century Learning in Natural History Settings project. A key component of the project was the 21st Century Learning in Natural History Settings Conference, held at ... Read more

The 28th NSF Estab­lished Program to Stim­u­late Com­pet­i­tive Research (EPSCoR) National Conference welcomes project researchers, students, and staff from 28 EPSCoR jurisdictions.

Beginning in the Fall, offered in partnership with over 50 non-profit organizations, this course serves to support participants in deepening their understanding of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives while strengthening connections with the local Land and supporting more respectful, reciprocal relationships. Early Bird Registration Closes June 30 Learn more and register.

We asked scientists who have previous experience working on science communication (SciComm), public engagement, and informal STEM education (ISE) projects to weigh in on what they would wish they had known before working and collaborating with the SciComm and ISE sectors. Here are five things they recommended for scientists new to SciComm or ISE or for those partnering with scientists or science organizations ... Read more

This Call to Action was originally posted by Laura Petes and Sarah Hubbard to the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP) blog. America’s students need access to the latest information, knowledge, and skills in order to be prepared for the jobs of the future. This means continually ensuring that citizens of all ... Read more

Informal learning institutions often have goals of reaching underserved and underrepresented audiences, as well as soliciting user feedback about their venues and programs. Unfortunately, sometimes community members do not feel welcome in certain institutions or may not even know they exist. Working closely with public libraries across the country, the STAR Library Network (STAR Net) ... Read more

This blog post was originally posted to UpNext, the official blog of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Susan Hildreth is the Director of IMLS. Quality STEM education is important for the nation as a whole and for individual citizens. A robust and capable STEM workforce is crucial to United States competitiveness. Research ... Read more

The Evidence Quality and Reach Hub (EQR) is offering a free, three-part virtual listening series to bring together and learn from peers in the STEM researcher community, particular those from underrepresented groups and/or from minority serving institutions.   This listening series will focus on exploring the challenges faced by STEM researchers from underrepresented groups and/or from minority serving ... Read more

Gonzalo Peñaloza was the lead author on this blog, with contributions from Lina Quijano, Sigrid Falla, and Sara Márquez. The blog is excerpted from a Spanish-language article in NÓMADAS, a publication of the Instituto de Estudios Sociales Contemporáneos, Universidad Central in Bogotá, Colombia. All authors are staff members of Maloka. Lina, Sara, and Gonzalo are ... Read more

Laura Martin is a Senior Advisor for the Arizona Science Center. Photo courtesy of the Discovery Center Museum in Rockford, IL. Hands-on activities, as opposed to thumbs-on, seem to be dwindling in our homes and schools. But our science centers still offer this type of interaction (although they also reach out through online services and tech-based ... Read more

Overview A Note about Terms and Access: Going Beyond 20th Century Approaches Accessibility in Practice: The COSI Color of Science Passport Program Planning for Accessibility During the Visit Continuing to Innovate Conclusion Creating an accessible environment goes beyond meeting American Disabilities Act (ADA) minimum legal requirements. True accessibility means that everyone, regardless of their abilities, ... Read more

Introduction Terms and Access Accessibility in Practice Planning for Accessibility During the Visit Continuing to Innovate Creating an accessible environment goes beyond meeting American Disabilities Act (ADA) minimum legal requirements. True accessibility means that everyone, regardless of their abilities, can fully enjoy and benefit from the museum experience. Furthermore, as the Center of Science and ... Read more

I. The Research Agenda Process This research agenda is a living document, constructed in response to on-going field-wide conversations following the 21st Century Natural History Settings Conference at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. At the conference, natural history professionals explored new directions for museums and other natural history institutions, including zoos, aquaria, botanical gardens, ... Read more

John Besley is Associate Professor and Ellis N. Brandt Chair in Public Relations in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University. Dr. Besley studies how views about decision-makers and decision processes affect perceptions of science and technology (S&T) with potential health or environmental impacts. This focus includes consideration of both mediated exposure ... Read more

YAKANAL engages Indigenous youth in cultural exchanges and cultural preservation programs of local impact, offering unique opportunities to share rich cultures and traditional knowledge. The program brings together multi-generational groups of Pueblo participants from New Mexico with Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, and other Indigenous groups from Latin America to engage them in immersive cultural exchange experiences. ... Read more

In the informal science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education (ISE) community, we might have different levels of awareness or knowledge of logic models, and that is okay. There are those who might not have heard of logic models, or have heard of them in bits of conversation with respect to proposal writing. I first ... Read more

Introduction Although science museums are making efforts to become more inclusive and relevant, they are still not for everyone. Some people would never consider visiting one, even if they pass by it daily (Dawson, 2014). Many factors feed into this feeling (e.g., systemic racism and bias that make science museums irrelevant to many, architecture that belittles nonwhite guests). But ... Read more

This blog was co-authored with Tracey Wright, Senior Researcher & Developer at TERC. Merson is a Project Director at TERC and coordinates the National Science Foundation-funded project iSWOOP, or Interpreters and Scientists Working on Our Parks, with co-Principal Investigators Louise Allen and Nickolay Hristov. iSWOOP is designed to make active science research a visible, interactive part of ranger-led, interpretive programs ... Read more

This blog was co-written with Joanna Laursen Brucker, Chief Operating Officer at the New Knowledge Organization, Ltd. and Mary Ann Wojton, Project Manager at Center of Science and Industry’s (COSI) Center for Research and Evaluation. Why Zoos and Aquariums Matter 3 (WZAM3) is a national, collaborative study led by the New Knowledge Organization, Ltd. (New ... Read more

Authors: Amy Grack Nelson, Evelyn Christian Ronning, Scott Van Cleave, Choua Her As we pass the one year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to struggle with the many ways our lives have changed and the uncertainty that remains about the future. Vaccines are being widely administered, but how and when life will ... Read more

Application submission is open until November 1, 2016 for the AAAS Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement Fellowship. This opportunity convenes mid-career scientists who demonstrate leadership not only in their research careers but also in promoting meaningful dialogue between science and society. The 2017-18 Fellows cohort will be composed of infectious disease researchers. The selected Fellows will spend ... Read more

Want to help contribute to our growing understanding of how to evaluate public engagement with science activities? AAAS is collecting evaluation instruments and reports that will be used to identify common questions and metrics. Please share your work! Please click on the survey link below to share evaluation instruments and/or reports that focus on outcomes ... Read more

AAM 2025 will focus on the theme, Museums & Trust. Museums have long inspired high levels of public trust, surpassing news outlets, government organizations, researchers and scientists, corporations, and social media platforms.