Today is the Science Research Showcase with Explorathon 22 and this is the transcript of my video. If you're having trouble accessing the script or the video please don't hesitate to reach out!!
Hi, my name is Julie Ann Fooshee and I’m a researcher at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. But before that I worked professionally in science communication — no wait uh, I also did science engagement — oh hold on and science festivals — hey hold up — and informal science education — and — uh — okay you get the picture I think! I’ve been in a lot of different places for a long time because I sort of love communicating science and bringing science to other people. I guess you could say it’s my passion.
My PhD research is actually around science festivals and accessibility because I’m a disabled researcher and one thing that I wish all science engagement had more of was accessibility. I started working with science festivals in 2013 and I fell in love with them. When they were first introduced to me I remember my mentor, Ben Wiehe describing them as a community celebration of science and that each science festival would always be unique and different because they were celebrating the science that was part of that community. That’s something that’s stuck with me even now and when I think about my research and how festivals can change and improve and who they serve, that’s always the thing I go back to. They’re for a community - for everyone in a community. Science festivals aren’t inherently accessible places - and not just for people like me who have mobility issues they can be loud and too frenetic - or pose a challenge to people who are deaf or hard of hearing if there’s not proper interpretation. If someone is blind - the thought of navigating a huge open field of tent posts and tables sounds like survivor more than anything. My question to all of you out there is this: have you been to a science festival or even just a live science event? What was something that stuck out to you that made that event feel like it was FOR YOU?
What’s something memorable you experienced there?
Let me know in the comments, lets talk about it!
And outside of this twitter thread, if you’re looking to get in contact with me, you can also go here! And if you’re looking for a transcript of this video I have included it as a link in this tweet.
Thanks so much for listening to me and talking to me today! Come talk to me about festivals! I love them! I wanna talk more about them! Okay have a great day!
Contact info on screen: s1681416 @ sms. ed. ac. uk
twitter: @ocaptmycapt
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