It was a delightful surprise to learn that the ‘I’m a Scientist – Get Me Out of Here’ science public engagement effort in the UK has spawned a US version. From a March 26, 2015 press release,
I’m a Scientist USA starts on Monday May 11th [ to May 22, 2015].
Schools across America and many US scientists have taken part in the UK event, but this is the first time an I’m a Scientist event is being run just for American schools and scientists.
I’m a Scientist USA is run by the US based organization Keep On Questioning; whose mission is to “inspire, engage and educate people by connecting them with professionals and experts”.
Here’s a link to the I’m a Scientist USA webpage which hosts links to the Hydrogen Zone where you’ll find five US scientists and their chats.
I checked out the Keep on Questioning website and found this March 26, 2015 news release about their pilot I’m a Scientist USA event,
Keep on Questioning is proud to announce the launch of the firstI’m a Scientist USA event on May 11th 2015.
Based on the highly successful I’m a Scientist, Get me out of here, that is currently running in five countries, UK, Ireland, Malaysia, Australia and Kenya, I’m a Scientist USA will enable more US school students to engage with scientists across America. [emphasis mine]
Here at Keep on Questioning we believe the I’m a Scientist program will help us to achieve our mission……….. to inspire, engage and educate people by connecting them with professionals and experts.
Evaluations of the impact of the program in the UK found that 96% of teachers now feel their students have a more positive view of science and 79% feel their students are more able to debate scientific issues. In the same survey 74% of students now feel more (or much more) confident in asking questions about science and 98% of scientists were positive about their experience of the event.
The pilot I’m a Scientist event will be a general zone in May 2015 to demonstrate the event can work in the US. If successful we will seek funding to run more zones in the autumn and next spring.
I wish all the parties involved the best of luck with this US event and I extend that wish to the teams in the UK, Malaysia, Kenya, Australia, and Ireland!