Museum's science outreach flourishes

Otago Museum. Photo: ODT files
Otago Museum. Photo: ODT files
A record surge in science outreach activity is boosting the Otago Museum's reputation as the country's "go-to place" for science communication, a museum official says.

A recent museum report said the museum's science engagement team had "directly engaged" more than 4000 people in 16 events in the two months to the end of May.

These events were staged in venues from the museum itself to the Remarkables Market in Queenstown, the Arrowtown School, the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology and, in the North Island, the Wairarapa Space and Science Festival and the Wellington Space and Science Festival at Onslow College.

Museum programmes and science engagement director Craig Grant said the museum was striving to become a centre of excellence for science communication outreach, and recent activity had been at record levels.

Many groups clearly appreciated those efforts and kept "coming back for more".

The museum has gained hundreds of thousands of dollars in contestable funding in recent years, including support for outreach activities, but last year was unsuccessful in some government grant applications for outreach support.

It was "great" that schools, community groups and North Island organisations were approaching the museum to run activities.

"The challenge for us is to find the funding," Dr Grant said.

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