{"id":1830,"date":"2017-03-31T13:15:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-31T13:15:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.porticomagazine.ca\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2020-10-28T14:40:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T18:40:24","slug":"on-the-job-making-science-fun-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/porticomagazine.ca\/2017\/03\/on-the-job-making-science-fun-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"On the job: Making science fun for everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who: Mary Jane Conboy, PhD ’99<\/em>
\n Job: Director of science content and design, Ontario Science Centre<\/em><\/h3>\n

Where else can you see prehistoric creatures and the latest scientific discoveries in the same place? The Ontario Science Centre<\/a> has been amazing audiences both young and old since 1969 with its diverse array of exhibits that make science fun for everyone \u2014 even if you don\u2019t know the difference between an atom and an axon.<\/p>\n

Mary Jane Conboy, director of science content and design, is one of many brains behind the exhibits. Working with an interdisciplinary team of researchers, writers, graphic designers and carpenters, she has helped coordinate hundreds of displays.<\/p>\n

Every exhibit at the Science Centre starts with a brainstorming session to come up with ideas that can be told as a story. \u201cThen we have to figure out what is the most interesting part about it,\u201d says Conboy, PhD \u201999. After developing approaches to the topic, followed by a budget and timeline, all of the exhibits are built on-site.<\/p>\n

The exhibits cater to visitors of all ages and backgrounds, and to different learning styles and abilities. \u201cWe know that people learn in many different ways,\u201d says Conboy. \u201cThere are different parts of each exhibit that medical facilities that are doing appeal to different people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some exhibits create an immersive environment that transports visitors to another place. \u201cIn an exhibit hall, there could be something that is tactile, something that is auditory or something that triggers the olfactory sense. It\u2019s about trying to engage all of the senses,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her favourite exhibits include a mock rainforest that feels as hot and humid as the real thing. \u201cYou learn so much from all of your senses in that particular location,\u201d she says. Another exhibit is not for the faint of stomach, causing visitors to feel as though they\u2019re standing on the edge of a bottomless pit.<\/p>\n

The Science Centre has 10 themed halls with hundreds of engaging experiences in each. Conboy recently led an 18-month-long renovation to the AstraZeneca Human Edge hall involving a 10,000-square-foot exhibit with more than 80 experiences related to the human body.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to capture emerging science as much as possible,\u201d she says. \u201cWe reach out a lot to the research community. If it\u2019s something about the human body, we reach out to hospitals and medical facilities that are doing cutting-edge work.\u201d<\/p>\n

But how does the Science Centre stay relevant in a digital age? While many museums make their collections available online, Conboy says nothing beats seeing them in person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see Google as a direct competitor to museums. When you have little kids come in and say, \u2018Wow, that\u2019s real,\u2019 that\u2019s very powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her first experience conveying information to the public was during her PhD at the University of Guelph, where she studied land resource science. She did her thesis on bacterial contamination of rural drinking water wells in Ontario and Zimbabwe. Translating complex research for the public paved the way for her career at the Science Centre, where she helps visitors filter fact from fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Science Centre brings credible information to the public but does it in a way that is engaging and social,\u201d says Conboy, of broadening visitors\u2019 understanding and experience of science. \u201cBy bringing science to the public in a fun way, you\u2019re able to let them discover the phenomenon, and share it with their friends and family.\u201d \u2013SUSAN BUBAK<\/p>\n

Photo: Adam Pulicicchio Photography<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Who: Mary Jane Conboy, PhD ’99 Job: Director of science content and design, Ontario Science Centre Where else can you see prehistoric creatures and the latest scientific discoveries in the same place? 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