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Carnegie Science Fall 2015 23 Gwen Rudie Carnegie Astronomer I was blessed to have two amazing scientists as parents so I grew up in a very scientific household. As a result there is not one moment in which I decided to be a scientist but rather an upbringing that valued questioning why things happened and workedand I suppose my choice to be a scientist professionally is just an offshoot of that sort of inquisitive approach to life. scientists in our departmentto put them in touch with the younger generation she explained.I was a lot more interested in just pursuing my own curiosity. They are of course curious too but they also have a lot more feelings of social responsibility and wanting to do good things. Timothy Rodigas a postdoctoral fellow at Terrestrial Magnetism noted that its important to him to reach out not just to the science superstars but also to the kids who are struggling as well. When I was a kid I loved astronomy but I was bad at math and science. Part of me when I talk to these kids is trying to reach out to others like me and tell them that all hope is not lost if youre not the brainiac super-smart math kid he said of recent guest presentations hes given about astronomy at the school he attended growing up. And even students who dont go into scientific professions can benefit from educational outreach activities led by STEM professionals. Improving science literacy is imperative for our country noted Steve Shirey staff scientist at Terrestrial Magnetism who has worked with students and teachers for the Carnegie Academy for Science Education. I think we have to start speaking up for science he said.Too often we assume the public will appreciate what we do and without a good foundation in science education that wont happen he added. I am a strong believer that the ability to communicate to the public what you do should be a part of our job description said Jackie Faherty a postdoctoral fellow at Terrestrial Magnetism who is involved in a wide array of educational outreach efforts in Washington D.C. and in New York. She previously coordinated a global effort involving school children from six continents and 10 countries to observe the transit of Venus.Weve got the keys to the best car and I want to give everybody a ride in it. Another concern that gets Carnegie scientists involved in educational efforts is the desire to increase diversity in their fields. Staying on the cutting edge means having a wider range of perspectives is crucial said Johanna Teske a postdoctoral fellow at Terrestrial Magnetism. Marnie Halpern a staff scientist at Embryology addressed this concern by starting the Women Serious About Science program 15 years ago. The program brings scientists from a variety of disciplines to a Baltimore high school where they talk to girls about their work during lunch periods. When I was a grad student there were so few female faculty members. I was actually pretty discouraged by not having female role models she said describing her motivation for developing the pro- gram.Seeing other women who are successful who have done it I think I could have really benefitted from that. Also at Embryology is Carnegies BioEYES K-12 science educational program. It recently launched a new center sponsored by the University of Utah to introduce students to the scientific method with hands-on learning to watch live transparent zebrafish embryos develop. BioEYES is the brainchild of Steve Farber who partnered with educator Jamie Shuda in 2002 to launch the program. BioEYES provides outdoor and classroom-based learning on environmen- tal and biological concepts. To date over 86000 students and 1450 teachers in the U.S. and Australia have participated. Johanna Teske Carnegie Postdoctoral Astronomer Image courtesy Johanna Teske Grayson Badgley Carnegie Postdoctoral Ecologist Image courtesy Robin Kempster Steve Farber Carnegie Biologist