This past summer, PEWS hosted its first cohort of Engaging Science Fellows! This is the final opportunity in the Engaging Science educational sequence offered to students enrolled in any graduate program at the University of Cincinnati. Students who have completed the Sharing Science Experience workshop and Public Engagement with Science seminar are eligible to apply. The 2024 Engaging Science Fellows were Oluwaseun Adekoya (CEAS Mechanical Engineering), Ramy Amin (A&S Philosophy), Angela Cannata (COM Immunology), Lilja Carden (A&S Geosciences), Brianna Larson (A&S Philosophy), and Kyle Yrigoyen (A&S Philosophy).
Each Fellow was placed with a community partner organization aligned with their academic and professional interests. Fellows worked approximately 8 hours/week for ten weeks with the organizations, working with the organization and then leading one public engagement initiative for that organization. Fellows also meet together regularly with PEWS mentors to discuss their fellowships and deepen the associated learning. Upon completion of the fellowship, each Fellow has access to $1,000 in professional development funds.
Oluwaseun Adekoya (CEAS Mechanical Engineering) and Kyle Yrigoyen (A&S Philosophy) both worked with the Gaskins Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides under-represented youth in Greater Cincinnati with opportunities related to engineering and applied sciences. Oluwaseun worked on the Empowering Parents in Community Churches (EPICC) STEMulation Program, which transforms church meeting spaces into a STEM learning environment. Yrigoyen helped to plan a one-week Next Leaders Academy AI Ethics Camp for 10th-12th grade students.
Ramy Amin (A&S Philosophy) partnered with Cincinnati’s Science on Tap, helping consider opportunities for this small organization’s website and promotion materials and giving a Science on Tap talk on how knowledge does–and doesn’t–improve ethics.
Angela Cannata (COM Immunology) worked with Interact for Health, a nonprofit focused on improving health and wellbeing in Greater Cincinnati through mental health enhancement, community power building, and policy and systems change. Cannata’s role was to conduct research supporting strategic planning for improving youth mental health in Greater Cincinnati.
Lilja Carden (A&S Geosciences) was placed with the Mill Creek Alliance, an organization restoring and protecting the Mill Creek Watershed, which runs through Cincinnati. Carden assisted with volunteer activities and organized Mussel Day, an opportunity for community members to look for freshwater mussel shells, help assess sediment quality, and obtain bathymetry data to consider potential sites for mussels to be reintroduced to the Mill Creek.
Finally, Brianna Larson (A&S Philosophy) was hosted by the Cincinnati Museum Center. Her main project was to develop an object interpretation activity grounded in co-curation, an approach that emphasizes community perspectives and engagement in various aspects of exhibit design. This project engaged guests in hands-on object interpretation of trilobite fossils native to the Cincinnati region. Resources for her community-centered curation activity are freely available on the PEWS website.
Thank you to each of our excellent 2024 Engaging Science Fellows! We are very proud of your work.
UC graduate students, please consider enrolling in the Engaging Science sequence this year! The first step is enrolling in the Sharing Science Experience workshop this fall: NSCI/SOCS/HUM 7000. (Students can enroll in whichever area designation best fits their needs.) Graduate students can choose between a workshop offered Saturday 9/21 and Sunday 9/22 and a workshop offered Friday 11/1 and Saturday 11/2 (10am-5pm each day, with lunch provided).
The Engaging Science educational sequence is supported by NSF Award DGE-2224857.
