Amazonian Ideas on a Small Budget

By Renata Moretti and Ennio Candotti From Dimensions March/April 2019 The idea of setting up a museum in the greatest forest on Earth—the Amazon rainforest—brought along with it some questions: How could the visitors really engage in exploration, make the visit their own, and have a transformative experience they would take away with them? With an annual budget of …

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Q&A with Mary Roach

Interviewed by Susan Straight This interview appeared in the March/April 2019 issue of Dimensions magazine. The Washington Post has called Mary Roach “America’s funniest science writer.” She is the best-selling author of six books: Grunt, Packing for Mars, Bonk, Spook, Gulp, and Stiff. She has received numerous awards, appeared on national media such as the …

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Big Contributions

By Cristin Dorgelo The history of science, technology, and innovation is filled with novel ideas, creative approaches, and impressive accomplishments generated by small teams faced with limited resources and pressing challenges.   Science museums themselves are hardly small in mission or purpose, and yet most face resource constraints common to many mission-driven institutions. Doing more with less, working smarter not harder, and prioritizing are solutions we all try to apply …

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Dimensions, March/April 2019—The Power of Small

IN THIS ISSUE March/April 2019 It’s generally easy to notice big things, but it’s the small things that often have a profound effect on our lives. As best-selling author Mary Roach points out in the Q&A interview, the things she couldn’t see while traveling recently in India—bacteria and viruses—were much more likely to take her down than the massive …

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U.S. Congress Again Saves, Increases Museum Funding

“The Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) commends the U.S. Congress for completing work on the Federal budget for Fiscal Year 2019 and for continuing to support science; research; and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This bipartisan effort to resolve Fiscal Year 2019 funding is particularly welcome as the science community works to recover …

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Future Thinking

By Cristin Dorgelo Charting a course for the future is one of the more difficult things we are called upon to do as leaders and as individuals. The futures of our institutions, the future of our communities, and the future frontiers of science and technology are inextricably linked. As we scan those horizons and set …

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Dimensions, January/February 2019—The Future of Science Centers

IN THIS ISSUE January/February 2019 At the forefront of informal science learning, we are, in some ways, naturally good at gazing fearlessly into the future. But while we may be better equipped than those in many other fields to strategize for upcoming changes, it’s difficult to see very far ahead, or to know the best …

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Looking Back to Look Ahead

By David A. Ucko From Dimensions January/February 2019 Science centers may seem commonplace today. However, that was not so four decades ago, when total attendance at my first ASTC conference was about 50. Reviewing the history of the field, beginning with those institutions that influenced its development, can offer perspective for considering future directions. Natural history …

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