Following a successful pilot, the Department of Physics has received funding from STFC to run a citizen science outreach programme. The programme, Zooniverse in Schools, is targeted at as diverse an audience as possible, specifically hoping to reach schools in the most socio-economically deprived areas of the UK.
Partnering with the Galaxy Zoo and Science Scribbler research teams as well as the Diamond Light Source and education partners SEPnet, The Ogden Trust and the Abingdon Science Partnership, Zooniverse in Schools will use citizen science to bridge the gap between school science and research science, and between pupils and research scientists. Over the course of three workshops pupils will contribute to the Zooniverse projects, meet members of the research teams behind the projects and explore links to their own lives and experiences. After the workshops we hope that pupils and teachers will feel connected to science and see themselves as members of the wider science community, capable of making a difference in their worlds.
The programme is being coordinated by a new member of the outreach team, Kat O’Brien Skerry, a Queen’s graduate who comes to the team from the Science Museum in London with a background in science education and STEM outreach.