News—Conference Special
BAMOS
Jun 2019
Scientists, schools and cinema Social media was a buzz in Darwin
Highlights in Education & Outreach from AMOS2019
Veronica Tamsitt, E&O Committee Chair What was your conference highlight?
The 2019 AMOS conference in Darwin presented a wonderful
opportunity for science education and outreach, including
science outreach in the local community and a session
showcasing many wonderful education and outreach activities
by AMOS members.
The AMOS Education and Outreach Committee worked with
the Conference Committee to put on a free film screening
of Inventing Tomorrow at the Deckchair Cinema, a favourite
local spot for Darwinites. The event was open to conference
attendees and the public and included a Q&A session with
three AMOS scientists. It was a great turnout and the panel were
asked some challenging questions by enthusiastic members of
the audience. The film was inspiring and heartwarming—telling
stories of high school students around the world using science
and technology as a tool to address environmental challenges.
The scientist panel at the Q&A before the Deckchair
cinema film screening. From left: Angela Maharaj, Veronica
Tamsitt, Roger Dargaville and Linden Ashcroft.
With the help of Inspiring Australia, we put on a lunchtime 'Meet
the Scientists' event, bringing 130 high school students from
around Darwin to the conference centre to have a conversation
with a diverse panel of AMOS member scientists and policy
and education professionals. This was a very successful event,
with the students asking engaging and challenging questions.
We only wish we could have had more time to continue the
conversation. This was a great way for local school students to
engage with AMOS and see what a scientific conference looks
like. We hope it becomes an annual feature.
Finally, we were very excited to present the first ever annual
AMOS Science Outreach award at the conference. This was
awarded to Andrew King from the University of Melbourne.
Many thanks to those who helped coordinate and volunteered
time at these events, particularly Johanna Speirs whose local
Darwin knowledge helped make the most of opportunities to
engage with the community.
Images provided by Melissa Lyne, Veronica Tamsitt and Jeanette Dargaville
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