Imagine thousands of scientists, naturalists, engineers, and innovators in one place and that’s the Bay Area Science Festival! The SciStarter team travelled to San Francisco to spread the joy of citizen science to this excited group. We were lucky to be joined by Kayla and Anelisse from the 49ers Gold Rush squad and the two newest Science Cheerleaders.
Kayla and Anelisse explored the festival stopping for photos with future scientists. Kayla is pursuing her doctorate to become a clinical psychologist and hopes to work with people with mental health needs. Anelisse is a recent engineering graduate and is now learning to code for a software start-up. Both of these women challenge the stereotypes of cheerleaders and women in science, paving the way for future women in STEM. Read more about their experience on the Science Cheerleader blog and learn about the new Science of Cheerleading e-book.
The SciStarter booth featured Chris Quock from the ZomBee Watch project. He brought along samples of honeybees and zombie flies to educate attendees on the spread of this unusual parasite. He also showed off a DIY light trap to attract and capture potential ZomBees.
Kids at our booth could also make their own coloring sheet featuring a migrating animal from the Journey North project. These sheets are colorful reminders to keep an eye out for animals as the move south for the winter and when they return north in the summer.
We were also joined by staff and volunteers from the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory who demonstrated how professional and citizen scientists can track birds through banding. Kids were able to practice bird banding, by banding themselves!
Thank you to everyone who stopped by the booth to unleash their inner scientist!
