On April 22, 2017, millions of people marched for science in response to a growing sense of urgency for preserving scientific funding and knowledge, both perceived as threatened by the Trump administration. This research note highlights data collected at three marches: Washington, D.C.; Los Angeles, California; and Austin, Texas. We examine marcher motivations for participation, finding the environment, current administration, and science funding were most prevalent. Furthermore, we find the majority of marchers support stances that position science as public good, including the belief that science informs responsible government policies and the support of government investments in science.
Informal learning institutions (ILIs) create opportunities to increase public understanding of science and promote increased inclusion of groups underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) careers but are not equally distributed across the United States. We explore geographic gaps in the ILI landscape and identify three groups of underserved counties based on the interaction between population density and poverty percentage. Among ILIs, National Park Service lands, biological field stations, and marine laboratories occur in areas with the fewest sites for informal learning opportunities and have the greatest potential to reach underserved populations, particularly in rural or high poverty counties. Most counties that are underserved by ILIs occur in the Great Plains, the southeast, and the northwest. Furthermore, these counties have higher Indigenous populations who are underrepresented in STEM careers. These unexpected geographic gaps represent opportunities for investments in ILI offerings through collaborations and expansion of existing resources.
An understanding of science concepts is important for living in modern society. Supporting adults’ science learning can be particularly challenging because most adults no longer attend formal educational institutions where access and opportunities are facilitated by teachers and school-sponsored programs. Biological field stations (BFSs) are a newly recognized educational venue that hold considerable intrinsic value for adult science education. In this study, we conducted a survey of 223 U.S. BFSs about their nonformal and informal educational outreach programs for adults. Results show BFSs offer a wide variety of science learning programs for adults, focused heavily on experiential learning to engage learners. These experiences promote interactions with the natural environment and are perceived to increase participants’ knowledge and skills. This study has implications for how adult educators can better support the professional development of science educators at BFSs and enrich the general public's science learning.
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