For a handful of Saturdays every fall, people flock to university football stadiums to cheer on their beloved school. The University of Georgia (UGA) is no different, with up to 92,746 fans packing the stadium each game. Additionally, UGA highlights the increasingly common juxtaposition of a university leading STEM research and innovation in a region that fosters anti-science bias. In response to this, STEMzone at UGA (ose.uga.edu/stemzone) was launched to draw STEM innovators and fans together prior to a football game in an effort to meet two objectives. The first objective is to create shared experiences of excitement about STEM concepts. A genuine interaction between STEM practitioners and visitors grows from the trust created by the shared admiration for the university. This trust helps foster a sense of interconnection and broadens community access to researchers and vice versa. The second objective is to empower a cohort of STEM researchers to advocate for their research to diverse audiences by giving them the tools needed for clear science communication.
Results/Conclusions
There have been 3 annual STEMzone science tailgate events. Each event has drawn in ~1,000 visitors, many of them returning from previous years. We realized that events’ successes rested on dynamic science communicators and interactive booths, so we developed a science communication curriculum specific to this event’s needs. STEMzone at UGA has supported booth development for ~20 UGA organizations and departments in STEM disciplines, and trained over 100 graduate students in face to face science communication strategies. We have met our objectives, and are looking to spread the event to other universities. Please stop by to learn about the template we have developed for replicating this event at your university.