Becoming a Scientist: AAAS Science Days

IntroductionThis report describes a talk that was associated with a large-scale outreach initiative connected to the 2017 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Annual Meeting. The purpose of the initiative was to create and strengthen connections in the communities that host the AAAS annual meeting. The talks in the event were modeled after a currently ongoing monthly series called, The Brandeis MRSEC and WHS Present: Science Pizza Talks that has been described previously (https://spa.scilinkr.com/reports/view/1). In brief, scientists from Brandeis University present short talks about their research and journeys into science to high-school audiences during students’ lunch periods with free pizza provided. For the AAAS Science Days event, the science speakers came from 5 colleges and universities around Boston and 20 schools hosted speakers. Audiences were invited to participate in the free Family Science Days events associated with the AAAS annual meeting. The talk described in this report was included in the AAAS initiative and the speaker spoke about how he overcame a disadvantaged background as a Mexican-American to eventually study and thrive within the neuroscience field of science. MethodsThe methods of this engagement have been described previously (https://spa.scilinkr.com/reports/view/1). The AAAS organization worked closely with the staff at Brandeis University to coordinate the event and pay for the cost of the pizza. The talk was recorded and later posted on YouTube (https://youtu.be/RGFPNhd98t0). Results72 students attended the talks on 2/16/17, but the video has been watched more than 560 times on the internet. The students that attended the talks were surveyed and they provided the following feedback regarding their thoughts: “One of the best talks” “Very inspirational, nearly convincing me to get into STEM” “He was very honest, insightful and helpful. I learned a lot!” “I liked how he talked about his early struggle in school and how he got around it.” “I loved the passion and talk about college.” “He came from a troubled background and proved that anyone can do science.” “I love his backstory and how he didn’t follow the path people thought he was going to.” “Amazing background story. It’s ok to not be good @math. You will learn eventually!” “I liked how he wasn’t afraid to tell us about his past; mentioned his struggles.” “Loved it, so inspirational.” “Interesting and inspiring backstory, funny, passionate, relatable even [to those] outside of science field." “I liked how he talked about his turning point of his life and struggles.” “Super inspiring” “I loved the fact that it’s not your average scientist background.” “Liked how he gave a bit of detail about his life, made it relatable but still talked about science.” Regarding the presentation style: “I liked how laid back he was. It made the presentation easy to follow.” “He was engaging and interesting and was funny” “I liked how it was interesting and kept my attention.” “A really good mix of background/story and science.” “I liked how he shared pictures from him[self] as a boy.” “He was very relaxed and made the presentation enjoyable to watch.” “Really nice slide show, really good presenter, presentation is the perfect length.” “Loved the slideshow” Due the excitement generated by this event, the speaker was chosen to be profiled on a website by the Brandeis Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (see link below). DiscussionAfter this event, the speaker participated in additional outreach events with both Brandeis and AAAS that was intended to reach youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.