Living Liquid: A Pathways Project Visualizing the Ocean's Microbes and Their Impact on Our Planet

Exploratorium, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Exploratorium's Pathways project will develop three exhibit prototypes intended to identify effective strategies for creating visualization tools that will engage the public in emerging research on ocean microbes and their impact on our planet. The research will inform a future full-scale development project to use real-time data visualizations on the connection between ocean microbes and climate, an essential principle of climate literacy as identified by the interagency U.S. Global Change Research Program. In partnership with the Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education at the University of Hawaii and the Visualization Interface and Design Innovation Group at UC Davis, prototypes will be designed and developed through a collaborative and iterative process that includes a front-end study of visitors' interests and prior knowledge related to ocean microbes, and interviews with scientists to identify potential datasets and activities. Word Craft will identify promising strategies for engaging the public and describe findings and implications for future development and will test prototypes with Exploratorium visitors through a formative evaluation process. The primary audience for the research is a cross-disciplinary professional audience, consisting of the immediate project team of computer scientists, microbiologists, exhibit designers, and the wider field of informal science education, scientists, and technologists who will be reached through the dissemination efforts. A survey of current visualizations used in public media will be produced and disseminated along with project findings at the Association of Science-Technology Centers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Science on a Sphere Users Group Meeting, the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education, the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence, the American Society for Limnology and Oceanography meetings, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. The broader impact of the project will be the knowledge generated on ways to engage informal learners using visualizations of real scientific data, which will be of interest to both scientists and educators across disciplines.