Perot Museum Of Nature And Science

IN RESPONSE TO THE COVID-19 HEALTH EMERGENCY, THE PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE WILL ADAPT ITS MOBILE MAKERSPACE PROGRAM TO DELIVER STEM EDUCATION TO 45,000 YOUTH FROM DIVERSE, AT-RISK POPULATIONS WITH HIGH RATES OF POVERTY AND LOWER RATES OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT. THE MUSEUM'S TECH TRUCK PROGRAM CONSISTS OF THREE MOBILE MAKERSPACES PROVIDING HANDS-ON, INTERACTIVE STEM-BASED EXPERIENCES FOCUSED ON SKILLS SUCH AS CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING, ITERATIVE DESIGN, AND TECHNOLOGICAL LITERACY. CURRENTLY DESIGNED FOR COMMUNITY-BASED EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES IN LARGE GROUP SETTINGS, THE MUSEUM WILL CONVERT THESE PROGRAMS TO IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL FORMATS THAT REQUIRE MINIMAL HANDLING OF MATERIALS BY MORE THAN ONE PERSON AND INCREASED SOCIAL DISTANCING CAPABILITIES FOR THE COMFORT AND SAFETY OF PARTICIPANTS. THE PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO HELP TACKLE EDUCATIONAL INEQUITIES BY BRINGING HANDS-ON STEM EDUCATION ACTIVITIES DIRECTLY TO COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTH TEXAS REGION.

THE PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE WILL DEVELOP A LEADERSHIP PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM TO ATTRACT TALENT AND HELP GROW THE NEXT GENERATION OF MUSEUM LEADERS. THE PROGRAM CONSISTS OF FOUR TRAINING CATEGORIES: A CORE VALUES ACADEMY WHERE PARTICIPANTS WILL LEARN HOW TO LEAD WITH CLARITY, CONFIDENCE, AND CONNECTION; LEADERSHIP TRAINING THAT DEVELOPS CURIOUS LEADERS; CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS FOR MASTERING DIALOGUE TRAINING THAT HELPS LEADERS DEVELOP DIALOGUE SKILLS TO HAVE IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS IN THE MOMENT; AND CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY TRAINING THAT PRIORITIZES THE PERSON AND NOT THE PROCESS THROUGH CANDID COACHING, IDENTIFYING GOALS, AND SUPPORTING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. THE PROJECT WILL GENERATE AN EMPOWERED AND PASSIONATE WORKFORCE WHO RECOGNIZE THEIR VALUE IN SERVING THE MUSEUM’S MISSION CREATING A CULTURE OF WELCOMING AND EXCITEMENT FOR LEARNING FOR ALL VISITORS.

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: SUSTAINED RESOURCES: THE PALEOBIOLOGY DATABASE 2.0: LAUNCHING THE NEXT DECADE OF EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN THE INTEGRATED GEOLOGICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES -THE PALEOBIOLOGY DATABASE (PBDB) IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL AND WIDELY USED DIGITAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE FOSSIL RECORD, CAPTURING OUR BEST UNDERSTANDING OF THE AGE, LOCATION, IDENTITY, AND GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT OF FOSSILS. DATA HELD IN THE PBDB HAVE BEEN USED IN OVER 2,000 SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS AND IN A WIDE RANGE OF EDUCATIONAL AND PUBLIC OUTREACH MATERIALS. THE PBDB IS AN ESSENTIAL RESOURCE FOR GEOSCIENTISTS, BIOLOGISTS, STUDENTS, EDUCATORS, AND THE PUBLIC. ALTHOUGH THE RESEARCH AND EDUCATIONAL IMPACT OF THE PBDB IS TREMENDOUS, THERE ARE KEY ISSUES WITH ITS CURRENT COMPUTER INFRASTRUCTURE, WHICH WAS DESIGNED IN THE LATE 1990S AND EARLY 2000S. THIS PROJECT WILL COMBINE PBDB WITH THE INTEGRATIVE PALEOBOTANY PORTAL (PBOT) TO CREATE A MORE MODERN AND FLEXIBLE DIGITAL SYSTEM: THE PBDB 2.0. PLANNED PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL TRANSFORM THE PBDB TO BE MORE USEFUL TO A BROAD COMMUNITY OF RESEARCHERS, EDUCATORS, AND STUDENTS IN THE EARTH AND LIFE SCIENCES, AS WELL AS THE GENERAL PUBLIC. IN PARTICULAR, THE PBDB WILL ADOPT FEATURES FROM PBOT THAT WILL ALLOW USERS TO EASILY CONTRIBUTE AND INTERACT WITH FOSSIL IDENTIFICATIONS TIED TO SPECIMEN IMAGES, AND OUTREACH ACTIVITIES WILL FURTHER MOTIVATE COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION WITH PBDB. THIS PROJECT UNDERTAKES A COMPLETE TECHNOLOGICAL OVERHAUL OF THE PBDB, ONE OF THE MOST PROMINENT AND WIDELY USED FOSSIL DATABASES. TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENTS INCLUDE COUPLING THE PBDB WITH THE PBOT, WHOSE CUTTING-EDGE CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK PROVIDES INNOVATIVE USER-CENTRIC CAPABILITIES. SPECIFICALLY, DEVELOPMENT OF THE PBDB 2.0 WILL: 1) OVERHAUL THE PBDB'S DATA MODEL, DATABASE, AND APPLICATION LOGIC TO INTEGRATE PBOT FUNCTIONS, STREAMLINE DATA ENTRY, AND IMPROVE TECHNICAL SUSTAINABILITY; 2) CREATE A MORE CAPABLE APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE; 3) CONSTRUCT A NEW WEB APPLICATION TO LEVERAGE BACK-END UPGRADES AND FACILITATE NEW SCIENCE; AND 4) HOST COMMUNITY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES TO ASSESS PROGRESS, TRAIN NEW MEMBERS, MOBILIZE DATA, AND PRODUCE NEW EDUCATIONAL/OUTREACH MATERIALS. LONG-TERM COSTS OF PALEOBIOLOGICAL CYBERINFRASTRUCTURE WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED BY CONSOLIDATING DEVELOPMENT EFFORT, EXPANDING THE PBDB'S CURRENT FUNCTIONALITY TO BETTER SERVE A LARGE COMMUNITY, ENHANCING OVERALL USER EXPERIENCES, MOBILIZING NEW SCIENCE-CRITICAL DATA, AND IMPROVING ALIGNMENTS WITH OTHER DATA SYSTEMS. UPGRADES WILL PROVIDE EXPLICIT SUPPORT FOR UNCERTAIN TAXONOMIC CLASSIFICATION, INTRODUCE A MORE SPECIMEN-FORWARD APPROACH TO ORGANIZING FOSSIL DATA, MAKE HIGH QUALITY SPECIMEN IMAGES AVAILABLE ALONGSIDE DATA, AND ADD WORKBENCH CAPABILITIES. RESEARCHERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WILL UTILIZE THE PBDB 2.0 TO UNDERSTAND EARTH HISTORY AND EARTH SYSTEMS PROCESSES, CONDUCT RULES OF LIFE RESEARCH, AND INTERPRET ECOLOGICAL AND EVOLUTIONARY CHANGE ACROSS ALL TAXONOMIC GROUPS, CONTINENTS, AND TIME PERIODS. THE REFRESHED PBDB 2.0 WILL MAKE IT EASIER FOR ANYONE IN THE BROADER COMMUNITY, FROM PROFESSIONAL EARTH AND LIFE SCIENTISTS TO CHILDREN, TO ENGAGE WITH FOSSIL SCIENCE. THIS AWARD BY THE GEOINFORMATICS PROGRAM WITHIN THE DIVISION OF EARTH SCIENCES IS JOINTLY SUPPORTED BY THE INFRASTRUCTURE CAPACITY FOR BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH PROGRAM WITHIN THE DIVISION OF BIOLOGICAL INFRASTRUCTURE. THIS AWARD REFLECTS NSF'S STATUTORY MISSION AND HAS BEEN DEEMED WORTHY OF SUPPORT THROUGH EVALUATION USING THE FOUNDATION'S INTELLECTUAL MERIT AND BROADER IMPACTS REVIEW CRITERIA.- SUBAWARDS ARE NOT PLANNED FOR THIS AWARD.

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

MUSEUMS FOR AMERICA

"IN RESPONSE TO CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS IN NORTH TEXAS, THE PEROT MUSEUM OF NATURE AND SCIENCE WILL DEVELOP STAFF CAPACITY TO CREATE A CULTURALLY COMPETENT, BILINGUAL (ENGLISH AND SPANISH) INSTITUTION. A COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT DESIGN WILL BEGIN WITH THE COLLECTION OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA FROM DIVERSE STAKEHOLDERS THROUGH FOCUS GROUPS, NEEDS ASSESSMENT SURVEYS, CASE STUDIES, AND INTERVIEWS. DATA ANALYSIS WILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF COMPUTER-BASED PROFESSIONAL TRAINING MODULES FOR STAFF, AND THE CREATION OF A PROTOCOL TO GUIDE BILINGUAL CONTENT AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT. IN-HOUSE PROJECT COACHES WILL CREATE A CONTINUING GROUP OF MUSEUM PERSONNEL WHO ARE COMMITTED TO SERVING AS ADVOCATES AMONG THEIR PEERS AND PROVIDING GUIDANCE TO SUSTAIN THE INITIATIVE."