Stanford at The Tech: Current Participants

Working at the Tech was a highlight of my time as a postdoc.

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During my postdoc, I wanted to develop skills beyond those directly related to research. Stanford at the Tech provided me an excellent opportunity to hone my abilities in science education and communication. I think these skills are of the utmost importance but seriously underappreciated by scientists today, and I'm thankful that this program exists to emphasize their value. Helping to get kids interested in science was a real treat. I highly recommend Stanford at the Tech to any biology student interested in interacting with the public.

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Doing science is hard. Talking about it is even harder!

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To be a stellar scientist, you need to be able to do both of these things well. Stanford at the Tech was such an incredible program that helped me get better at talking to the public about science while having a ton of fun. I got to do awesome hands-on experiments with kids and teach them about how cool biology and genetics can be!

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Teaching for Stanford at the Tech has been one of the most rewarding, fun, and unique experiences I’ve had while at Stanford.

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The combination of working at the museum and answering the public’s questions in writing improved my communication skills. These improved skills will be useful in the future anytime I find myself explaining scientific concepts to a non-scientist. During the program I was rejuvenated each week by the kids’ excitement for learning about genetics, and was reminded of why I do science. I encourage anyone with a passion for science to share it by joining this great program.

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Stanford at the Tech was an amazing and very rewarding experience.

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I had no idea how much fun I would have teaching kids about science. I loved watching the kids get excited about different genetic concepts and appreciated their genuine enthusiasm for learning. Through this program I learned a lot about my own communication strengths and weaknesses as well as how to convey complex topics in simpler terms. This program offers you the opportunity to work with kids doing science experiments but also the opportunity to answer genetic questions to the general public. I am so glad to have had the opportunity to participate in this program and would highly recommend this program to any graduate student who is interesting in learning more about how to teach science to the general public.

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Volunteering at The Tech Museum gives you the opportunity to inspire kids and hopefully light a spark

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in them that could lead them to become future scientists through fun and interactive activities. Having no experience talking science to children, I entered the program with some reservations. I quickly found myself enjoying the activities and talking to kids about science. The structure and atmosphere of the volunteer program provided me with the necessary tools and confidence to show kids the fun side of science through simple and fun activities. The most rewarding aspect of this program was having kids telling me they enjoyed and learned many things that they would use in their classroom. I would recommend this program to any bioscience student; it’s an extremely rewarding experience.

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Working at the Tech Museum was one of the most enjoyable parts of my graduate school education.

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Science is one of the most challenging things to convey to an audience and I learned a lot about communicating complex scientific concepts to a general audience (of 6 year olds, no less!). It was an amazing, unique, and fun learning experience that I won't soon forget.

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