At the Educators' Hui were Nigel Studdart, NorthTec STEM project manager, left, Michelle Dickinson, aka Nanogirl and a University of Auckland senior science lecturer, and Julian Thomson, GNS Science educator/communicator. Photo / John Stone
At the Educators' Hui were Nigel Studdart, NorthTec STEM project manager, left, Michelle Dickinson, aka Nanogirl and a University of Auckland senior science lecturer, and Julian Thomson, GNS Science educator/communicator. Photo / John Stone
A brains bank of people working in environment, science, medicine, conservation, astronomy, technology, waste minimisation, geology and engineering has been pulled together in Northland.
The inaugural Educators' Hui last week was so people working in many science-related fields could share information and become part of a resource pool for Northlandschools, home schoolers and other education facilities to tap into. It also aligns with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) educational curriculum.
Among the 23 presenters, all given 15 minutes to talk about their field, was Nanogirl, or Dr Michelle Dickinson, who uses a media profile to make science popular, accessible, fun and easy to learn outside as well as in the classroom. GNS Science, New Zealand's leading provider of Earth, geoscience and isotope research and consultancy services, was also represented. The majority of presenters were Northland-based, including from Planetarium North, Bream Head Conservation Trust, Limestone/Matakohe Island Trust, Northland Regional Council and even Clapham's Clock Museum.
The event was hosted at Dargaville Museum but organised by KiwiNorth Whangarei Museum's educator Shirley Peterson who holds a Learning Experiences Outside The Classroom contract with the Ministry of Education.
"The reasoning behind calling this conference together is to bring educators and experts together so that teachers can develop relationships with people and organisations that are resources for learning," Ms Peterson said.
"What we have a wealth of in Northland are real people on the ground working for DOC or EMR or Limestone, Bream Head, Kiwi North, Planetarium North, Ecosolutions, the refinery, the waterworks, etc, etc. [They] can educate students about geology, conservation, astronomy and all the other STEM topics without teachers or parents having to become mini experts for a day or a term's worth of lessons. The ultimate aim is to get a directory into the public domain as a means of signposting our knowledge, services and facilities."
