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The STEM Ambassador Program has had a busy summer! Our Ambassadors shifted to remote engagement as the University closed, and have been participating in online meetings and remote activities with youth centers.

We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy this Spring! We have an exciting newsletter this quarter, with articles featuring interviews with STEMAP Co-PIs Julie Risien and John Besley. These articles explore important topics within science communication, such as broader impacts, impact identity, and communication goals and objectives.

Winter is here and the newest cohort of STEM Ambassadors are working hard to develop ideas for their engagement activities! We received three times the number of applications for our available spots. We hope those we were unable to accommodate in this cohort will apply next fall!

Under this grant, STEMAP will test new training formats at the University of Utah and four institutions across the United States. Over the course of the project, the STEMAP research team and consultants will study how these formats might contribute to the long-term scalability and sustainability of STEMAP. This work will help grow STEMAP into a national program to serve a wider range of scientists and public audiences.

There is growing interest in the scientific community in engaging with the public, but the traditional “deficit model” of one-way communication of scientific facts and figures can fall short of making meaningful connections with audiences.

STEMAP Director Nalini Nadkarni was featured in The Guardian describing her field work in the Monteverde cloud forest of Costa Rica. Arguably one of the most sensitive ecosystems, Nalini describes how her study site and the species living there can be real life examples of the detrimental effects of climate change.

STEMAP staff has continued sharing our program through interviews and conferences. Director Nalini Nadkarni talked with Science Friday’s Ira Flatow and participated in National Geographic’s Nat Geo Nights, and Program Manager Caitlin Weber represented the STEMAP team at a conference in NYC!

STEMAP Director Nalini Nadkarni and Program Manager Caitlin Weber presented workshops at the annual Ecological Society of America annual meeting in New Orleans, and later traveled to Seattle to work with members of the University of Washington STEMAP cohort. Training for the online and University of Washington cohorts wrapped up August 31st. Stay tuned as these Ambassadors apply their training to implement exciting new engagement activities!ith a tattoo artist from Ironclad Electric Tattoo to discuss art and science.

STEMAP is now offering online training to a small group of scientists from around the country. We are also offering the first ever STEMAP training at the University of Washington. The summer cohorts will begin in June and run through October 2018. Please join us in welcoming the new STEM Ambassadors!

Welcome to the spring issue of the STEMAP Newsletter! Even as the academic year is coming to a close, we have had no shortage of exciting news and events! The 2018 STEMAP cohort kicked off in February. Ambassadors completed three workshops and are now working on designing engagement activities. Stay tuned for updates on engagement activities from this cohort over the spring and summer!