Accessible and Exciting: The Physics of Community Engagement

Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is bringing the science to the people. From open houses and group tours to public workshops and teacher training, FRIB is already working to strengthen community trust in science and energize young students to consider scientific careers.

The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is bringing the science to the people. From open houses and group tours to public workshops and teacher training, FRIB is already working to strengthen community trust in science and energize young students to consider scientific careers.

And some of FRIB’s outreach plans are especially unique.

This fall, for example, FRIB will host “Of Equal Place: Isotopes in Motion,” a dance performance from the Maryland-based Dance Exchange led by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Liz Lerman. In a separate project blending art and science, FRIB Visiting Professor Ágnes Mócsy, a nuclear theorist and film director, is producing a feature-length documentary called “Rare Connections” highlighting the science, engaging stories and diverse people found at FRIB.

Two members of the Maryland-based Dance Exchange perform an excerpt from the dance performance “Of Equal Place: Isotopes in Motion.”

Visiting Professor Ágnes Mócsy, nuclear theorist, film director, and professor at the Pratt Institute in New York.

The Advanced Studies Gateway at FRIB, meanwhile, is designed to bring together researchers, innovators, creative thinkers, artists and performers from varied fields to deepen ties between FRIB and the community. The gateway will include free public activities, including expert talks and concerts, and original programming to enhance the prestige and public appreciation of nuclear science.

“We don’t want FRIB to be an ivory tower,” said Dean Lee, the FRIB professor guiding many of the facility’s outreach efforts. “It’s all about developing a creative, open and nurturing environment so that science is exciting and accessible. That’s how we get science to flourish.”

INTO THE UNKNOWN

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