Milford Science Night

Emily Kaiser (standing) and Maoli Vizcaino (sitting) describe their research to a participant at Milford Science Night.

Photo courtesy of Katherine Hudson

Article by Adam Thomas

When University of Delaware graduate student Katherine Hudson and a few of her peers needed direction and supplies for a presentation at Milford Central Academy’s Science Night, she knew to reach out to someone who had years of outreach expertise: Delaware Sea Grant’s Chris Petrone.

Petrone, director of the Delaware Sea Grant Marine Advisory Service, not only helped the UD students in their set up, but also offered instruction and provided supplies for the presentation. He supported Hudson’s idea of a hands-on activity to illustrate neutral buoyancy and provided all the materials she needed, including some she hadn’t thought about, like towels to handle the inevitable water being splashed around.

Petrone said that he was happy to help the students and that Delaware Sea Grant strives to provide the students with these sorts of outreach experiences.

“It’s professional development for the students,” said Petrone. “They learn how to communicate their science quickly and effectively, and in these kinds of outreach events, you’re talking to a range of people from 4-year-olds to 80-year-olds so if they can do that in a short amount of time with high numbers of people, the more they do it, the better they’re going to get at it.”

(Read the full story at https://www.udel.edu/udaily/2019/february/students-attend-milford-science-night-community-outreach/)