The annual SciComm field trip to the south!!
Of course, when I say south, that simply means south of Sudbury. While Waterloo and Toronto might not seem that different to those in Florida, 6°C weather (43°F) seems like a blessing after suffering through -20°C (-4°F).
The first day of the field trip is also the one I was looking forward to most, since we visited Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. What is Perimeter Institute besides a place for theoretical physics? Well, let me tell you. Perimeter Institute is THE place for theoretical physics!
History of Perimeter Institute
Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI) was technically established in 1999, but in October 2000, Mike Lazaridis donated $100 million to the institute, drastically shaping its future operations. Does Lazaridis’ name sound slightly familiar? If it does, that’s probably because Lazaridis is the founder of BlackBerry. This donation is believed to be the biggest private donation in Canada’s history up to that point, and it is also the reason there was some legal dispute at the beginning of Perimeter’s existence over how research information should be distributed.
Since the funding came from a private source, the research done at Perimeter was not technically required to be publicly distributed. Yet as Perimeter grew, Perimeter began receiving donations from a variety of sources, including the Ontario Government and Government of Canada, and their research is now open to the public. |
Ever since the very first day, Perimeter dedicated itself to three key goals: research, training, and…outreach. I emphasize this last point because ever since its founding days, Perimeter recognized the importance of engaging the public with the science they did. While it took a little to figure out what that outreach could mean (considering the issue of private funding discussed in the previous section) Perimeter now runs many activities in pursuit of this goal.
Perimeter hosts a monthly public lecture series that is free to attend. However, it is so popular, people must reserve tickets in advance. But fear not! All lectures at Perimeter are recorded, and posted online for people to view.
Each summer, Perimeter hosts the International Summer School for Young Physicists (ISSYP), which brings together 40 Canadian and international students aged 16-18 to spend two weeks at Perimeter listening to physics lectures, receiving mentoring, and participating in social activities meant to heighten their appreciation for physics.
During this annual half-day conference, Perimeter brings together high-school women with a strong interest in science to listen to speakers, talk with a panel, and receive speed mentoring from a diverse group of female scientists. An example of the panel discussion from 2017 can be seen here. During our tour, the guide mentioned that though this event focuses on encouraging women to pursue science, men are invited as well, since acceptance and inclusion of women in science cannot happen if only half the population (i.e., women) are talked to.
For Teachers
Perimeter’s website also hosts resources for teachers, including in-class resources to help teachers explain a range of physics topics, multimedia resources (like videos and PowerPoints), and workshops for teachers at the institute.
The day we visited Perimeter, we got the chance to talk with a ton of people from the publications and outreach team. There was an equal number of people on the team who came to science communication from the science side and those who came to science communication from the journalism side, and getting to hear their different perspectives on the benefits and challenges those different backgrounds gave each of them was enlightening.