587 Aprendamos Sobre el Clima! Bilingual Science Education at the National Center for Atmospheric Research 

Tuesday, 9 January 2018
Exhibit Hall 3 (ACC) (Austin, Texas)
Lorena Medina Luna, NCAR, Boulder, CO; and R. Haacker

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is a federally funded research and development lab with its headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. In an effort to make its science and engineering discoveries accessible to broader audiences, the NCAR Education and Outreach office is leading a review and planning process to understand the need and opportunities for bilingual science public outreach and education products. While the NCAR museum currently has informational videos about science conducted at NCAR in both English and Spanish, future material could be expanded to include Spanish language brochures, museum paper and auditory guides, and booklets for at-home science activities. NCAR has started a few initiatives to reach the Spanish speaking community. That includes hiring a bilingual public outreach specialist and establishing collaborations with local communication outlets, such as the Spanish language TV station Telemundo. In addition, NCAR is planning to be present at Denver metro area community and cultural events and bring awareness to the public about free educational opportunities NCAR has to offer. Once the engagement of local communities has been established, we are planning to develop bilingual online educational material that can be accessed from around the country. In this presentation, we will share our initial findings and open a conversation to discuss the future of bilingual education and outreach within the atmospheric sciences.
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