Sparking an Interest in Science:
San Diego Science Festival to Offer More Than 500 Hands-on Activities
Ioana Patringenaru | March 2, 2009
A wave of hands-on activities and science events will sweep through the region as part of the first-ever San Diego Science Festival, officials said last week at a press conference at UCSD announcing the launch of the event.
“In just three days, the West Coast’s largest multi-cultural, multi-generational science festival will descend on San Diego,” said Larry Bock, an entrepreneur and one of the organizers.
The festival will offer, free of charge, more than 500 hands-on activities, including a big expo in Balboa Park. The goal is to get students thinking about a career in the sciences; to create more awareness of the benefits of scientific research in the community; and to showcase San Diego’s unique strengths, Bock said.
Vice Chancellor for Research Art Ellis (right) speaks while Assistant Vice Chancellor Loren Thompson looks on.
During the press conference, which took place Wednesday at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, speakers recognized UC San Diego for its contributions to the festival. UC San Diego’s BioBridge, a science education and outreach program that works with several county school districts, has taken the lead in organizing the festival in collaboration with the San Diego Science Alliance, Connect, BIOCOM and other key organizations.
“As a major research university, we know how critical it is that young people have an opportunity to think about what science and engineering mean,” said Vice Chancellor for Research Art Ellis.
President Barack Obama in his speech about the economic stimulus package Feb. 24 highlighted the importance of universities, Ellis said. The vice chancellor said he hoped the university would be able to leverage new partnerships forged during the festival to capture part of the package earmarked for research—about $20 billion.
UCSD alumnus J. Craig Venter speaks with UCSD alumna and staff member Dominique Cano-Stocco after the press conference.
Science education and research have never been more critical, said UCSD alumnus J. Craig Venter, who recently opened a branch of his institute in La Jolla. The institute is currently building the first zero-carbon building in California on the UCSD campus. “We have to come up with new sources of energy, new treatments for new infections, we have to understand climate change,” Venter said. Research in alternative fuels and preventative medicine will spawn trillion-dollar industries, he also said.
“Science is the future of the economy,” Venter added.
This is particularly true in San Diego, said Mayor Jerry Sanders. “San Diego is built around science,” he said. Higher education, and especially UCSD, have played a key role in the city’s expansion, he added. Venter, he pointed out, could have gone anywhere in the world and he chose UCSD. Now is the time to get a new generation excited about exploring careers in the sciences, he said.
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders outlines the importance of science and research for the region.
The same holds true for California, said state Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D – Antioch, who also spoke Thursday. He said he hoped the festival will bring about a renaissance of public interest in science education. “What we are talking about is dazzling young people about the wonders of our world,” he said. “This is what it’s all about.”
The state needs to start investing more in higher education and science education, Lt. Gov John Garamendi said Thursday. In 1990, California contributed $15,000 per student to college education. In 2008, the state contributed less than $10,000 in constant dollars, Garamendi said.
“If you want to build a great economy, you build it on science and by investing in the education system,” he said. “This is the key to California’s future.”
A standing room audience packs the press conference.
Students want to get excited about science, said Nicole Garcia, a senior at Castle Park High School in Chula Vista, who added she hopes to attend UCSD this fall. She said she became interested in science after hearing UCSD professor Melvin Green speak at her high school. She later became a Howard Hughes scholar and worked with scientists and graduate students in campus labs.
Back at Castle Park, she told her friends that what she and her fellow scholars had learned was actually useful. “You see that it’s real, you see that it’s important,” she said. Programs like these can really make a difference in students’ lives, she said.
“Start them out young, get them hooked,” she advised.
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