The 21st Century Naturalist: A Research-practice Collaboration for Informal Science Education

The University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE) and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History have been building a partnership on a project-by-project basis over the last 10 years. This project includes a set of research activities, relationship building, and capacity building that will allow the partnership to deepen and sustain that work. We are working together towards understanding how to help the museum become a more engaged and outward focused community resource, and to find new ways to activate the existing resources within the museum in the context of the broader educational ecology in the region. Projects that involve school districts and community based organizations, that target different kinds of audiences than the traditional general visiting public, and that provide professional development to support staff in better accommodating and mediating these experiences are intended to reshape the museum as a place that is better suited for the educational challenges of the future.,