Science Sandbox | Stories of Impact
The Stories of Impact series highlights the real-world influences of Science Sandbox projects through personal narratives, videos and interviews.
Credit: Editor
Produced by People’s Television
EMPOWERING PARENTS IN COMMUNITY CHURCHES
It can be intimidating to be the only person “in the room” who looks like you do. After years of being the only black woman in rooms with other engineers, Dr. Whitney Gaskins made it her mission to ensure that no other Black student in a STEM field feels the same way. She created Empowering Parents in Community Churches (EPICC) STEMulation, a community-focused program that provides STEM learning opportunities for underrepresented youth. And she does this in a space where the students (and their families) feel comfortable: their local churches. EPICC equips church leaders and parents with the tools to deliver STEM content contextualized in the lived experiences of those who attend EPICC’s partner churches. Through this community-centered outreach, EPICC STEMulation is growing the number of Black students and parents engaging with STEM.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
2024 The Webby Awards - Nominee | Video Series (Branded)
2023 LIT Commercial Awards - Platinum Winner | Video/ Web Based Productions - Education
DAVID BYRNE’S THEATER OF THE MIND
What lies in the depths of your mind? Is it your memories? Your experiences? You? Throughout his life, science and art enthusiast David Byrne has grappled with these questions. In an attempt to answer them, Byrne, along with writer Mala Gaonkar and a team of technologists, scientists, and creatives, developed Theater of the Mind. It is an immersive journey into how our minds create the worlds that we live in, and how our minds develop a story of who we are.
Incorporating a narrative based on Byrne’s own life, Theater of the Mind challenges participant perceptions through different experiments that reveal just how moldable our memories, perceptions, and identities are.
We live in a world that is constantly changing, and the show reminds us that we are, too.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
IMAGINE SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL: SYMBIOSIS
A scientist and a filmmaker walk into a bar…and leave tasked with creating a film together in just one week. This is how Symbiosis, a competition held each year as part of the Imagine Science Film Festival (ISFF), typically kicks things off. The competition, now in its sixth year as an ISFF program, pairs six scientists with six filmmakers and sends them off into New York City to create a science-inspired short film over the course of just seven days.
Each team approaches the process of creating a film together differently, which yields diverse and fascinating results. The films are later showcased during the festival’s closing night event, where a packed audience experiences the films, and a winner is selected.
AWARDS & RECOGNITION:
