Portal to the Public: Bringing Baylor Research to Mayborn Museum Visitors

The Mayborn Museum’s participation in a unique, nationwide program is helping to enrich the visitor experience and make scientific research engaging for Central Texans young and old.

Facilitated by the Pacific Science Center in Seattle and funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation, Portal to the Public is a national program that connects researchers and experts in the STEM fields with the surrounding community. As a member of the Portal to the Public Network, which includes more than 50 science centers, museums, zoos, universities and other institutions, the Mayborn Museum is fulfilling significant aspects of their own strategic plan launched in 2016.

"Last year, we put together a three-year strategic plan and came up basically with four big ideas," explained Charles Walter, director of the Mayborn Museum. "One of those big ideas is increasing the quality of the visitor experience with the Mayborn. And another is pursuing greater connectedness to Baylor’s students, faculty and staff. Because as you walk our galleries right now, you might not know you’re in a Baylor museum."

Portal to the Public at the Mayborn Museum also provides Baylor University’s nationally recognized faculty and researchers with a stage on which to communicate and demonstrate the real-life, tangible impacts of the work they do.

"When you write a grant, say, an NSF [National Science Foundation] grant, there are two criteria: One is intellectual merit. How great is this research?" Walter explained. "But the second one is, ‘What are the broader impacts of that work?’ So you have to answer this in a national grant. The NSF and these types of organizations love Portal to the Public because it helps researchers be more effective science communicators."

Nancy Minter Garland serves as the Portal to the Public coordinator at the Mayborn Museum. Among her many responsibilities, she conducts a comprehensive, four-hour workshop for Baylor scientists aimed at helping them devise fresh, engaging ways to present their research clearly and simply for museumgoers, while incorporating activities and displays that attract visitors of all ages.

"All scientists want to show the value of their work. Communicating with the community is a way to demonstrate that I’m making a contribution," said Fan Zhang, post-doctoral fellow in environmental science. "I’m obviously very proud of my work, but if no one understands what it is or what it means, I can only be happy or proud by myself."

Walter also sees Portal to the Public as a means of cultivating a better informed citizenry and providing Baylor University and Central Texas with a world-class museum.

"Portal to the Public is helping the Mayborn to be a more effective museum, standing ‘toe to toe’ with museums like the Pacific Science Center, doing work in the broader, public understanding of science, technology, mathematics and engineering which is so critical to the future of our country," Walter said. "The average U.S. citizen spends only five percent of their waking life in a classroom. Portal to the Public gives the Museum a chance to reach individuals at any stage of their life."

To learn more about Portal to the Public at the Mayborn Museum and to see a schedule of upcoming events, visit baylor.edu/mayborn.