Federal funding to fuel PHAS outreach efforts to under-represented communities

May 22, 2019

The UBC Physics & Astronomy Outreach Program received federal PromoScience funding ($17,500 plus $3,692 supplement) to support efforts to reach under-represented communities.

As part of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the outreach program's purpose is to communicate to the community at large the excitement and wonder of physics and astronomy, and its relevance to global issues such as energy, climate change and the communications revolution. The program was started by PHAS Professor Michael Crooks and others in the late 70s with events like the Physics Olympics (BC secondary schools). The program got a permanent home (Michael Crooks Lab) in 1996, and expanded greatly when the department hired Theresa Liao, our first permanent Communications Coordinator, in 2008. 

With a mandate to cultivate interests in physics in young students - especially girls, indigenous youth and those from underprivileged communities - the program now offers a wide range of activities, from summer camps, science competitions, to teacher workshops and public lectures. Annually, the program reaches ~4000 children and youth directly through our own programs, and another 3-5000 via programs organized by other partners.

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