Over 100 delegates from the Canadian Association of Science Centres are touching down in Prince George over the next three days as they hold a national conference.
It’s being hosted by the Exploration Place and this is a rare opportunity that has been seized by the northern capital.
“This is our opportunity to do it within our own industry, it’s not very often the Canadian Association of Science Centres travels to a community of this size or this far north – it’s an exciting opportunity not just for us but for all the delegates. People are really excited,” says Tracy Calogherosm, Exploration Place CEO.
The delegates will waste little time getting to know the area as some key events have been planned.
“The CASC is holding its strategic planning session today, there is a wack of delegates going to the Ancient Forest on a bus tour with an ethnobotanist and an L’heidli knowledge keeper and that should be a really interesting tour.”
A national conference wouldn’t be the same without guest speakers – two are on tap over the course of the three days.
Calogheros says both of them should be able to hold the interest of everyone.
“One of which is Deanna Burgart who refers to herself as an Indigeneer, she’ll be talking to us about the intersection of Indigenous ways of knowing and empirical science.”
The second guest speaker is North Carolina-based Todd Boyette who is the head of the Moorehead Planetarium and is the past president of the Association of Science Museum Directors.
The three-day STEAM conversation, led by some of the sharpest science-based minds around will then be relayed back to the public in some way.
“The notion is as front-line science educators it’s our job to take the real cutting-edge work that’s being done by our researchers in Canada and take that and boil it down to digestible information for the general public.”
Due to the conference, the Exploration Place will be closed to the public Thursday and Friday but will re-open as per normal on Saturday.