The Nebraska Science Festival finished with a bang April 30 with the free, public expo at the Durham Museum.
The month-long celebration of science, which featured 61 events in 11 different Nebraska cities, drew 500 attendees to the expo alone, with other events pushing the total attendance for the festival to approximately 5,000-plus.
See a photo album from the event.
In addition to the expo, the festival events included:
- Raptors & Rye;
- Lunch & Learn with National Geographic scientist Zoltan Takacs;
- Seuss-sational Science;
- Ms. Frizzle’s Wacky Science Weekend;
- Opera in Conversation: Exploring the Science of Memory with UNMC;
- Social media trivia;
- STEAM Night at Kennedy Elementary School;
- “Ask a Meteorologist” with KETV’s Caitlin Harvey;
- Legos at the Library; and
- A statewide art contest.
“It was wonderful to be able to meet face to face once more with Science Festival attendees,” said SciFest coordinator Kacie Baum, senior manager for events and community engagement, UNMC Strategic Communications. “We were excited to bring back old favorites like the expo, and the public really enjoyed some of our new events, such as Raptors & Rye. And of course, Dr. Takacs presentation was mesmerizing. It’s great to see the community excited about science.”
Baum thanked UNMC’s partners in the festival, including:
- Fred G. Dale Planetarium at Wayne State College;
- Omaha Public Library;
- Omaha Public Schools;
- Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center;
- KETV
- eCreamery; and
- Omaha Performing Arts.
The Nebraska Science Festival began in 2013 as an initiative of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which continues to administer the festival with the assistance of a number of organizations and individuals interested in the advancement of science literacy.
The Science Festival is designed to make science accessible, interactive, relevant and fun for kids and adults alike. In addition to UNMC, other 2022 sponsors included the Metro Credit Union, Streck and media sponsor KETV.
Planning already is underway for the 2023 Festival, which will run April 1-30.