Admission and workshop options
Regular museum admission covered ScienceFest’s main activities, while visitors who wanted to take part in the art-and-science workshops had to register separately and pay an additional fee, TownLift reported. The workshops included origami, cyanotype printing, scent-making and alcohol-ink projects, according to TownLift and the Natural History Museum of Utah.
Research on view
The two-day festival was organized in partnership with the University of Utah’s College of Science. ABC4 reported that visitors could tour active research labs, meet scientists and watch physics and chemistry demonstrations. The museum’s event page described ScienceFest as a celebration of science in Utah, with activities intended for a range of ages.
ABC4 also reported that workshop instructors guided participants in activities linking science and art, and that attendees could keep their creations. The museum’s program listed workshops including paper folding, sunlight-based cyanotype photography, scent-making and alcohol-ink art.
Researchers’ messages
In comments reported by ABC4, Shannon Boomgarden, identified as director of NHMU’s Range Creek field station, said questions about human behavior led her to study anthropology. She described asking why or how as a way of thinking scientifically. Daniel Horns, identified as dean of Utah Valley University’s College of Science, said the event could help people see that studying science and pursuing a career in the field are possibilities.
ABC4 also reported that museum executive director Jason Cryan emphasized the broad relevance of understanding nature and science. Organizers’ stated hope, the station reported, was that the festival would encourage people not only to take an interest in science but also to pursue studying or working in it.
