Hard economic times and changing social trends have some museums undergoing a 21st century re-design. The focus is on creating more visitor-centered exhibits using new media tools and more input from the public. Some technology and history museums in the Bay Area are helping to lead the way, as you will hear in our radio piece.

When the public is invited in to help design exhibits, it can create faster turnover and more affordable exhibits. The Tech Museum in San Jose, for example, held a competition in Second Life. The public was asked to design exhibits on the theme of art, music and film. Entries came from as far away as England and China. Winners were awarded five thousand dollars each and asked to translate their designs into a real life gallery space. That exhibit is now on display at the Tech.  According to the Tech's Director, Peter Friess, the exhibit could have taken three years to design. Instead, it took six months. Museum directors are hoping that asking the public to help generate, share and update content will also create more loyalty and drive up ticket sales.

Some people cringe at the idea of asking the public to design museum exhibits. They point to the unlimited number of cat videos on You Tube and ask, "is this really what we want to do to museums?" The museum directors I spoke with say that there is still a role for the curator in this new model, but as more of an educated facilitator than an autocratic, removed taste-setter. Nina Simon, a participatory exhibit designer who writes a blog called Museum 2.0 thinks about this question a lot and has some interesting ideas.

While the participatory, hands-on movement has been around for awhile, these museums are picking up on a cultural shift – and it's not just Bay Area history and technology museums. The Smithsonian American Art Museum was the first to offer an alternate-reality game. The director of the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore thinks the mission of museums may be expanding to include social services. The Brooklyn Museum created a temporary exhibit, "Click," using crowd sourcing and the Museum of Minnesota created a permanent exhibition based on nominations from the public. I wonder what Web 3.0 will bring?

Listen to the Museum 2.0 radio report online.

Kids will want to keep learning science when they see how fun it is.The economy is in the tank and so the cuts at schools begin. And of course one of the first things on the chopping block is anything that can keep kids interested in science.

These programs tend to be more expensive than other programs and so are natural targets for the axe.  For example, at my kids' school, they are cutting 5^th grade science camp.

Kids go off for a 5 day trip to a place out in the woods to study nature.  The kids have a blast and can see that science is more than memorizing phyla or sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic rocks.  Instead they get to explore nature and use books to figure out what they're seeing.

And if history is any guide, there will be a big fall off in field trips to zoos and museums too.  These are more places where kids can see that science is actually a lot of fun.

Some might argue that if money is limited these programs should be cut.  This is true only if we want a workforce that can't do the jobs that are becoming available in our information based economy.

To do well in the future job market, people are going to need a good basic understanding of science and/or engineering.  Think about what an auto mechanic does these days.  Or a nurse or a radiologist.

We need to keep people studying science for their own good.  And frankly, for the good of the U.S. as well.

One of the keys to getting more people to take the science they need is to show them how fun and exciting it is.  We need to let them see that science is actually about studying the mysteries of the natural world and applying them to make that world a better place.

This is what the programs that are going to be cut do.  Without them, schools will continue to turn kids away from science.  And the U.S. will fall behind other countries.

I have no idea what programs should be cut instead and I am sure that other people see higher priorities than science camp.  But I think it is time that public schools recognized that science is as important to a student's future as are the three R's.  Someone needs to come up with a way to make science into an R so we can have the four R's.  Any ideas?

Go Bears! is more than a cheer, but a mantra to live life by…as long as you're a Berkeley alum like myself. On Saturday April 18^th, the University opens up to the public…lectures, interactive events, tours, all of the campus museums (most of which aren't usually open to the public)… and it's all free.

Many programs are geared for incoming students and their families. However, there are a few gems designed for everyone. This year's highlights feature hands on physics, discussions on energy & environmental issues, with the search for extra terrestrial life sprinkled in. For a complete listing of events, check out the Cal Day website. Here are my picks:

Darwin, Dover, and Intelligent Design: What's Next for Anti-Evolutionists?

10-11 am, 2050 Valley Life Sciences Building

Hear a national expert on evolution discuss the conflicts between evolution and creationism, and where this debate is headed.

Mobile Millennium: The System That Keeps Traffic Moving

10-11 am, Sibley Auditorium

This traffic-monitoring system collects data and sends it to your cell phone to help you take the best routes. Be an early adopter of this developing technology; learn how following the lecture or from 1:30 to 3 pm outside McCone Hall.

Are We Wired for Good?

11 am-noon, 145 Dwinelle Hall

Is the capacity for compassion, gratitude, and other positive emotions built into our nervous systems? Are such emotions the path to happiness? The founder of Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center has some answers.

What Is the Large Hadron Collider?

11 am-noon, 4 LeConte Hall

It's the world's largest and most powerful particle accelerator. Hear how it works and discover the exciting things it might reveal about our amazing universe.

Will Water Be the Oil of the 21st Century? A Quest for Sustainable Water Management

11 am-noon, 502 Davis Hall

Water is a limited natural resource, and its importance can be compared to that of oil. Examine the parallels between these two resources, and the future of water sustainability.

How Global Climate Change Will Affect the Oceans

Noon-1 pm, 141 McCone Hall

Warmer surface waters, rising sea levels, more storms, and increased carbon dioxide – all will have an impact on marine ecosystems, coasts, islands, estuaries, and wetlands.

The Dark Side of the Universe

Noon-1 pm, 100 Genetics & Plant Biology Building

The universe is mostly made up of "dark matter" – what evidence do we have that it exists? Hear how we're searching for this mysterious component of the universe.

Genes in a Bottle

Noon-2 pm, Latimer Hall

Learn how DNA is chemically extracted from organisms for research applications. Then extract DNA from your own cheek cells, and take it home in a fashionable necklace!

How Do Cars Fit Into a Clean-Energy Future?

1-2 pm, 105 Stanley Hall

Can car lovers also be planet lovers? How will our favorite vehicle evolve as the need to manage global warming intensifies? Energy and Resources Group Professor Dan Kammen

Is Anybody Out There?

1-2 pm, 3 LeConte Hall

Hear about Berkeley's SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) program at the world's largest telescope, the Allen array. Volunteers have a small but captivating chance that their computer will detect the first signal from a civilization beyond Earth.

One of the questions that was asked before beginning work on the new California Academy of Sciences was what should a natural history museum in the 21st century look like? The architect Renzo Piano felt that it was stripping away halls and letting light and transparency foster community and growth. The exhibit designers believed it was breaking down the linear stories and creating a space for people to formulate their own story through vignettes of content. Ryan Wyatt, director of the Planetarium and Science Visualization believed that the museum should not just be within the walls but rather mesh and evolve through multi-media.

Science in Action is metamorphosis of creating a "un-museum" through multi-media as well as a tie with the Academy's past. Our in-house news program filmed at the Academy was branded the same name. Today, Science in Action exists on the floor as a breaking news exhibit. The exhibit contains four screens that scroll through four breaking stories about science. One story is changed out every week, thus all stories revolve out within a month's time. Science in Action will not end there. The production team is working on the next phase of uploading content on the Internet along with surveys and special clips to facilitate interaction. Once a month, evening programming beginning in mid winter will use content in Science in Action for programming. The experts will be here in person to go more in depth. The stories are not just for the screen but spread out through the museum as well as through community partners and experts.

I was asked recently to join the content team for Science in Action to get a real feel for the production side in order to better deliver programs for the evening events. The production team consists of staff from research, the aquarium, production, public programs and education. We meet once a week to brainstorm and once a story is chosen the production team works in collaboration with the content team to make an idea into a news story with a week turn-around. Last week, we did a piece on the Cosco-Busan oil spill for its year anniversary. I was able to help edit the script through the mock up, rough-cut, interviews, and final visual edit. A colleague and I drafted a summary and survey of the piece to be used in connection. It was a great team effort. This team effort will take place every week to turn out more than 60 stories per year. It is also an evolving process with equal input from the content and production team and will generate not only content for the floor, but for the web, partners, iTunes, and public programs.

It is projects like this that make me love where I work, as I am challenged to be informed and enmeshed in all the amazing discoveries in technology and science. Natural museums in this day and age must be cognizant that information is available everywhere. Museums that strive to be current have to embrace the information age and be comfortable updating content on a more regular basis as well as interacting with their virtual audience. Exhibits and multi-media were designed for the Academy with this in mind and will change accordingly. Like research expanding with new discoveries, our public floor will change in pace with science.

The California Academy of SciencesThe California Academy of Sciences is officially the greenest museum on the planet. LEED, which stands for Leadership in Environmental Engineering and Design, is under the umbrella of the U.S. Green Building Council. It is the benchmark for certification and ranking of green buildings throughout the United States and the world. LEED gave the Academy the highest rating of Platinum for a green building on October 7, 2008. Fifty-two points are needed to for a Platinum rating and the Academy received fifty-four points.

Before starting construction, the Academy was committed to creating a Platinum building to exemplify and embody the Academy mission to explore, explain and protect the natural world. Thirty-four of the fifty-four points were received for the construction of the building. The remaining twenty points were awarded a year after the building was built to ensure that all systems worked effectively. LEED awards its point in the following categories: sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality and innovation and design process. The examples below touch upon the many ways the Academy took on the commitment to a green building and sustainability:

• The new Academy was integrated into the natural environment of Golden Gate Park. The vision of Renzo Piano, the architect of the building, was to lift an acre of the park up and put a museum underneath. His use of light and transparency further reinforces the integration with the park.

• By absorbing rainwater, the new Academy's living roof prevents up to 3.6 million gallons of runoff from carrying pollutants into the ecosystem each year (about 98% of all storm water).

• Over 90% of the demolition waste from the old Academy was recycled. 9,000 tons of concrete were reused in Richmond roadway construction, 12,000 tons of steel were recycled and went to Schnitzer Steel, and 120 tons of green waste were recycled on site. Most of the materials used to build the new building were also sustainable. All the steel in the building was recycled and the insulation within the walls was made from recycled blue jeans.

• Radiant floor heating reduces energy needs by 5-10%. Heat recovery systems also captures and utilizes heat produced by HVAC equipment, reducing heating energy use.

• At least 90% of regularly occupied spaces has access to daylight and outside views, reducing energy use and heat gain from electric lighting.

• Rather than hiding the green aspects of the building, they are in plain sight. Such examples include the living roof, use of remarkably clear glass, skylights, concrete with recycled bio-ash and a motorized ventilation system. The green building is an exhibit in itself.

Galapagos TortoiseOpening is less than a month away, 24 days to be exact – energy (and endurance!) is at an all time high. It is not uncommon to see people working all hours of the day and night. It is becoming a joke amongst staff that 90% of their job description falls under other duties as assigned.

This has always been an inside joke for me as project management has ranged from animal handling to chocolate tastings during my four year tenure here. My position title finally caught up with my nebulous role – Manager, Special Programming. So when I was asked to help out with exhibits, I was up to the challenge. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!

Right now, exhibits is installing over two hundred specimens into the exhibit cases on the public floor. There is one master list that denotes common name, species name, acquisition source, contact information, dimensions, and status. I was put in charge of updating and organizing that list. This gives the exhibit team more time to clean, catalogue, measure and mount the many specimens before opening day. Specimen mounting is taking place just behind the timeline of exhibit installation. The East Pavilion of exhibit cabinets are almost complete now and the tabletop and wall-mounted cases are being fitted for specimens before the dust has settled from building the overall exhibit framework.

It’s a daunting but very worthwhile task. I get to pour over the master list, sitting in a holding and cleaning room while being stared at by anything from barnacles to a majestic Mountain Lion.

Five of my favorite reptiles have recently relocated to the Galapagos area in the East Pavilion. They are five Galapagos Tortoises mounted on the Tortoise wall. You might not know that Galapagos is Spanish for tortoise and the chain of islands made famous by Charles Darwin were literally named after their largest and oldest residents – the Galapagos Tortoise. One of the perks of double checking information on the Tortoises was noting their metal classification tags. They date back to early 1900's when these specimens were brought back to San Francisco on the Academy Schooner. The Galapagos collection from the Academy voyage revitalized the museum after existing collections were lost in the 1906 earthquake. After the Academy opens to the public, guests will be able to get up close to Academy history in way of the Darwin Finches and Galapagos Tortoises. Some of our collections have never been out on display before. The Finches need incredibly sensitive mounted cases because they are so rare and scientifically valuable.

Helping with this process and seeing the minute detail that is takes to present specimens in a museum setting has been remarkable. I spend a lot of time now going over tiny details but every minute will be worth it when the Academy opens.

By the time I was ten years old I knew the old California Academy of Sciences building by heart. After countless birthday parties, field trips and family outings, my brother and I, along with our sugar-filled urchin gang of friends and cousins, could have led tours of "the Aquarium."

There was the sunken swamp pit where we would crowd to the railing in hopes of seeing the alligators move. Around the other side were the strange amphibians and reptiles, where we would sidestep from window to window until we came upon the two-headed snake. There was the dark aquarium, were we could pretend to be underwater explorers, "diving" with sharks and electric eels and glow-in-the-dark fish. Then off to the planetarium to watch the pendulum swing, waiting impatiently for it to knock over a peg. We would go on a safari through African Hall with its dusty old stuffed lions, gazelles and giraffes, eat lunch in the courtyard and climb up on the smooth Bufano statues. Over 30 years later, I can close my eyes and see the whole place as it was. Glorious.

Nostalgia can be a pretty tough critic. When the California Academy began the process of replacing the old building in Golden Gate Park, I had little hope that they would "do it right." I had watched powerlessly as an incongruously stark copper "aircraft carrier" replaced the classical De Young Museum across the way. What would happen to "my" beloved aquarium?

My fears were somewhat alleviated as I watched the new Cal Academy building taking shape. In QUEST’s television story about green building, we learned about the living roof and other cool stuff. Still I reserved judgment until I could see it for myself.

When we got our behind-the-scenes tour, it blew me away. On the outside, while clearly modern in design, the building still flows well with the botanic surroundings. It looks like it belongs there, incorporating classic architectural elements harkening back to the cherished old Academy and maintaining a synergy with the other buildings in the park. On the inside the Cal Academy is very different from the place I see when I close my eyes. There is a new rainforest housed in what looks like a grand bio-dome. There is also a new planetarium, aquarium and natural history museum. While expanded and brilliantly redesigned, I think ten-year-old me would immediately recognize this place. They saved many of the iconic touches that made the old place so special to me.

For example, I had not realized how much impact something like a railing could make. But for a small boy rushing to see the alligators at the old aquarium, the first thing he would encounter without really realizing it would be that brass seahorse railing. They saved it and now countless more children will lean over those lined-up seahorses to look below at the alligators. They also saved the old pendulum; recreated African Hall much the way it was and they assured me the Bufano statues would have a home there. All these things fit in seamlessly with the beautiful new surroundings filled with light. I only wish the two-headed snake was alive to see it all.

Watch the "Cal Academy Comes to Life" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

At 5pm on Sunday January 6, 2008, California Academy of Sciences closed its temporary location in order to start the move back to Golden Gate Park. On September 27, 2008 the Academy will open to the public once again in its new home in the Park. Many curious museum-goers have asked, why the long gap between closing and opening? 265 days is long time to move across town.

What is on the public floors of the museum is just the tip of the iceberg of the Academy's collections. Over a span of more than 150 years, the Academy has built an invaluable collection that acts as a strong backbone for the museum. Twenty million research specimens and 38,000 live animals have to be carefully packed and transported. The Academy is undertaking the most massive move ever undertaken by a museum.

The Botany collection was the first to move out of Howard Street. It took only eleven and a half days to move two million specimens. For perspective, it took 61,300 cardboard inserts bundled with over 40 miles of twine to bundle the flora. Botany is only one of eight Academy research departments preparing to move.

The Academy's packing list is as varied as its research. Ornithology and Mammalogy have to transport Monarch, the last Grizzly bear of California. Because of its size and girth, it will not be boxed. However, it will take several movers to transport it carefully. Monarch will be joined by 30,000 other mammal specimens, including study pelts, skulls, skeletons, and the world's largest collection of marine mammal specimens.

It will be even more challenging to move the Academy's live animals. 38,000 live animals will be moved, water included, back to the Park in tanks of varying sizes. One of the aquarium's Australian Lungfish will be the oldest living animal to move. Over seventy years old, this fish has seen the Academy through many changes– a move to Howard Street, and now the move back to Golden Gate Park.

The Academy's Galápagos collection will also be packed up. It features thousands of Geospizine Finches (the group studied by Darwin) and the world's largest collection of reptiles from the Galápagos.

Cultural keepsakes will be preserved. Pre-Columbian Inca clothing, 12th Century Persian ceramics, fragile feather leis, full-sized Native Alaskan kayaks, 500 Japanese folk toys, and a renowned collection of eating utensils will also find their home in Golden Gate Park.

To give you a sense of the immensity of the project, 20 million specimens include the following:

• Over 200,000 fish specimens preserved in alcohol, including a rare coelacanth (thought to be extinct until discovered in the 1930s);
• 14.5 million insects and arachnids, including more than 874,789 flies, some 524,666 true bugs, nearly 3 million beetles, and more than 700,000 butterflies and moths;
• Nearly 100,000 bird specimens, including the now-extinct Guadalupe Storm Petrel and 10,600 sets of bird nests and eggs;
• More than a quarter of a million reptiles and amphibians from 166 countries.

The sheer volume of this move makes it a migration. Over 20 million specimens can not be moved in a day. It will take every one of those 265 days to move and prepare to share the wealth of the Academy once again with the public. To find out more about this "Great Migration" and the museum that will ultimately house the collections – visit http://www.calacademy.org/newacademy.

Cat Aboudara is the Special Projects Manager at California Academy of Sciences and works in the public programs division. The Academy is a wonderful fit for her because of her curiosity about the natural world and her experience in working with native California wildlife.

latitude: 37.769, longitude: -122.467

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science." – Albert Einstein

Photo credit: Dr. Richard Mooi

It is not often that the public is able to see the components and care that go into creating a museum exhibit. However the California Academy of Sciences hosted a lecture on Tuesday, From the Depths: Creating a Science and Art Exhibit at the Academy, which delved into why the creation of an art exhibit at a science museum has been such a meaningful project for both painter Tiffany Bozic and Dr. Rich Mooi, Curator of Invertebrate Zoology and Geology at the Academy.

Both Bozic and Mooi grew up surrounded by the natural world and remain passionate about exploring it today. Bozic grew up on a farm in Arkansas where she was involved with animals every day. Throughout her career, she has drawn on the natural world to create a dialogue about a universal human condition, often expressing her ideas through animal imagery. Mooi began sketching early in life in the forested areas outside of his home in Ontario and has continued to paint and illustrate all his life. He views illustration as a tool to capture complex processes, like how minute currents travel along a sea urchin's spines — a process that cannot be adequately captured with photography or other media.

Fine art often raises questions and allows people to look inward, while science is tasked with solidifying answers and methods. But rather than focus on differences between the two fields, Bozic and Mooi are excited by the commonalities they share. During the lecture on creating the exhibit, each demonstrated how they are inspired by both science and art. Though photos don't do the actual paintings justice, here's a taste of what's on display: http://www.calacademy.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=13658.

In listening to the lecture and talking with Bozic and Mooi afterwards, both stressed how important and unusual the "dialogue" between art and science is. They are each fascinated by the beauty found in the natural world, though they work with it in unique ways: one opens it up to interpretation, while the other clarifies its ambiguities.

What they found working together on this art installation was a deep commonality. Bozic related how they were both just completely blown away by the vast number and diversity of specimens in the Academy's collections. It was like being a five year old again and exploring. Mooi added that both artists and scientists share a love and appreciation of objects. So much detail goes into working with specimens — both the artist and scientist must have a passionate drive to work with such intricacies. Both Bozic and Mooi feel their work is fueled by inspiration and awe.

They expect that many questions will arise among people viewing From the Depths. As visitors go through the art installation, they will also observe the process of what inspired the exhibit in the first place, and perhaps wonder about the relationship between science and art. It will open the visitor up to appreciating the beauty of nature, and the need to convey that beauty. Art and science are just two perspectives of conveying nature: one by questioning and the other by answering, but both open up new worlds.

Mooi ended our talk with a reminder of how much there is to observe and learn among the millions of real objects within the walls of the California Academy of Sciences. These real things in and of themselves are objects to be appreciated, and this art installation puts them in the limelight as things of beauty, similar to Bozic's paintings.

To join in on the process, come to the opening reception of From the Depths: Inspiring Science and Art on Thursday, November 15th from 5pm to 9pm. The exhibit will be open from November 15, 2007 to January 6, 2008 when the Academy's Howard Street location closes.

Cat Aboudara is the Special Projects Manager at California Academy of Sciences and works in the public programs division. The Academy is a wonderful fit for her because of her curiosity about the natural world and her experience in working with native California wildlife.

latitude: 37.7819, longitude: -122.404