QUEST is an award-winning multimedia science and environment series created by KQED, San Francisco, the public media station serving Northern California. Launched in February 2007, by the end of its fourth season (in September 2010), QUEST had reached approximately 36 million viewers and listeners through its traditional TV and radio broadcasts and its growing Web audience. QUEST’s ultimate aim is to raise science literacy in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond, inspiring audiences to discover and explore science and environment issues for themselves.
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QUEST's San Francisco Bay Area geographic coverage spans from Mendocino to Monterey and from Sacramento to Santa Clara. The series focuses on nine content areas: astronomy, biology, chemistry, climate, engineering, environment, geology, health, and physics.
Every season, KQED’s QUEST produces:
- half-hour television episodes episodes that air weekly, exploring the cutting-edge work of Northern California scientists and researchers (QUEST airs Wednesdays 7:30pm on KQED Public Television 9);
- weekly radio reports covering urban environmental issues which often include multimedia slide shows, and interactive online maps (QUEST airs Mondays 6:30am and 8:30am on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM);
- Educational resources, for use by formal and informal educators; QUEST also provides professional development for science educators to support multimedia and technology integration in science classrooms and programs;
- 20 six-minute stories for its new web only series, Science on the SPOT, which takes a fresh, fast and curious look at science with stories about albino redwoods, the science of fog and banana slugs, to name a few. (launched in 2010);
- A daily science blog written by Northern California scientists, QUEST producers and science enthusiasts;
- Exclusive web extras, featuring extended interviews with scientists; Flickr photos, and science hikes.
San Francisco Bay Area Partners
QUEST also works closely with 17 San Francisco Bay community partners, not only on events and multimedia trainings, but also to discuss potential story ideas.
QUEST is going national!
And now, in its fifth season, KQED’s QUEST, soon to be know as QUEST Northern California is working closely with six public broadcasting partner stations to expand its science reporting model nationally, piloting the production of a variety of science and environment stories on television, radio, and the Web, including the creation of educational materials aligned with state science standards. QUEST partner stations include: QUEST Nebraska (NET), QUEST North Carolina (UNC-TV), QUEST Northwest (KCTS), QUEST Philadelphia (WHYY), QUEST Ohio (WVIZ,WCPN, ideastream), and QUEST Wisconsin (WPT,WPR,ICS,ECB).
Editorial Guidelines
QUEST follows strict editorial guidelines that have been adopted from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) and National Public Radio (NPR) and uses these guidelines to maintain the integrity of its information and the essential noncommercial nature of its reporting. All of these efforts are directed toward fulfilling KQED’s mission to provide high-quality, noncommercial media that inform, educate and entertain.
Share a Story Idea
We want to hear from you if you have a great idea for a QUEST story. » More