The event started at 10:00am with speakers from the museum, a sneak preview of The Future Earth Exhibit and presentations from thefamous Artic explorer Will Steger; science advocate, humanitarian and author Shawn Otto and science editor of BoingBoing.net, Maggie Koerth-Baker. After lunch we were given behind the scenes tours of the Minnesota Science Museum. My favorite part of the tour was the science house. The science house is a small net zero building behind the museum, which means that is produces all the energy that it uses! I was also impressed by the carpentry shops and the fact that the Minnesota Science Museum builds all of their own exhibits and exhibits for other science museums around the country.
My most interesting conversation of the day was with polar expedition explorer Will Steger who had spoken earlier inthe day. Mr. Steger has spent his entire life as an explorer and has seen first hand the effects of global warming. When I asked Mr. Steger about his life as a child and when he knew he wanted to lead expeditions he told me an awesome story. As a 13 year old boy he gave up his hockey skates and began to focus on his dreams to be an explorer. He wasn’t focused on making money or the regular dreams that most people have but rather something bigger. It was at this time that he began to form his dreams of exploration that led him to an extraordinary life – not only as an explorer of the Arctic, but an advocate to save the place he had grown to love. He has received international acclaim, started the Will Steger Foundationdedicated to creating programs that foster international leadership and cooperation through environmental education and policy and continues his mission to educate people and help save our earth.What I learned from Mr. Steger is that if you have a dream and you work hard to accomplish it, you can do great things. My dream is to someday be the first astronaut to go to Mars. While this may seem impossible to many, I know it is within my reach. Having the chance to meet Will Steger and talk with him about his journey only solidifies my own dream to be a space explorer and change the world with what I find.
Thank you to Liz Heineke, the Science Museum of Minnesota and all the people who made this Tweetup and experience a possibility. I hope that the Science Museum of Minnesota will continue to host events such as this to excite and encourage people to get involved in the science community.
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