Join our latest +Science On Google+ HOA this Sunday the 18th of May at 2.30 pm Pacific time, as we chat with two of…

Join our latest +Science On Google+ HOA this Sunday the 18th of May at 2.30 pm Pacific time, as we chat with two of our Community members, scientists Jason Osborne  and Dr Aaron Alford. They are co-founders of Paleo Quest, a not-for-profit organisation that promotes research and educational projects in Paleontology for the public (http://paleoquest.org). Jason and Aaron also founded SharkFinder, a STEM education program that studies fossil remains of elasmobranch (shark, skates and ray) along the USA Atlantic coastal plain of Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and South Carolina. SharkFinder provides kits and learning modules for citizens and classrooms to participate in data collection (http://www.sharkfinder.org/). 

Jason and Aaron will talk about their efforts to expand citizen science, with a special focus on how students can be better guided into STEM careers through these hands-on citizen science programs. We will also discuss their upcoming publications that will incorporate data collected by students and the public, as reported by Scientific American (http://goo.gl/4drR1Z). We’ll then chat about how we can better support children from disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in STEM.

This HOA will be hosted by two Moderators from SoG+, Dr Buddhini Samarasinghe  and Dr Zuleyka Zevallos. You can join in the discussion by posting your questions on our Google+ Event page or on Twitter @scienceongoogle using #scienceongoogle . The video will be available afterwards on our YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ScienceHangouts