Science Museum of Minnesota looks ahead to major STEM expansion

CATHY WURZER: The Science Museum of Minnesota located in Saint Paul's getting ready to expand as the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics becomes a bigger part of our future. The museum is looking to grow its stem footprint. Joining us right now to share details about this new endeavor is the science museum of Minnesota's president and CEO Alison Brown. Alison, thanks for the time.

ALISON BROWN: Thank you for joining me look forward to our conversation.

CATHY WURZER: I understand this is the start of a seven-year project, what's the goal?

ALISON BROWN: So our overall goal, our vision is really to inspire people to see themselves in STEM as you called it science, technology, engineering, math careers. And we know that those careers are needed more than ever and there's a shortage of people going into those careers already.

CATHY WURZER: So I'm betting there's going to be a lot of programming around this.

ALISON BROWN: Yes, it's actually interesting, we think about this combined together, the programmatic changes and the physical changes really work together to reinforce each other and help us achieve our vision and our goals and a lot of it is with partnerships with other organizations as well.

CATHY WURZER: You mentioned physical, there's also a physical expansion with this endeavor, is that right?

ALISON BROWN: Well, yes and no. And I'll explain, first I'm going to say we love our location along the Mississippi River in Saint Paul and we will be staying here. We actually will not be expanding the footprint of the building, but we're looking at how we can expand our public floor space through a more effective use of the space given how technology is now, given how our community is evolving and changing, and as well as taking advantage of our outdoor spaces.

CATHY WURZER: So some space tweaks. Now going back to the programming about this, are you hoping to what expand into schools, increase your programming at the Science Museum? How will that work?

ALISON BROWN: Yeah, that's a good question and we actually are looking to expand both. So right now we reach all 87 counties with our STEM education programs, but we in the past have only reached about 40% of the public schools. And of course, we work with all schools, so we're working on programs and ways to expand that reach and that's really through partnerships. There are a lot of wonderful organizations throughout the state that we can partner with to deliver STEM programming, STEM education in just around the state as well.

CATHY WURZER: How does this fit into the museum's strategic plan?

ALISON BROWN: Our board approved our strategic plan two years ago as we were thinking about coming out of the pandemic and it really fits into a couple of our goals, and actually there are only three goals in the plan. Of course, there's a lot of work to deliver those goals and one of them is to advance STEM success for individuals who have not traditionally seen themselves in STEM careers so really focus on BIPOC youth girls and women, trans, and nonbinary people and helping, not helping but inspiring them to see themselves moving into STEM careers. And then the other is around delivering our bold experiences in science to inspire change.

CATHY WURZER: Because climate change is so top of mind, will that also be a part of this vision?

ALISON BROWN: Yes, that's a good point. This is actually an organizing theme within our building footprint, we are looking at what we're calling a vertical exhibit on climate change and on each floor we'll talk about climate change and not just climate change but what are some of the actions we can take? Either individually, as a family, as an organization, as a community, as a nation to stop some of the climate change that's happening. We can't stop climate change, but we can ameliorate some of the progress that is happening and there are already solutions in place today. And those solutions actually require more people going into STEM.

CATHY WURZER: How do you balance getting kids excited about climate work, educating them about this, but then there's also these harsh realities of climate change, there's a lot of angst and trauma around it?

ALISON BROWN: You're right and for many kids, they see their future and worry about this climate change because they're the ones who are really going to be living in it. We can't be pollyanna about it, but there are solutions we can implement now. We know this is an important that we take action now, we can't wait for the next generation to do it, we need to start taking action now. So there are opportunities for us to create the change that's needed as we all work together.

CATHY WURZER: Alison not to bring up a difficult period but last year some 15 employees were laid off and other positions were not filled because of a budget shortfall caused in part by the pandemic. You mentioned the museum moving out of the pandemic, is the museum's financial outlook stable enough to dive into this larger endeavor right now?

ALISON BROWN: Yes, and actually that's a good question that our board asked as well, and we wrangled with as we went through this process. And now is actually the time to do it, that was a very challenging period, very obviously more challenging for those employees that were impacted. The pandemic hugely affected us financially as it did many organizations, but what a difference a year makes. We're seeing increased attendance, we're not back to where we were, we're seeing increased fundraising. So we are in a much better place now than we were a year ago.

CATHY WURZER: So you depend on attendance, fundraising as you say, grant funding I'm sure it pays for some particular projects, do you need to go to the legislature to ask for any bonding money for the physical parts of this expansion?

ALISON BROWN: That is certainly in our plan and we are working with them and with everybody involved to see what the opportunities are and remind everybody what a beloved asset we are and how our work reaches all across the state, and actually not just across the state but around the nation.

CATHY WURZER: So you mentioned partnerships, who can you, can you drop any names in terms of organizations that might want to partner with you on this?

ALISON BROWN: Oh, we have a lot of partnerships. We work with a lot of environmental groups that we partner with either on our science or on our STEM education. We're talking with 4-H Clubs and some of the leadership there because they are throughout the state and really know their communities and what's needed within those communities. So we have hundreds of partnerships that we have worked on and continue to dive deeper into.

CATHY WURZER: And when will this launch?

ALISON BROWN: The campaign officially launches at the end of, we are on a fiscal year so it will be July 1, so this summer is when the official launch and we are in the phase of looking to acquire some transformational gifts from individuals, foundations, and corporations to help us achieve our goals.

CATHY WURZER: What excites you about this on a personal level?

ALISON BROWN: What really excites me is one, it is continuing the vision of what was started when we moved here to the Mississippi River. It is really thinking about how we can have an impact in collaboration with others and that to me is extremely exciting because we can't do this alone. Some of these topics are so large, climate change, equity, how we inspire more people to see themselves in STEM. It's not something we can accomplish alone and so what's exciting to me is to think about what we can do together as a collective.

CATHY WURZER: Alison Brown, I appreciate your time and best of luck moving forward.

ALISON BROWN: We look forward to seeing you at the museum and bringing our plans forward as we move into the future.

CATHY WURZER: Alison Brown is the president and CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota.