The Site of Rik Panganiban
A friend asked me to suggest some local places to bring a group of young people who were interesting in engineering and science. The San Francisco Bay Area is a treasure trove of amazing places to visit for young scientists and engineers. Here’s some of my favorite spots: The California Academy of Sciences is the world’s …
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of co-leading a series of community outreach events in the Philippines, along with my colleague Lindzy. This was part of a much larger "Verde Island Passage" scientific expedition, focused on an area of the Philippines called by some "the center of the center of marine biodiversity" …
Last week I went to a briefing on a recent Malaysian rainforest expedition that took place last fall in Penang, led by Dr. Meg Lowman. A huge undertaking, over 117 people participated in the expedition, including both CAS and Malaysian researchers and volunteers. It drew from expertise across IBSS, including arachnid, ant, bird, mosquito, fly, and fern scientists. …
On Saturday, two groups of teens from the California Academy of Sciences and Nature Bridge gathered at Pillar Point marine sanctuary in Half Moon Bay. This wasn’t a casual beach-day hangout. The goal was to support marine education for our local communities. Nature Bridge is a nonprofit that leads hands-on environmental science experiences for young …
I already mentioned the sessions that I was a part of at ASTC 2017. I'm really excited to talk about my work and projects. But I'm even more excited by the many other sessions that my youth programs team at the California Academy of Sciences are going to be leading at ASTC. The Expanded Learning …
I am thrilled to be returning to the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) conference this year, happening next weekend in San Jose, California. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been to ASTC, one of my favorite science education conventions. And it’s great to have it in our backyard, just a few miles …
On Saturday, I, along with hundreds of others, watched a giant robot punch a car for the first time. Okay, it was kind of a nudge, more than a punch. But small steps! The robot is named the MK.II, and he's getting ready to fight it out against a similar giant robot from Japan. The …
On Saturday, I had the pleasure of going on a cool tour of the Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant in San Francisco. Visiting a water treatment plant might not seem like the most fun thing to do on a weekend, but the tour was actually quite crowded with several couples, families, and interested individuals like …
As you may know, if you follow my other blog, I was recently traveling in South Africa. One of the best parts of my trip was getting to go on a four day safari in Kruger National Park. Being in the Kruger is an incredible experience, one of the most amazing nature experiences I’ve ever …
Last Tuesday, I co-facilitating an educator training in Chicago for Science Action Club, along with my colleague Andrew. I enjoyed getting to share our latest unit Birds in Your Schoolyard with 20 after school educators. We worked hard to make it a fun training for them. They learned about and tested out the latest citizen …