Exhibit to Show How Boston Counters Climate-Change Effects

09/26/2014

Contacts for media:
UMass Boston – Anna Pinkert, Anna.Pinkert@umb.edu, 617-287-5459
UMass Lowell – Christine Gillette, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu, 978-934-2209
Museum of Science – AJ Gosselin, AGosselin@mos.org, 617-589-0251
Texas State University – Jayme Blaschke, jb71@txstate.edu, 512-245-2180 

BOSTON – An interactive, city-wide exhibit that will launch next month aims to show the public how Boston’s leading businesses, community organizations and government agencies are working to reduce their carbon footprint to help fight global warming.

On Thursday, Oct. 2, “Wicked Smaht! Celebrating Climate Leaders in Boston” will kick off the project and honor individuals and organizations for making the city a more environmentally sustainable place to live, work and visit. The event, which is co-sponsored by ScienceToGo.org and Greenovate Boston, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Dewey Square Park and hosted by the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy.

The month-long exhibit complements a campaign that is educating the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s 475,000 Red and Orange line commuters about Boston’s environmental leaders through posters and car cards in trains and stations. The project is the latest undertaking of ScienceToGo.org, a three-year initiative that has been teaching the public about climate change by bringing science education out of the classroom and into everyday life.

“The ‘Wicked Smaht!’ climate leaders event celebrates exceptional examples of sustainable practices in Boston. One of the goals of ScienceToGo.org is to help Bostonians learn about some amazing efforts to adapt to and mitigate the effects of a changing climate,” said Prof. David Lustick of UMass Lowell’s Graduate School of Education, who is leading the project. “Using out-of-home media to engage a community with the science of global warming is an important step toward ensuring a sustainable future for the city.”  

Preliminary research conducted for ScienceToGo.org showed mass-transit systems could serve as an educational venue, as 80 percent of the MBTA riders surveyed responded they were interested in learning more about climate science.

Researchers and scientists from UMass Lowell, the Museum of Science, UMass Boston and Texas State University are collaborating on ScienceToGo.org. The initiative is supported by a National Science Foundation grant.

“ScienceToGo.org is an important experiment for us because it reaches outside our walls to engage people who might never come to a museum. It requires innovation in our methods. This phase is fun and important, a reminder that we can take sensible action locally to make a difference,” said David Rabkin, Farinon Director for Current Science and Technology at the Museum of Science.

ScienceToGo.org was introduced in 2013 via the MBTA. Each month, T riders see new messages from “Ozzie the Ostrich” and his flock, who, instead of putting their heads in the sand on the issue, share insights about how climate change affects the Boston area and how the public can get involved with efforts to avert it.

Along with the public-transit campaign, in May, during an above-ground exhibit known as “Storm Surge,” Ozzie and his fellow birds, in the form of 8-foot-tall blue ostrich figures, were located throughout the city to demonstrate where sea-level rise could be significant if the effects of climate change are not mitigated.

“With this project, we wanted to see how effective using public spaces for educational purposes would be. We’ve seen that Bostonians are eager to learn more about climate change and have paid attention to our ostriches on the T. While the previous phase of the project focused on the relevance of climate change for Boston, we are happy to wrap up the campaign with the message of hope by using the familiar ostriches to show that Bostonians can and are doing things to respond to climate change,” said Jill Lohmeier, a professor in UMass Lowell’s Graduate School of Education.


From now though the end of November, ScienceToGo.org will focus on ways in which Bostonians are “Wicked Smaht!” in their actions to combat climate change.  During this final phase, MBTA posters and placards, along with ostrich figures at locations around the city, will feature businesses, community organizations and government agencies that embrace environmental stewardship.

“While the number of organizations doing their part to mitigate the effects of climate change in Boston is growing everyday, the multi-colored, eight-foot ostriches remain rare birds. These temporary, fact-laden displays represent some of today's most innovative and attention-grabbing tactics used in issue-advocacy communications. It’s also a novel and fun way to highlight the importance of this subject,” said Rick Wilson, assistant professor of marketing at Texas State University.

In addition to seeing the ostriches in person, the public can get involved through social media. Users can interact with Ozzie via @BostonOstrich on Twitter, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/sciencetogo and with the “PaparOzzie” mobile app – available at www.sciencetogo.org  – that allows people to take a photo with Ozzie and post it.

“The people of Boston should be proud that they are ‘wicked smaht’ in caring about climate change, dreaming up innovative solutions, and having the will to try them. However, many of us do not know how Boston is leading the way in climate change adaptation and mitigation. The brightly colored, unusual birds bring attention to just a few of the many strategies that Bostonians are employing to battle climate change,” said Prof. Robert Chen, a faculty member in the School for the Environment at UMass Boston.

The MBTA has provided pro-bono advertising space on placards and car cards for ScienceToGo.org. Brodeur Partners and Bowman Global Change, with designer Ed Hackley, developed the campaign’s creative concept and design after seeking input from an advisory board that included representatives from the MBTA, the Smithsonian Institution and other organizations.

Providing ScienceToGo.org with additional assistance are the Back Bay Architectural Commission; Boston Architectural College; Boston Arts Commission; Boston Arts, Tourism and Special Events Department; Boston Parks Department; Boston Public Works Department; Emerald Necklace Conservancy; Friends of Post Office Square; Image4; Island Alliance; the Lenox Hotel; National Parks Service; and the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay.

UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its more than 17,000 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health and environment, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu

The Museum of Science, Boston: One of the world’s largest science centers and Boston’s most attended cultural institution, the Museum introduces about 1.5 million visitors a year to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) via dynamic programs and interactive exhibits. Founded in 1830, the Museum was first to embrace all the sciences under one roof. Highlights include the Thomson Theater of Electricity, Charles Hayden Planetarium, Mugar Omni Theater, Gordon Current Science & Technology Center and Butterfly Garden. The Museum’s “Science is an Activity” exhibit plan has influenced science centers worldwide. The Museum has been recognized by Boston and Cambridge for its energy efforts. Visit www.mos.org. Follow the Museum of Science on Twitter at @MuseumOfScience or Facebook at www.facebook.com/museumofscience.

Recognized for its innovative research addressing complex issues, the University of Massachusetts Boston, metropolitan Boston’s only public university, offers its diverse student population both an intimate learning environment and the rich experience of a great American city. UMass Boston’s ten colleges and graduate schools serve 16,000 students while engaging local, national and international constituents through academic programs, research centers, and public service activities. To learn more about UMass Boston, visit www.umb.edu.

Texas State is an emerging research university located in the Austin-San Antonio corridor on the edge of the Texas Hill Country. With an enrollment in excess of 35,000, it is the largest university in the Texas State University System. Texas State offers bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees to its diverse campus community, with minority students comprising more than 28 percent of total enrollment. It is one of the top 20 producers of Hispanic baccalaureate graduates in the nation. To learn more about Texas State, visit www.txstate.edu.