The Canadian Museum of Nature is experimenting with a lecture series called NatureTalks as a way to show off the museum’s research and engage adults in scientific discussion.
The NatureTalks series is part of a larger shift in the Canadian Museum of Nature’s programming. Recently, the museum has been trying to reach out to a new kind of museum visitor.
Other events such as Nature Nocturne, for which museum exhibits are transformed into dance floors and bars on the last Friday of every month, were established as ways to attract adults and offer them different opportunities to experience the museum.
“We’re trying to look beyond our traditional visitor, which is families with small children and school groups, and helping other groups to feel welcome in the museum as well,” says Cynthia Iburg, the program co-ordinator.
“We’re looking for ways to show people that this museum – this national museum – does belong to everybody and everyone is welcome,” she says.
The monthly talks bring in adults to learn about and discuss science with an expert. For each talk, a journalist interviews a researcher from the museum on a scientific topic in front of a live audience.
The interview format is partially modelled after the conversational format in the show The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, according to Iburg.
“It’s really about two people delving into a topic rather than one person talking about it to an audience,” says Iburg.
“One of the things we really wanted to do with this is go beyond delivering information and get people thinking and talking,” she says.
The format puts a spin on the more traditional lectures the museum previously hosted.
“I just think it’s a really interesting way to bring out information and personality at the same time,” says Ivan Semeniuk, a science journalist for the Globe and Mail, who conducted the interview for the first NatureTalks event.
After the talk, there is a meet-and-greet at a wine bar in the museum, where the public can discuss and debate the topic with the journalist and researcher.
“It was a really good response. I had all kinds of people wanting to ask follow-up questions, maybe ask questions that weren’t asked during the interview,” says Jordan Mallon, the researcher who was interviewed by Semeniuk.
Mallon and Semeniuk covered the topic of de-extinction for the January talk, which explored whether extinct species could or should be resurrected. Mallon found the audience was really passionate about the topic by the end of the evening.
“I remember one family who had come together as a family and they were really getting into it with one another. I guess some of them were on one side of de-extinction and the others were on the other side,” says Mallon.
“They were laughing about it. But at the same time, they were having a real discussion about science."
The next NatureTalks event will be held Tuesday, March 18. Audience members must be at least 16 years old to attend.