Humanize scientists, demystify the process of scientific discovery, and make STEM career mentoring accessible to all.
SciAll.org (incorporated in the United States as the 501(c)3 nonprofit ‘SCIALL ORG INC’, EIN: 82-0683398), is a science education and research organization.
Our mission is to expand and diversify public interest in science. Under this umbrella, we follow two core aims. Aim 1: Provide inspiration and guidance to students, particularly those from groups underrepresented in STEM, to help them understand the process of science and what it takes to succeed in STEM careers. Aim 2: Make the scientific process accessible to a broad public audience, particularly among groups traditionally underrepresented in STEM fields and groups that are traditionally skeptical of environmental science. To fulfill these aims, we connect the public directly to professional scientists, who volunteer as vloggers for our campaign. Our team of scientists, from various backgrounds, create and freely disseminate online videos that showcase personal reflections and stories that convey the relatable, intuitive, and, often exhilarating, human side of scientific research. We quantify the impact of our content through voluntary viewer surveys. For example, according to surveys from 530 voluntary respondents (60% female, 19% minorities): 94% (95% of females, 96% of minorities) became interested to learn more about scientific research because of our videos, which “made science more appealing” to 51% (54% of females, 56% of minorities) (full results published open access*). Though unconventional, our efforts to make science more accessible to the public are working. To date, our videos have been watched for >20,000 hours (on YouTube alone), and we’re just getting started.
More on Aim 1:
Many students, particularly those from underserved communities and from households that lack a tradition of higher education, are denied the opportunity to understand the process of science and what STEM careers offer, both in terms of benefits to society and fulfillment to individuals. Thus, SciAll.org seeks to openly share the otherwise esoteric processes of both conducting science and becoming a professional scientist. We complement traditional teaching approaches: our content first rouses interest in STEM, inspiring students to seek knowledge, and once sufficient knowledge is acquired (e.g., through traditional, classroom-based learning), our content then offers students mentoring and advice on how to effectively advance their careers in STEM.
More on Aim 2:
Environmental science answers the question: how do we reduce our impacts on the environment to grant our species a sustainable existence? However, the public is deeply divided about whether environmental science should guide human behavior. The fate of our species rests upon our ability to address these divisions. Thus, SciAll.org seeks to make the scientific process and the personal motivations of scientists accessible across political, economic, and cultural divisions. We do this by striving to make our content non-partisan in political tone, while often discussing topics that have become unjustly politicized. It is only when science is inclusive and, consequently, embraced by people of all backgrounds, that it can guide our species to a sustainable and prosperous existence.
*Gil, M.A. YouTube videos of ‘research in action’ foster diverse public interest in science. Open Access: Ideas in Ecology and Evolution 10 (2017).
SciAll.org 