Last week the Pacific Science Center won the Association of Science and Technology Centers’ (ASTC) Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Award for Visitor Experience in a large institution (.pdf). The Center won the award, known as an “Edgie,” for the National Science Foundation funded Portal to the Public project, which fosters interactions between scientists, guests, and educators.
(Photo courtesy of Andrew Abernathy via Flickr).
“This award recognizes the importance and value of providing an experience for our guests where they get to have face-to-face conversations with scientists regarding current research in science and technology,” said Pacific Science Center’s senior vice president for Strategic Programs Dennis Schatz in a statement. “It is also testimony to the great partnership we developed with science centers across the country that made Portal to the Public a success and deserving of winning an Edgie.”
The non-profit Pacific Science Center created the Portal to the Public Initiative in 2007, earning a three-year, $2 million grant from the National Science Foundation to initiate the first Portal to the Public project.