A –Streams of Thought– contribution by Yvonne Smit.
As a kid imagining a scientist, we always thought of a professor with messy grey hair, weird glasses, handling all sorts of flasks with chemicals in it (including an explosion once in a while). In our mind those chemicals were magic potions to make someone happy or (in case of the Evil Queen from Snow White) to kill somebody. Not exactly what a scientist is or does, right? Other type of scientists we could think of as a kid were the ones that invented stuff like robots, electric wings (that you could tie on your back and would make you fly), etc. The latter idea might be representing reality a tiny bit more, but most of the scientists are not like these nutty professors or dodgy inventors at all. Soon enough, you’d find out that you do not really know what it means to be a scientist, so why become one? What appeals more to the imagination are doctors, lawyers, teachers, and firemen. So my question nowadays is: how do we stimulate children to go into science? Or, formulated in a different way: how do we stimulate parents to motivate their children to go into science? Let us begin by communicating about the things we do as a scientist and create awareness! After all, we are all trying to make the earth a better place to live on. This can be done as a scientist or by anyone who is interested in science and would like to make his or her own contribution to the world. Therefore it is important to show how science is done, what its use is and how cool it can be. However, scientific articles might not be the most appealing way to deliver the message. Perhaps an informal blog or a short science video is more effective? Continue reading
Young Hydrologic Society 