Professional Services 2020
Dr Rosalyn Wade
Museum of Zoology
School of Biological Sciences
The Vice-Chancellor's Awards
for Research Impact and Engagement
About the researcher
Dr Rosalyn Wade leads the learning and public programme at the Museum of Zoology, showcasing the Museum, and research and activities from the Department of Zoology and Cambridge Conservation Initiative through events, workshops, and collaborative projects. She also leads the Museum’s schools programme, Young Zoologists Club (6-12 year olds) and Zoology Club (13-18 year olds) activities.
Rosalyn has worked with and supported a huge range of researchers in the Museum and Department of Zoology, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, and beyond to communicate their research to diverse audiences and develop resources for use in the classroom.
The Vice-Chancellor's Awards
for Research Impact and Engagement
About the researcher
Dr Rosalyn Wade leads the learning and public programme at the Museum of Zoology, showcasing the Museum, and research and activities from the Department of Zoology and Cambridge Conservation Initiative through events, workshops, and collaborative projects. She also leads the Museum’s schools programme, Young Zoologists Club (6-12 year olds) and Zoology Club (13-18 year olds) activities.
Rosalyn has worked with and supported a huge range of researchers in the Museum and Department of Zoology, the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, and beyond to communicate their research to diverse audiences and develop resources for use in the classroom.
It is such a privilege to work with brilliant researchers doing fascinating work here at Cambridge. I feel lucky to be in a position to help tell these stories to our audiences at the Museum.
Dr Rosalyn Wade
What is the research?
Learning and Public Programme of the Museum of Zoology: blending contemporary zoological research with active and online learning experiences for public audiences
When the UK locked down in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it became clear that if the Museum of Zoology wanted to continue to connect with the public, they needed to come up with new ways of working. Rosalyn was the driving force behind a reimagined online public programme.
Rosalyn led the development of an exciting online programme with the public engagement team to showcase research stories and the Museum to audiences at home. This was achieved with remarkable speed and launched only three weeks after the Museum closed, with an impressive raft of engaging content. This provided a platform for voices from the Museum, Department of Zoology, and Cambridge Conservation Initiative.
Key initiatives included the development of a museum blog, which includes content for audiences from under five-year-olds to adults, and research stories, video content, and curriculum-linked activities to support home-schooling. Developing the blog was a huge undertaking, with Rosalyn building it from scratch, coordinating, uploading and producing over 140 posts to date from over 40 contributors. The blog received over 30,000 views from more than 11,500 visitors.
Rosalyn also led the development of the Zoology Live Online Festival in June 2020: a series of live online events including wildlife films and interactive Q&A sessions with researchers and local wildlife experts. The Zoology Live! Festival attracted over 3500 views, and 337 questions and comments.
Engagement came from a broad and non-traditional audience, with approximately 40% of respondents never having visited the Museum, and comments posted from around the country and further afield.
Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, for example, one parent said: “My children loved these sessions, and our home-schooling was based on them during the festival.”
Illustration
A strong application that demonstrates an evidence-based approach to developing online materials for museum visitors and beyond.
The judges
Quick fire Q&A
Dr Rosalyn Wade
1
Have you ever had a Eureka moment?
The best feeling is when working with a group and you can see something slot into place – seeing their eureka moment. I would love it to happen more often on our watch, but every time it does is such a treat to see.
2
What is your favourite research tool?
When working on a new project or different form of engagement, I like to use reflective journaling. This is something I was introduced to recently, and it is a great tool. After a session or meeting I will make a quite note in a document I keep on my desktop with what went well, what didn’t work so well, how engaged the audience were, the sorts of questions they asked and so on. Looking back on this helps both when reporting and when developing future work.
3
What did you want to be growing up?
From a young age I wanted to be an archaeologist or musician. It was at secondary school that I got hooked on biology, and only later found the world of museum work.
4
What is the best bit of advice you’ve been given?
The best geologist is the one who’s seen the most rocks. My geology supervisor told me this at university, but I think it has wider relevance. The more animal specimens I look at, the more I can recognise and find the connections between them. The more audiences I work with, the better I understand them and the more they inspire me.
5
Who or what inspires you?
The natural world. It really is amazing, both intellectually from its complexity and diversity, and emotionally from how beautiful it is and how much impact it has on our wellbeing.
6
What keeps you awake at night?
The impact we are having on the environment, and what we can do about it.
7
What do you do to relax?
Find a bit of wilderness to visit and listen to the birds.
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