[igrav-steering] IGrav meeting: some thoughts

[Magdalena Kersting]

Hi IGrav team,

I won't be able to join our meeting today, but if I remember correctly, we were planning to discuss the board and overall structure of IGrav today? I attach a visualisation of our structure that I used when presenting IGrav at the GWIC meeting last year. It may help you get the discussion started.

I have also had a look at our homepage<https://www.igrav.org/#about>, and I think with a few minor updates, we can make it a lot more informative. First, the homepage should state what IGrav actually stands for ;)
I suggest adding the full name International Gravitational-Wave Outreach Group to the About section.

With view towards our IGrav workshop this summer, it would also help to add the titles and descriptions of our six working groups to the about section. This way, people interested in attending our seminar can get an idea of our activities and which working group to join.

I used these descriptions of the working groups in my GWIC presentation. Maybe you can check that they are still correct?

Science Festivals
The IGrav Science Festivals working group supports outreach activities by collecting and sharing resources and supporting and connecting members sharing gravity research through science festivals and events. The working group coordinates IGrav participation in global science festival events such as the World Science Festival.

Formal Education & Evaluation
The IGrav Formal Education & Evaluation working group gathers passionate physicists, educators, and teachers with a shared interest in formal education and evaluation of education and outreach efforts on topics of modern gravitation and gravitational waves. The group aims to create a platform to share existing resources, determine best practices, and promote formal education and evaluation efforts.

Multi-Messenger Astronomy
The Multi-Messenger Astronomy working group is targeting educational and outreach activities and resources that link together gravitational physics (not exclusively gravitational waves), neutrino observatories and electromagnetic astronomy.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Our working group strives to educate IGrav, the gravitational community and those we serve in our outreach efforts about the real issues inherent in STEM with regards to under-represented and under-served groups. We particularly strive to engage with members of the marginalised in order to best understand how IGrav can best serve their needs. We recognise that these groups are described in different ways across the globe and feel it is also important to educate our widespread communities about the diversity encompassed by the gravitational community.

Communications
The Communications working group focuses on disseminating information both outside and inside of IGrav.
Internal communications will help IGrav working groups coordinate and share resources.
External communication methods include the IGrav website, which explains the mission of IGrav and how to become involved with the organisation, as well as IGrav social media accounts, which will feature news and outreach materials generated by our working groups and associated scientists.

Communications
We are especially interested in using our diverse international membership to teach the public about the wide variety of activities in gravitational science, including multi-messenger astronomy, which may not be adequately promoted by current outreach efforts.

And Isa, I realise we never followed up on the idea of an IGrav-logo competition. Maybe this is something we can plan and discuss before the workshop in July, too? So that we can announce the competition at the workshop?

Cheers
Magdalena

Dr Magdalena Kersting
Department of Teacher Education and School Research
University of Oslo
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www.magdalenakersting.com<http://www.magdalenakersting.com/>
Twitter: @MagdaKersting<https://twitter.com/MagdaKersting>
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New publication: M. Kersting , R. Steier & G. Venville (2020): Exploring participant engagement during an astrophysics virtual reality experience at a science festival<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21548455.2020.1857458>, International Journal of Science Education, Part B


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