St. Paul, Minn. (May 20, 2020) The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Twin Cities PBS (TPT) $2.4 million dollars in support of a new season of SciGirls. This seventh season of the popular national PBS series will focus on citizen science in the National Park Service (NPS). In addition to the Emmy Award-winning television show, the SciGirls in the National Parks project includes youth outreach programming and professional development for educators and women NPS role models, all of which work in concert to engage girls ages 8-13 in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) learning and career paths.
This new SciGirls season will feature new television episodes filmed at five NPS locations, including the Mississippi River National Recreation Area near the Twin Cities. TPT will also film short videos of NPS professionals, providing relatable and inspirational role modeling for young viewers. Additionally, TPT will provide gender equitable and culturally responsive outreach to educators, youth and families at 16 diverse NPS locations nationwide.
SciGirls’ NSF-supported content will be shared on SciGirls CONNECT, an educational network that has empowered more than 3,500 educators at 200+ partner organizations in 36 states and Puerto Rico to provide hands-on STEM programming to over 100,000 diverse young people. SciGirls in the National Parks resources will also be featured on PBS LearningMedia, a platform that provides free media-rich learning resources to 1.8 million educators nationwide.
SciGirls in the National Parks is a partnership between TPT and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the National Girls Collaborative and 16 parks within the National Park Service (NPS). “Although STEM skills are critical to the nation’s workforce, girls have far fewer opportunities than their male peers to learn about these topics and have fewer role models who look like them,” said SciGirls’ Executive Producer Rita Karl. “We are grateful for the NSF’s support to empower girls around citizen science, and help them see themselves as scientists, now and in the future.”
ABOUT TWIN CITIES PBS (TPT)
Twin Cities PBS (TPT)’s mission is to enrich lives and strengthen our community through the power of media. For over thirty years, TPT has been public television’s national leader in inspiring young people, especially girls and youth of color, around the pursuit of STEM studies and career paths. Landmark media projects such as the long-running series Newton’s Apple and DragonflyTV have also provided parents, educators and community leaders with the resources they need to teach, support and empower the next generation of STEM superstars. We have continued that tradition of excellence with SciGirls. For more information, visit TPT online, follow TPT on Facebook and Twitter. Watch SciGirls on pbskids.org, follow SciGirls on Facebook and @SciGirls on Twitter.
About the National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is an independent federal agency that supports education and research across all fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). In addition to providing major support for SciGirls, the NSF supports other science and math programs on PBS and pbskids.org, including DragonflyTV, Peg + Cat, Design Squad Nation and Plum Landing. Visit here for more information on NSF activities.
CONTACT:
Contact: Kristin Pederson, Sr. Director of Project Development and Communications, [email protected], 651-229-1288.
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