Jarrod Hicks (MIT) and Dr. Mengmi Zhang (Children’s, Harvard) have been selected as semifinalists in the 2021 Reach Out Science Slam Communication Challenge, which is jointly sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Museum of Science, Boston. The Reach Out Science Slam is a nationwide effort to boost the communication skills of early-career researchers affiliated with the NSF’s 12 flagship Science and Technology Centers (STCs).

Jarrod and Mengmi will be presenting original, three-minute science stories live online on April 20^th at 7 pm ET; other semfinals will be held April 6 and 13, also at 7 pm ET. Winners will be selected to move on to the live online Finals event on May 4^th at 7 pm ET. Attendees can register for the Semifinals and Finals events via Eventbrite. Please visit the Challenge website for more infromation or contact reachout@mos.org..

The Slam events will be judged by a panel of expert science communicators, including: 

• Raven Baxter, also known as Raven the Science Maven, a molecular biologist, expert science communicator, and a Fortune 40 under 40 
• Emily Calendrelli, aerospace engineer turned science communicator and Emmy-nominated host of the Netflix show “Emily’s Wonder Lab” 
• Jorge Cham, creator of “PHD Comics” and co-creator of the PBS show “Elinor Wonders Why”
• Melissa Cristina Márquez, shark scientist, TV host, and author of the upcoming book series “Wild Survival!”

About the Museum of Science

Among the world's largest science centers, and New England’s most attended cultural institution, the Museum of Science engages 1.4 million visitors a year to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) through interactive exhibits and programs. Nearly an additional 2 million people experience the Museum annually through touring exhibitions, traveling programs, planetarium productions and preK-8 EiE® STEM curricula through the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center.  Established in 1830, the Museum is home to such iconic exhibits as the Thomson Theater of Electricity, the Charles Hayden Planetarium, and the Mugar Omni Theater. The Museum influences formal and informal STEM education through research and national advocacy, as a strong community partner and loyal educator resource, and as a leader in universal design, developing exhibits and programming accessible to all. Learn more at https://mos.org/.