Citizen and Community Science with Oriel Science

Oriel Science is a Swansea University public engagement project which showcases our University's research in the community. Swansea University researchers make antimatter in CERN, use satellites to image huge ice shelves breaking off Antarctica, and make 3D scans of live sharks - but this research is virtually unknown in our community, a huge, missed opportunity for engagement and outreach. Is there a better way of enthusing, exciting and engaging our community with science, technology and education than by involving them this amazing research, being done today, in their local University, by people who live alongside them - by people like them?

We launched our project with a hugely successful pilot exhibition in Swansea's city centre which welcomed 16,000 public visitors and 1,000 students on organised school trips. Our visitor demographics matched the socio-economic profile of the Swansea region proving that we reached all. A full 40% of our visitors' first University experience was in Oriel Science. We achieved these results by designing an engaging, interactive and welcoming space, placed in the shopping precinct, which was a "shop" where visitors went to get their science (for free).

Since our pilot, we have engaged with nearly 100,000 people in over 100 events. These have been in museums, science festivals, libraries, schools, community centres, high school career fairs, and in the central city square.

We have recently received funding to establish a new venue in the city centre on a 6-month lease. We plan to use this to lever longer term funding for a more permanent Oriel Science in the same premises.

This venue, together with our visitor demographics, provides the perfect vehicle for citizen science, particularly in the under-represented communities. We have four exciting citizen science workpackages.

In workpackage A, our citizen scientists will learn how to collect extraterrestrial stardust, right here on earth. These micrometeorites will be analysed to aid climate scientists understand the earth's atmosphere when these particles fell to earth, in some cases thousands of years ago, because they absorb some oxygen as they fall.

Our scientist participants will observe insects in their own gardens in workpackage B, building a database for them and others to help understand how different environments affects biodiversity. Our community scientists will use an app to upload their observations, including photographs which will help identification of the species.

Importantly our citizen scientists will help us build a better Oriel Science venue. Our workpackage C participants will co-design an exhibit centred on a tree slice taken from a 150 year-old tree which was illegally felled in the Penllergare Estate, which was itself the site of "citizen science" in the Victorian era. This will be used by future visitors to map out their own history on the tree rings of this ancient redwood.

In our final workpackage, we will run a citizen science project with real legacy value. Our experienced social science researcher will run focus groups, of mixed ages and backgrounds, to understand how we should design our long-term Oriel Science venue. We are adamant that the academics are not the ones qualified to define this design. Our venue's success will be maximised if it is co-designed using input from the intended audience of this venue - it is the citizen scientists in these focus groups who will be the creators of this future venue.

Oriel Science showcases Swansea University's research in the community. Following our highly successful pilot exhibition space, we are re-establishing a city centre venue. One of the main and enduring features of Oriel Science is that we design spaces which are welcoming to all. This allows us to engage all local communities with science and provides the perfect location for "citizen science" where members of the public perform real scientific research.

In this project our citizen scientists will learn how to collect extraterrestrial stardust right here on earth. These micrometeorites will be analysed to aid climate scientists understand the earth's atmosphere when these particles fell to earth, in some cases thousands of years ago, because they absorb some of our atmosphere's oxygen as they fall.

Our scientist participants will observe insects in their own gardens, helping to build a database for them and others to understand how different environments affects biodiversity.

Importantly our citizen scientists will help us build a better Oriel Science venue. Our participants will co-design an exhibit centred on a tree slice taken from a 150 year-old tree which was illegally felled in near Swansea. This will be used by future visitors to map out their own history on the tree rings of this ancient redwood. Our participants will also give us important insight into how to design the look, feel and contents of our planned permanent Oriel Science venue.

The Impact of Oriel Science has already been proven. We have reached the under-served communities in our pilot, city centre venue, and this is something that traditional museums struggle with, due to their "imposing" vibe. Nearly half of our visitors had no University experience prior to setting foot in our venue and the socio-economic demographics of our visitors, using the Index of Multiple Deprivation, matched that of the Swansea Region. Our citizen science projects will enhance our participants' understanding of and interest in UKRI science. Importantly, participants will co-curate the design of our future exhibits. These exhibits will be inspiring and interactive. They will make you pause, think and engage. They will fire the neurones in your head and tickle the emotions in your heart. They impart learning and something of the beauty of science. They will change the way people view science and the world. They create impact.