Piper Bulletin February 2010

Nikii Johnston, Volunteer

Nineteen adults, 50 and older, with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and math, are brainstorming ways to enrich the learning environments at the Arizona Science Center, Phoenix's premier science museum for children and adults. Retiree volunteers have seen their roles evolve into the museum's science advisors.

Respect isn't always about the paycheck

When retired engineer Mike Mauser started volunteering at the Arizona Science Center, he was told that designing or fixing exhibits, which seemed like the best use of his skills, was off-limits. So were most of the really interesting jobs.

Mauser is one of 19 volunteer scientists, researchers, teachers and engineers who have watched that attitude turn around at the center the past two years.

He is part of the Friends of Science and Technology Education (FOSTE) program, which is challenging the old way of thinking about volunteers.

Some volunteers still usher school kids into the science center from buses, which is actually fun, but they are increasingly bringing them in to see interactive displays that were created by other volunteers. The members of FOSTE started out creating table-top science exhibits, then branched out to giving 15-minute lectures, and recently they’ve been designing permanent displays and playing a larger role, in general, at the museum.

Nikii Johnston, a 50-year-old molecular researcher who retired from the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, is working alongside staff members on a committee planning a biotechnology exhibition area.

"A lot of organizations see their volunteers as adjuncts to their organization rather than being part of the hierarchy of the org chart," said Johnston. She credits Volunteer Coordinator Jan Stonebraker with convincing staff members that volunteers can do amazing things for them.

Retired Honeywell engineer Tom Marshall is finishing his first permanent display. After a staff member lamented that a rock climbing wall popular with the kids didn’t offer a science lesson, he designed a display to demonstrate the science of weight distribution when climbing. The display cost about $8,000, instead of an estimated $20,000 or more if it had been outsourced to an exhibit company.

Because the volunteers are trained scientists, their contributions are peer reviewed along the way. In designing his exhibit, Marshall bounced ideas off Mauser and other experts. Collaboration has become one of the great joys of the program for staff and volunteers, and a creative fountain of ideas for the museum.

"Each of us comes with a high level of skill and experience, but we continue to learn from each other," said Marshall. "It replaces what I used to get at work. When you work in an engineering environment, there are many people around you, and you learn from them. Now I can get that from these folks."