Imagine Your Day at the Living Lab
Morning
The Ocean Discovery Institute Living Lab in City Heights, San Diego.
You awaken in your apartment to the sound of birds chirping from the canyon below. As you drink your first cup of coffee, you step out onto your balcony and gaze out over the roof of the Living Lab and into the canyon, where the early morning light filters through the trees. Looking across the canyon and up to busy Fairmount Avenue, you see a city bus picking up commuters, a garbage truck making its early morning rounds, and parents walking their children to school.
You may decide to start your day with a hike or jog through the canyon. Or, you may head straight downstairs to the Living Lab’s community kitchen, where you make breakfast and chat with early-arriving Ocean Discovery staff.
Soon, the early-morning quiet is consumed by the low rumble of a school bus engine and excited chatter of students as they file down the walkway and into the Living Lab. That’s your cue to head downstairs into the Eco Lab, where Mrs. Miller’s 3rd grade class has come to see live tidepool invertebrates, learn about their adaptations, and dissect sea stars.
Before the action starts, you speak to the class about your career and the path you took to get there. The students are excited when the time finally comes to dissect the sea star. They are even more excited when they learn they are dissecting alongside a real scientist: you.
By the end of the activity, any nerves the students may have felt to approach you have melted away, as they pepper you with questions about your favorite animal or tell you that they, too, want to be a scientist one day.
Afternoon
Scientist-in-Residence Jasmin John inside the Living Lab’s fully-outfitted attached residency
You break for lunch and a quick respite in your studio to recharge, then settle into your desk, where you continue to draft your design for a new self-guided visitor experience at the Living Lab. You are excited to pilot this experience for the first time next week, and are proud of the lasting impact this experience will have on future visitors beyond your residency at the Living Lab.
On most days, you may have the rest of the afternoon free to work on your Ocean Discovery project or informal conversation with Living Lab visitors. But this afternoon is different – it’s the one day per week when a small group of parents and children gathers after school in the outdoor amphitheater.
The group meets weekly in the afternoons to conduct a citizen science project in the canyon to study the populations of local butterflies. After an Ocean Discovery staff briefs the group on the day’s goals and logistics, you set out together for the canyon.
Along the way, you record data with the participants, answer their scientific questions, and strike up a particularly funny conversation with two teenagers about embarrassing childhood memories. The group comes away from the day with a sense of accomplishment and a new appreciation for what it means to do science and how science is meaningful to them.
Evening
As the sun sets and visitors begin to leave, you join up with a group of Ocean Discovery staff and walk up the street to El Titanic, where you enjoy one-too-many fish tacos and recap another exciting day of science and discovery at the Living Lab.
Living Lab Project Needs
The following projects at the Living Lab have been identified based on current, strategic needs for Ocean Discovery Institute. However, if you are interested in becoming a Scientist-in-Residence but have different project ideas, we are happy to discuss alternative ideas that would leave a lasting impact on the organization.
Aquaria Programming & Exhibit
The Living Lab will soon feature multiple aquaria to engage students and the community in hands-on marine science. The aquaria will support both short and long-term demonstrations, experiments, and projects that showcase the students’ abilities and discoveries. We need a Scientist-in-Residence to:
- Advise on the aquaria’s physical design and components;
- Design tools and systems that will enable the aquaria to be adaptable for future projects; and
- Develop a pilot project to test the aquaria’s effectiveness.
Kitchen Programming
The Living Lab’s fully-equipped kitchen can host a variety of programs that engage the community in the science of health behind healthy cooking and eating, as well as incorporating sustainable food choices, such as buying seafood caught locally and with sustainable fishing practices. We need a Scientist-in-Residence to:
- Support with designing and piloting community programming that utilizes the kitchen;
- Make program enhancements to ensure the future success of the program.
Community Garden Programming
Fruits, vegetables, and native plants thrive in the sunny rooftop garden at the Living Lab. The garden will be used as a local platform to teach about global concepts such as water quality, environmental science, climate change, and sustainable resource use, while also promoting healthy habits & skills in a community challenged by lack of access to healthy food options. We need a Scientist-in-Residence to:
- Support with designing and piloting community programming that utilizes the garden;
- Make program enhancements to ensure the future success of the program.
Living Lab Interpretation and Communication
With the opening of the Living Lab, Ocean Discovery now has a physical home in City Heights that community members can visit at no cost. We want to ensure that the visitor experience – what they see, what they read, what the do – is consistent with our goals and mission. We need a Scientist-in-Residence to:
- Inform and develop the messaging and interpretive design aspects of the Living Lab;
- Evaluate and enhance Living Lab interpretative design and communications based on visitor observations and feedback.
