STEM engagement gets stronger when experts are involved, but finding the right people, preparing them well, and making the collaboration work can be challenging. This guide offers a practical playbook for informal learning teams to recruit and support many kinds of expertise and to build partnerships that improve programs rather than complicate them.
Writing+Talks
Featured articles
Neuroethics hackathons bridge theory to practice
Karen S. Rommelfanger, Darrell Porcello, Arleen Salles, and Lucille Nalbach Tournas.
Neuron 112.24 (2024): 3994-3998
Neuroethics guidance is growing fast, but researchers still need practical ways to use it while technologies are being designed. This article shows how short, structured neuroethics hackathons can turn abstract principles into concrete design and governance choices.
Working with STEM Experts: A Guide for Educators in Museums and Other Informal Learning Settings
Catherine McCarthy and Darrell Porcello
NISE Network (2021)
Gaming and the NISE Network: A Gameful Approach to STEM Learning Experiences
Darrell Porcello, Catherine McCarthy, and Rae Ostman
NISE Network (2017)
STEM learning sticks when people feel invited in, and games can lower the barrier fast while keeping the experience social and meaningful. This guide shows how NISE Network partners used simple, familiar game structures to help visitors explore complex nano concepts, from scale and properties to science-and-society questions.
Crowdsourcing and curating online education resources
Darrell Porcello and Sherry Hsi
Science 341.6143 (2013): 240-241.
Open educational resources are everywhere, but more does not automatically mean better for educators trying to find trustworthy materials quickly. This article explains why high-quality STEM resource libraries need both community energy and professional curation, plus shared standards that make resources easier to discover and reuse.
Neuroscience is ready for neuroethics engagement
Jayatri Das, Cynthia Forlini, Darrell Porcello, Karen S Rommelfanger, Arleen Salles, Global Neuroethics Summit Delegates
Frontiers in Communication 7 (2022): 909964.
Neuroscience is rapidly advancing, but public engagement often lags behind the pace of discovery and deployment. This article argues that neuroethics engagement can close that gap by making dialogue and shared reflection part of how neuroscience and neurotechnology move forward.
A Global Landscape of Neuroscience Public Engagement Efforts and the Potential Nexus of Neuroethics
Jayatri Das and Darrell Porcello
NISE Network (2019)
Public awareness of neuroscience has been growing for decades, but public involvement is still inconsistent, and many efforts default to one-way outreach. This report maps what two-way neuroscience engagement looks like around the world, and shows how neuroethics can anchor deeper dialogue about impacts, values, and future use.
Towards Inclusive EU Governance of Neurotechnologies
(IoNx) Arleen Salles, Karen Rommelfanger, Darrell Porcello, Lucy Tournas International (CFG) Virginia Mahieu, Pawel Swieboda
Centre for Future Generations (2024)
Neurotechnology governance is arriving unevenly, and policy is struggling to keep pace with real-world uses and cross-border impacts. This report argues the EU needs adaptive, inclusive, anticipatory frameworks that protect individual needs while strengthening shared standards and public trust.
Featured talks
Jumpstart Your Public Engagement Journey: Setting Goals, Finding Relevance, and Building Partnerships
EAN Advocacy Training for Neurology & Brain Health (2025)
Neuroscientists and clinicians often want to engage public audiences, but aren’t sure where to begin. This talk offers a practical on-ramp: set clear engagement goals, connect your work to people’s everyday lives and values, then build partnerships with museums and engagement specialists so you don’t have to start from scratch.
Augmented Reality and Murals: Creating Dynamic Learning Experiences that Foster Creative Confidence in Students
Elevating Innovation (2024)
Augmented reality can turn murals from static works into interactive story spaces that invite further observation, interpretation, and creation. This talk shares how the Step into the Mural project used AR and local artist partnerships to build cultural connection and support creative confidence in learners.
Development Process for the Space and Earth Informal STEM Education (SEISE) project of the NISE Network
NASA SciAct Meeting (2022)
Scaling STEM learning resources requires a disciplined process with frequent opportunities for review. This talk outlines the NISE Network’s iterative model for building Earth and space science learning products, combining scientist review, peer review, visitor evaluation, and partner input.
How to Design Successful Hands-on Activities for At-home Learners
InterActivity (2022)
Designing at-home STEM activities is harder than simply moving a program online; it requires rethinking materials, instructions, and caregiver-learner collaboration for real homes. This talk shares a practical framework and field-tested design moves from the Howtosmile At-Home Activities project, developed with a national museum cohort during COVID and used to scale a new collection of at-home activities.
Making STEM Content Relevant
NISE Network’s Earth & Space Project-Based Professional Learning Community (2022)
Relevance is what turns hands-on activities into deeper conversations that connect science to people’s everyday lives. This talk shares practical strategies from the Explore Science: Earth & Space toolkit, showing how facilitators can invite values, local context, and emotions into Earth and space science activities to support two-way engagement.
Mindfulness Workshop for Young Children
ASTC (2018)
Mindfulness for young children can be taught in ways that feel concrete, inclusive, and grounded in everyday senses. This talk shares a museum-tested workshop that connects breathing, listening, and pattern noticing to basic neuroscience while also acknowledging cultural and religious traditions around mindfulness.