BJ Siasoco:  “Surprise is the essence of science.”

Every year, hundreds of people gather in the atrium of a shopping mall in Ithaca, New York to watch children drop raw eggs on the floor. Last April, 187 contestants padded their eggs with balloons, feathers, marshmallows, sawdust, and sponges, hoping they might survive a 20-foot drop without breaking. Balloon animals, foam-rubber balls, feathery wings, and cardboard boxes filled with mystery cushioning were all launched from a balcony on the second floor: some floated gracefully, others landed with a splat, and each was followed by gasps and applause from the audience of about 400. The Sciencenter always gets a large turnout for its Egg Drop, which will be 25 years old in 2010. That’s because Ithaca is a quintessential college town. Around here, average folks would rather go to community science events than watch TV.

Tompkins County only has about 100,000 permanent residents. But it is also home to more than 30,000 college students, including more than 4,500 graduate students at Cornell University. “This community is unique for the number of volunteers it generates,” says BJ Siasoco, Museum Services Coordinator.  “It’s easy to find volunteers who want to get involved in science education here, if you know where to look.”

Siasoco started volunteering at the Sciencenter when he was a Cornell undergraduate (the University is only about a 20-minute walk from the museum).  Now children recognize him at the grocery store, and his in-box is loaded with contacts from scientists who are eager to share their work with the public.  That’s because the Sciencenter is a major public venue for families. Cornell scientists know that if they present at the Sciencenter, children in the grocery store will also recognize them.  More than 100,000 visitors a year come to this 30,000-square-foot museum. In fact, the building itself is the work of thousands of volunteers who showed up to haul bricks and paint walls over several weekends in 1992-93 and 2001. On cold, wet weekend mornings (which happen a lot in Upstate New York), the place is packed with excited children pulling their parents toward snake terrariums, a Touch Tank for marine animals, a Triceratops skull to climb on, a children’s lab called the Discovery Space, and a lot more.  The star attraction on a recent Saturday afternoon was Cornell mechanical engineering professor Mason Peck, who presented his research on how spacecraft might one day use gyroscopes to control and steer their flights. After he finished talking, Peck pulled out a wheeled contraption with gyroscope stabilizers and let children take turns using it to spin themselves on a rotating platform.

The Sciencenter depends on over 200 volunteers each year. About two dozen work regular shifts as interpreters on the exhibit floor, staffing the front desk, or putting things together behind the scenes.  When Siasoco needs to fill one of those slots – or when he just needs someone to staff a table at a community event, which also happens a lot — he posts a notice on a listserv that goes to about 300 addresses.  He says it’s easy to find willing volunteers, but it’s harder to know whether they are being used to their full potential  “I am always thinking about who’s working here, and whether they might have a hidden talent that I don’t know about,” he says.  Recently a chemistry grad student who volunteered turned out to have expertise in the same area the museum wanted to develop. Now she’s helping develop a new interactive program.

“She would never have thought to bring it up,” says Siasoco.  “I had to ask her to find out what she knew.  A big part of my job is to find out what our volunteers’ passions are.”  The same impulse fuels the entire museum, he says. “We’re always looking to put on a show that will leave people surprised at the results.  Surprise and wonder are the essence of science.”