Erika Shugart is the deputy director of the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Sciences, which opened four years ago at Sixth and E streets NW, and is aimed at teaching visitors how to use scientific knowledge in their everyday lives and the decisions they make. Shugart oversees the development of exhibits and the museum Web site (koshland-science-museum.org).
What kind of exhibits are in the museum?
There is an exhibit on global warming that shows people how their lives can affect the environment and there is an exhibit on infectious diseases, which could inform people such as those who are deciding whether to vaccinate their children. We also have a Lights at Night exhibit, which lets people go in, and zoom around the globe and see which places are light and where places are dim and how that has changed over time. You can actually see how the suburbs have gotten brighter in the past few decades.
