Nature Publishing Group Joins Change the Equation
Publisher announces 3-year commitment to STEM education initiative
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) announced today that it has joined Change the Equation (CTEq), a CEO-led initiative to cultivate widespread literacy in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in the United States. NPG is committing a three-year “Bridge to Science” initiative in support of CTEq’s goals. The several programs within Bridge to Science will build stronger connections between parents, students and scientists, and help to inspire people at large to embrace science as part of their daily lives.
Launched today at a White House event, CTEq will not only achieve President Obama’s Educate to Innovate mission to increase private and philanthropic involvement in STEM education, but also will meet a critical need for a workforce and a citizenry fluent in science and math.
"Our success as a nation depends on strengthening America's role as the world's engine of discovery and innovation," said President Obama. "I applaud Nature Publishing Group and its partners for lending their resources, expertise, and their enthusiasm to the task of strengthening America's leadership in the 21st century by improving education in science, technology, engineering and math."
According to Linda Rosen, Chief Executive Officer of CTEq, “If we don’t encourage our children and students to get excited about math as well as science, technology and engineering, we are denying them the chance to reach their potential, and be prepared for a future filled with opportunity.”
Change the Equation is bringing together companies across multiple sectors, all dedicated to preparing students for STEM-related careers as an investment in their businesses, the economy and public life. Through innovative and effective company-led programs, CTEq aims to fill the opportunity gap with capable and enthusiastic STEM-literate young people.
“I am delighted that Nature Publishing Group is joining the Change the Equation initiative," said Annette Thomas, Chief Executive of Macmillan, NPG’s parent company. “At the core of NPG’s mission is promoting science to the widest possible audience. Through our world-renowned publications Scientific American and Nature, alongside new innovative science education resources such as Scitable, we are aiming to inspire the next generation of scientists, and make science a central part of everyday life."
In 2011, Scientific American will launch “Bring Science Home”, a major new effort to provide parents simple experiments they can do with their children. In “Citizen Science”, Scientific American will create an online platform for children and adults to participate in ongoing scientific research conducted by major research institutions. Examples of possible projects include asking children to track sightings of rare butterfly species in support of an environmental research study.
Under the “Return on Science Education (ROSE)” initiative, Nature Publishing Group and Change the Equation member Cisco Systems are jointly developing a model for assessing the ROI from national-level expenditures on STEM education. The results of the ROSE program, planned for release in Fall 2010, are intended to strengthen cases for investment in STEM and to guide national policy-making.
In the “1000 scientists in 1000 days”program Scientific American and several Nature journals will recruit 1000 scientists to donate their time to promote STEM education, for example by visiting classrooms through efforts such as National Lab Day.
Under the “Scitable” program, NPG publishes authoritative scientific learning pathways in life and physical sciences for high school and college classrooms. In the “Bench to Blackboard” program NPG, in a collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine, will provide cost-free professional development to 50,000 high school biology teachers of more than 400,000 students.
