A Message from the Director
Professor Graham Durant is Questacon's third director, having joined us in early March 2003. Prior to Questacon, he spent ten years as Senior Curator and Deputy Director of the Hunterian Museum, Scotland, and was closely involved in the opening of the Glasgow Science Centre in 2001. He has a PhD in geology and a background in science communication. Did you know Graham was once a UK universities canoe slalom champion?
We don’t leave inspiration to chance
Questacon was honoured to recently host a visit from the Prime Minister, Minister Carr and Chief Scientist Penny Sackett on the occasion of the visit to Canberra of Australia’s latest Nobel Prize Winner Professor Elizabeth Blackburn. Questacon’s ‘Excited Particles’ presented some demonstrations for the assembled guests to introduce telomeres which form part of the work for which Professor Blackburn was honoured. Questacon’s newly refurbished Boardroom was named the Blackburn Room during the event.
Questacon is continuing to work with organisations across Australia on the development of a national science communication strategy. The report “Inspiring Australia; a national strategy for engagement with the sciences” was released by Minister Carr on February 8th at the 2010 National Conference of the Australian Science Communicators and has been well received by key stakeholders.
Questacon believes that inspiring Australians is too important to leave to chance and this is a key message in a new video about Questacon featuring ABC’s Bernie Hobbs.
Questacon was awarded the Tourist Attraction Award at the National Tourism Awards, February 26th in Tasmania. Questacon has previously won the Award in this category in 2002-3, 2005 and 2007. View a Media Release about the Award.
The capital improvements to the building are still proceeding well and although there are a few more months of disruption ahead we will have an even better facility for Questacon visitors by July. In response to the landscaping work between Questacon and the National Library we will be soon turning the foyer around by moving the café, shop and ticketing desk to improve the sense of arrival from the car-park.
Graham Durant
1 March 2010
An inspiring year in prospect
2010 is already shaping up to be an excellent year for Questacon with strong visitor numbers and strong membership growth over the holiday period.
The capital improvements to the building are proceeding well and although there are a few more months of disruption ahead we will have an even better facility for Questacon visitors by June. In response to the landscaping work between Questacon and Lake Burley Griffin we will be soon turning the foyer around by moving the shop, café and ticketing desk to improve the sense of arrival from the car-park.
Questacon has been working with others on the development of a national science communication strategy. The report “Inspiring Australia; a national strategy for engagement with the sciences” was released by Minister Carr in early February. Questacon will have an important role to play in developing the national strategy working with organisations and individuals across the country.
Questacon’s new digital studio is nearly complete and trials are now underway. The facility will allow us to interact with schools across Australia and institutions around the world extending our capability to communicate science and share neat experiences.
Questacon will once again be representing the ACT and Capital Region in the National Tourism Awards with the award ceremony to be held on February 26th in Tasmania.
It should be an exciting year ahead!
Graham Durant
8 February 2010
An Eventful Period for Questacon
It has once again been an eventful period for Questacon. The construction work in and around the centre is continuing on track. A new and improved café is due to open in February and the rear Science Court is scheduled for reopening in mid December. Entry to the Centre will still be via the eastern main entrance while the Science and Humanities Campus is completed. As always, Questacon’s front desk and gallery staff will do everything they can to ensure the capital works within the foyer cause as little disruption as possible.
The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science, held in the Great Hall at Parliament House on 28 October, was a wonderful success. This was the first year Questacon has coordinated the event. The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are the nation's pre-eminent awards for excellence in science and science teaching. The Prizes are a tribute to the important contributions that our scientists and inspirational science teachers are making to Australia's current and future scientific capabilities. The top prize for excellence in teaching in primary schools went to Mr Allen Whittome and the prize for excellence in teaching in secondary schools went to Mr Len Altman. For more information see the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science Website.
2010 will be another milestone year for Questacon with the 25th birthday of the Shell Questacon Science Circus. The Shell Questacon Science Circus is a travelling science centre that tours around regional Australia for 18—20 weeks each year. Enthusiastic science graduates bring lively science presentations to towns and schools. Since 1985 the Shell Questacon Science Circus has been the benchmark from which all other science centre outreach program around the world have been measured. More about the Shell Questacon Science Circus.
With holiday season once more fast approaching I hope you and your family are able visit us over the period, whether you live in Canberra or travel from afar.
On behalf of all the staff here at Questacon have a happy and safe festive season.
Graham Durant
30 November 2009
A Hive of Activity
The last couple of months have been busy ones for Questacon as we welcomed school holiday visitors to the Centre, toured a number of outreach programs across the country, celebrated National Science Week in August and experienced changes to our foyer and surrounds.
2009 National Science Week was the first that Questacon has coordinated. With over 1,000 events there was a full and exciting program across Australia. If you missed out on attending this year, I hope you will join us for one of the many fantastic events planned for National Science Week next year.
Questacon has been busily consulting with stakeholders around Australia as we lead the development of a proposed National Science Communications Strategy.
If you’ve visited recently you will have noticed that Questacon is a hive of building and construction activity. The external works are part of the Humanities and Science Campus which, when completed, will transform the area between the National Library of Australia and Questacon into a beautiful park, while the internal works will improve visitor access and flow to the Café, Q Shop and ticketing desk. While these works have created access issues and some disruption, the end results will be both functional and spectacular.
Thank you for your patience whilst these works are progressing and please seek assistance from any of our staff if you experience related difficulties. We will continue to do what we can to ensure your visit is enjoyable.
I hope you and your family will be able to visit us at the Centre in the near future.
Graham Durant
2 November 2009
2009/10 Budget
As Director, I spend a great deal of my time seeking resources and building partnerships to enable Questacon to provide even more programs and services for visitors, both in the Centre and across Australia through our various Outreach Programs.
The recent 2009/10 Budget provided additional funds to support both our Outreach Programs and also to enable us to improve the amenity of the foyer area in the Questacon building. This is wonderful news and we are pleased to now embark on the planning for the allocation of the money.
Over the next 12 months we will make changes in the foyer area to improve entrance arrangements. The area outside Questacon is being landscaped and this will redirect most visitors from the car-park through the café entrance soon to be redesigned as our front door. To achieve this we will change the position of the reception counter, café and the shop. The design work is underway and we will share that with you as the plans develop.
We are keen to ensure that your comfort and amenity is maintained through this refurbishment period. There will be information provided as the works commence and your comments will be welcomed through the usual feedback mechanisms currently in place.
The Questacon Management team is also developing a five year plan for the Outreach Programs, with considerations of what the new funding can achieve. Once completed it will be made available here on the Questacon website.
Our partnership work with the National Water Commission is proceeding well and Questacon’s new concepts team are currently working up ideas for an exhibition on the science of water in Australia. The all new Perception Deception exhibition is looking wonderful. I encourage you all to come in and discover that ‘reality’ isn’t all it seems!
Graham Durant
2 July 2009
Earth Hour 2009
At 8.30 pm this Saturday 28 March people all over the world will be switching their lights off as part of Earth Hour. The World Wildlife Fund organised Earth Hour is a chance for individuals to make a statement encouraging world leaders to take a stand on climate change. By switching off the lights in your house for just one hour this Saturday you can contribute to a global effort to reduce carbon emissions.
Earth Hour started in Sydney in 2007 when two million people and businesses turned off their lights. In 2008 the number of people involved grew to 50 million with several international landmarks, including the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Coca-Cola sign in Times Square, New York turning off their lights. In 2009, the organisers are hoping that all up over 1 billion people will take part in the effort and the findings from Earth Hour will be presented at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen later this year.
Australia is one of 81 countries and Questacon one of over 18 000 businesses signed on to participate in Earth Hour. Along with other national institutions around Lake Burley Griffin and science centres around the world, Questacon will be turning off our lights for an hour on Saturday night.
If you’re interested in doing your part for Earth Hour download a copy of Questacon’s Earth Hour Experiment Guidebook. This step by step guide will help you calculate your household’s energy savings during Earth Hour.
Graham Durant
23 March 2009
International Year of Astronomy
2009 is the International Year of Astronomy which will be a year-long, worldwide, public celebration of astronomy, held to mark the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning a telescope to the sky. IYA2009 has been endorsed by UNESCO and is being coordinated by the International Astronomical Union, the international body that represents the world’s professional astronomers. Australia is one of the 63 countries signed up to participate.
Questacon is currently celebrating 20 years as Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre and 20 years in the current building, the design of which was strongly influenced by Jai Singh’s early 18th C astronomical observatories - particularly the one in Dehli.
It is appropriate then that Questacon hosted the Australian launch of the International Year of Astronomy by astronomer and Chief Scientist Professor Penny Sackett on January 28th. Over 100 guests attended the launch which featured a talk by the Chief Scientist, live links to the Anglo Australian Observatory at Coonabarrabran and the Gemini telescope in Chile and a viewing of a film about the SKA project produced for international planetaria and space theatres by Scitech as part of the Questacon-Scitech SKA educational program partnership.
Questacon is one of some 2400 science centres world-wide that together last year attracted 290 million people to their centres and programs. The world science centre community is in a position to influence a significant number of people, school students, teachers and families, each year. Most of those science centres are heavily involved in International Year of Astronomy education and public awareness activities supporting the aim to get 10 million people looking through a telescope for the first time.
Questacon will be working with science centres around the world to participate in the International Year of Astronomy in such programs as the ‘100hours of Astronomy’ held between April 2-5 and working to develop the ‘Sound of the Stars’ on-line interactive educational resource. Questacon will also be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Moon landing in July which has special meaning for Canberra because of the role played by the Honeysuckle Creek receiving station in relaying images of the landing to the world community.
The Chief Scientist’s speech at the IYA launch reminded guests that Australia is very good at astronomical research and that astronomy captures the public imagination at all levels. Professor Sackett urged us all was to take some time out to look at the night skies during 2009.
The full list of Australian International Year of Astronomy activities can be found on their website.
Graham Durant
5 March 2009
Merry Christmas
This has been another busy and rewarding year for Questacon.
If you are lucky enough to get a break this festive season I hope you enjoy yourself and come and visit us whether you live locally or have to travel to Canberra.
I'd like to highlight to you an interview our Q Club staff recently did with Sarah, one of our Smart Movers - it shows how we have a much bigger footprint in Australia than just that of our building in the Parliamentary Triangle. More...
Best wishes of the season to you and your family.
Graham Durant
1 December 2008
20 Years of Science
Questacon, Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre celebrates 20 years of inspirational science this year.
From a modest, volunteer-run science centre, to the national institution that stands on the shore of Lake Burley Griffin today, Questacon has become one of the world’s leading science centres and a major innovator in informal learning.
As an established leader in science communication, Questacon plays a critical role in supporting formal education to stimulate interest in science, technology and innovation and its importance to all Australians. Questacon is proud of its world-class standing, its extensive national reach, the quality of its exhibitions and programs, all of which are due to the people behind these achievements.
Our achievements over the past 20 years reflect the dedication of a highly skilled team. To our staff and volunteers and Advisory Council Members, past and present, I extend my thanks and congratulations for their commitment, creativity and enthusiasm. Building on our achievements in the past 20 years, we can look to a future of new opportunities to make a difference to the lives of people across the nation.
In this anniversary year, it is timely to honour Questacon’s foundational relationship with Japan. Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre opened on 23 November 1988 as a joint Australia-Japan Bicentennial Project. The Japanese Government and business community contributed half the cost of the building, the hub of Questacon’s national and international activities. A number of special events and activities to celebrate this relationship have been held this year, with more to come.
Questacon values the support and contribution of our corporate and strategic partners. Together with these partners, Questacon has developed exhibitions and programs that bring stimulating and inspiring hands-on science experiences to communities across the length and breadth of Australia.
It is a great honour to be Questacon’s Director and I look forward to playing a part in establishing the direction for Questacon’s next 20 years!
Graham Durant
15 October 2008
Let’s save the planet!
Questacon’s recent ‘Rock your world’ geology day was of particular interest to me as a geologist. I always believed, and still do, that knowing some geology gives perspective about the world around us and the immense time-scales involved for most geological processes. Humans now seem to be a geological force because our collective actions are rapidly changing the surface of our planet and its atmosphere.
The rapid build-up of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere is a matter of great concern to scientists. For much of Earth’s long history the carbon dioxide has been locked up in rocks, coal and oil and it is now being released into the atmosphere contributing to global warming.
I have just returned from the 5th Science Centres World Congress in Toronto, Canada, a meeting of science centre leaders from 51 countries. One of the keynote speakers was an Inuit leader who was speaking about their loss of culture and traditional ways of life as the Arctic ice melts. This is the human dimension of global warming. It is probably too late to reverse the warming trends in the Arctic which is particularly vulnerable but working collectively we can slow down further warming.
Questacon is part of a global network of science centres that exist in most countries irrespective of geography, economic situation, economy, culture or religion. There are about 2500 science centres worldwide and the various centres, exhibitions and outreach programs are attended by 290 million people annually, mainly young children and families.
Collectively science centres have great impact and the centres, their audiences and members can be a powerful force for good in the world by working together to overcome cultural, physical, social, economic and geographic barriers to connect people through science and education. Members of our Q Club are also part of that global network of people committed to do what they can to make a difference through education leading to action.
At the 5th Science Centres World Congress I signed, on behalf of Questacon, the Toronto Declaration, a statement of intent from the world science centre community. This declaration commits Questacon to help make a difference in issues such as global warming. We need you to help. If 290 million people worldwide make changes in their lifestyles to reduce energy use then this will be an important contribution. Imagine if every visitor to all science centres planted a tree each year.
The full Toronto Declaration is online at the World Congress web site. I hope that you will take the time to read it and join us as part of the efforts of the world community.
Graham Durant
23 June 2008