Kate Schmidt
Children and Family Programs Educator
American Museum of Natural History
Statement of Interest:
Hello! A big reason I'd like to stay on the NYCMER Board is to grow professionally. Working at such a large science institution, I tend to get stuck in the AMNH bubble. Serving on the NYCMER Board has been a way for me to meet people from other institutions and grow my professional circle outside of AMNH. I have been in this role for a few months and am starting to get acclimated to it - I'd like to continue and work on helping NYCMER find its voice on social media and a consistent branding message with the goal of bringing in new people and ideas.
Goals for NYCMER:
I strongly support the peer mentoring aspect of NYCMER, particularly for the LGBTQ+ community. As a member of that community, I'm glad that NYCMER has a dedicated space for people who identify as LGBTQ+. I also strongly support the professional development that NYCMER works to provide for the museum educator community, with things like zoom sessions on Gaming in Education. I hope NYCMER focuses on growing its membership to include more BIPOC members, particularly on the board.
Professional Experience:
I have a bachelor's degree in physics and astronomy and have been working in museums for about 10 years. I started at the Rochester Museum and Science Center while in college, working in the planetarium there before moving to Philadelphia, where I got a job at The Franklin Institute (TFI). I worked at TFI as a Traveling Science Show presenter, going around to elementary schools in seven different states and Germany, presenting on a wide variety of science topics including Sound, Music, and Math and Electricity. When TFI had massive layoffs due to COVID, I moved to NYC and began working in the Children and Family Learning program at AMNH which is my current role. I also help host and produce the free monthly science communication events Astronomy on Tap and Biology on Tap, am the shop steward for CFL in the Local 1599 union at AMNH, and I love to crochet!
Specific Skills:
Aside from running the NYCMER social media recently, I also help run the Astro/Bio on Tap social media accounts. I'm gaining more experience with LinkedIn and looking at the back end data of social media posts (which posts get the most views, interactions, etc.). Producing Astro and Bio on Tap involves planning two monthly events where we find two speakers, write trivia, and engage with an audience at a bar (outside of the typical museum setting). Running these events has helped me grow my time management skills, my networking skills, and I typically learn some cool new science every month!