This May, the Texas State University Student Achievements web page celebrated a collection of stories of students winning awards, peace scholarships, and a hackathon competition. One Texas State senior got an honorable mention for leading research on climate change impact in aquaria.
According to Texas State News, Dominque Ocampo is an ambassador for the STEM Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program. During the ten-week intensive research experience for Texas State students, participants are mentored by faculty from the College of Science and Engineering.
Alongside her mentor, graduate student Jenn Idema, and biology professor Dr. Kristy Daniel, Dominque concluded a project researching climate change messaging in virtual aquarium exhibits.
“I contributed to collecting data, reading research papers, and writing proposals for future conferences,” Dominique told Texas State.
One of the surprising findings was that many scientific institutions do not incorporate climate change messaging into virtual exhibits.
Dominque recorded that out of the 129 exhibits, only 7 mentioned climate change or an impact associated with climate change.
“This is not good because it illustrates a lack of socio-scientific information being presented,” she said. “Given the public’s increasing need for accessing science information online, aquaria may be missing opportunities to educate visitors about climate change in engaging and interactive ways. My hopes are that I can continue this research and expand my data bank to create a movement that will support educating the public on climate change,” she added.
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