New Planetarium Tool Teaches Beyond the Stars

In 2020, the Museum was awarded a nearly $1 million federal grant through the National Science Foundation (NSF) to fund an innovative project spearheaded by Dr. Nicole Gunter, Associate Curator of Invertebrate Zoology.

A primary goal of the project is scientific communication. Dr. Gunter, who desired a way to display biodiversity data on the Museum’s planetarium dome, collaborated with software developer Evans & Sutherland to bring her vision to life on Digistar software. Now, for the first time, planetariums can immerse guests in the wonders of life on Earth as well as the far reaches of the Universe.

In 2021, two new plug-in tools were developed and released worldwide. The software converts publicly available specimen records to a format that can be projected onto the planetarium dome. Using biodiversity data to illustrate changes over time, such as shifts in species ranges, Museum educators hope to change how visitors think about the connections between the planetary and biological forces that shape life on our planet and spur conversations about the critical roles of conservation and biodiversity.

“Together, [we’re] breaking down the traditional Museum silos to bring research and collections to the forefront of museum education.” —Dr. Nicole Gunter

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1942193. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.