“I think it's selfish, often, of researchers to not do public outreach because the government is funding so much of our research,” says Dr. He also believes that as an academic researcher, he was a responsibility to be a community resource for students and other learners outside of his CLA courses. As such, he was a natural fit for a Skype a Scientist livestream. Murty welcomes the extra attention from and interactions with students. It's nice to come up with something good out of all this.”Īs a professor who moonlights as an improve comedian telling science-based jokes, Dr. But, surprisingly, online learning is going much better than anticipated. “I don't know if it just reduces the anxiety to have some distance from them or if it’s that they're able to use the chat to ask clarifying questions rather than having to deal with raising their hands and asking a question in the middle of class. “There’s something about Zoom for small discussion classes that's making the students so much more comfortable in their interactions,” explains Dr.

What’s more, the professor has found that virtual learning can, in some ways, even be more effective than in-person classes. Murty says the COVID-19 pandemic has created a major student need for virtual opportunities to connect with scientists. This week is Skype a Scientist’s Neuroscience Week, and College of Liberal Arts Neuroscience Assistant Professor Vishnu Murty will be answering student questions on a livestream tomorrow, Oct. Skype a Scientist is a nonprofit group connecting young students with scientists who are here to answer their questions about, well, science!

With everyone’s schedules being wildly altered and the resources shifting from in-person to online, one group is looking to answer that (and many other) questions in our shared new reality known as 2020. Given enough time and resources, is there anything science can’t accomplish?

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