IlluminationSpace Hub Ecosystem

Community and research connected through STEM communication, outreach, and education.

ABOUT

Located at the Advanced Science Research Center at the CUNY Graduate Center (CUNY ASRC), the IlluminationSpace Hub (IS Hub) is a collective space for science communication, outreach and education. The Ecosystem Map project explores how our community and academic partners, program participants and other stakeholders are connected by shared interests and goals that intersect with STEM education, communication and outreach opportunities. These combined elements make up the IS Hub ecosystem.

Supported by a Rita Allen Foundation Civic Science Fellows program grant, the ecosystem mapping project has worked to identify and elucidate the emergent nature of our civic science practice, and of civic science in general. Our work aims to create ongoing, beneficial and reciprocal exchanges between communities and researchers; build STEM identity through pathways to STEM higher education and careers; and create a space for collective problem solving through scientific engagement.

The ecosystem map project includes three tools that visitors to these pages can explore to learn more about the IS Hub’s work as well as to gain a better understanding of how community and academic partners can use civic science to address public interests. The tools include:

An interactive network diagram that allows visitors to engage in a high or detailed level exploration of the IS Hub’s community connections and partnerships;
Narrative story cards that display the varied engagement pathways and experiences of IS Hub program participants; and
A geographical map showing the IS Hub’s educational and programmatic partners and our expanding reach across New York City.

The IS Hub Ecosystem Map project highlights the emerging value of and opportunities for civic science engagement, and it provides a view of our community as we prepare for the next stage of our work. It serves both as an introduction and an invitation to collaborate.

THE INTERACTIVE NETWORK

The network diagram is an online tool designed to visually represent the relationships among IS Hub partners, participants and community members. Connections between specific network members are represented by lines on the diagram. By mapping these relationships, our team hopes to identify and facilitate opportunities for stakeholders to successfully collaborate and use the practice of civic science (informal STEM education, outreach and communication) to create reciprocal relationships that advance public good.

ILLUMINATING THE PATH FORWARD

Explore these participant narratives, which give an up-close view of the personal experience of eight program participants, each with a distinctive story to tell. As you travel along these pathways, you will encounter four recurring themes that have emerged from our research on program participants’ experiences:

KEY THEMES

	Research & Community Collaboration: Activities that bring community members and researchers together to identify and address community concerns.
	Working with Under-resourced Communities: Activities that engage with members of communities that lack investments, are targeted by extractive practices, and/or experience systemic racism and social injustice.
	CUNY Pipeline: Programs and projects within the CUNY system that offer opportunities for and access to career-enhancing resources.
	STEM Identity: The ability for someone to see themselves as belonging to the STEM community, often emerging during participation in IS Hub activities.

Roksana Azad

Carolyn Ferguson

Favour Achimba

Katherine Anderson

Rocheli Apilan

Daniel Okpattah

Rosa Meyo

Mike Spade

PROGRAMMATIC PARTNERS MAP

Our programmatic partners are vitally important! Explore this map to see the range of K-12 schools, community based organizations and academic institutions that we are very fortunate to work with.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Ecosystem Mapping Project was conceived by IS Hub cofounders Kendra Krueger and Shawn Rhea and researched and executed by Rita Allen Citizen Science Fellow Catherine Cramer with support from Shanté Booker, Kimberly Mui, Mashya Mumin, and Genevieve Nieson. We would like to thank the Rita Allen Foundation and CUNY ASRC Executive Director Mark Hauber for their support of this effort.