From the WNIN Tri-State Public Media Center in downtown Evansville.

I'm David James and this is Two Main Street.

Well, it's circled on my calendar April 8th.

That's when the moon will pass between the sun and earth as the sky slowly darkens in a total solar eclipse.

And here's the kicker.

The big show will be directly over the tri state.

And what a way to celebrate her first year at the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences.

My guest is the new director of science experiences, Dr. Carlisle Wizard.

And later, we're going to hear from Margaret Dennis about the museum docent, just how important they are to the museum experience and how you can join the team.

But first, let's welcome Dr. Wishard to Main Street.

Good to have you here.

Thank you, David, and welcome to be here.

And welcome to the tri state.

Thank you.

Now, as a science educator, a total solar eclipse in your own backyard that has to be solid gold.

It's a once in a lifetime opportunity, honestly.

Here in Evansville, we are going to be treated to one of the most spectacular solar events that we can see within our lifetimes.

So the next one here won't be for another couple hundred years or so.

So mark your calendars.

It's going to be a big event.

So the hype has begun and it's only going to get bigger and bigger.

Yes, we are expecting a lot of people here in Evansville and we're really excited to be host to a lot of people that maybe aren't in the path of totality.

So here we're very lucky to be in the path.

But just a couple minutes south of us, not so much.

So Owensboro, out of luck, unfortunately.

Well, close enough, though.

Yes, but yeah, you're welcome to come and see it right here in Evansville.

Now, you replaced Mitch Lumen, who retired after more than three decades at the museum.

And he told me on this very show that you were his handpicked successor.

So how did you and Mitch meet?

Mitch is very kind.

He's been such a wonderful mentor to me.

We met when I was a grad student at Purdue.

I was looking for internship opportunities and I stumbled across the Evansville Museum, reached out.

Mitch was looking for an intern, and in the spring of 2021, I was able to intern here, and from there things just kind of went the way that they did.

And I'm very lucky to be here.

So now your internship here in Evansville, what were your first impressions of the whole museum?

I was blown away.

Honestly, I I'm not from Indiana.

I'm a I'm from Washington, D.C. originally.

So I'm, you know, very accustomed to museums and I've always loved museums.

So when I came down to Evansville for the first time, I wasn't sure what to expect.

But walking through those doors of the Evansville Museum and seeing, you know, the dome, the planetarium right there up front, it was it was beautiful.

Well, you're a planetarium geek anyway, aren't you?

Yes, I am very much different.

Well, you're you're a planetary science, your Ph.D. in planetary science.

We'll talk about that, too.

Now, let's learn more about this total solar eclipse.

What day of the week and time on April 8th?

Yes.

So it is a monday and it is from 2:02 p.m. to 2:05 p.m.

So that's Central Time.

So it's going to be just a brief three minute window in the middle of the workday that you're going to need to step outside into the parking lot or maybe take a break from what you were doing just to be able to gaze up at the eclipse.

So now total solar eclipse means total darkness, not quite total darkness.

It's going to feel a little bit like twilight, okay.

It's going to be broad daylight and then in the middle of the day will have a dip.

So the light will will dim, the crickets will start chirping, the birds will stop singing.

It's going to be a really natural, really cool, natural event.

Now, will there be like a kind of a aurora around?

Yes.

So during the total solar eclipse, this is, by the way, the only time it is safe to remove your eclipse glasses and look up at the face of the moon in the sun is during that three minute window.

During that three minute window, you'll see the corona of the sun to that white wispy part of the sun peeking out from around the face of the moon.

Okay, now you're a recent graduate of Purdue, a Ph.D. in planetary science.

Any future astronauts in your classes?

I wish so.

I do know a couple.

I'm not going to put them on blast.

You're not going to say their names.

But I know a couple of people that have made it quite far into the astronaut selection process, only to be, you know, beaten out by the next future astronauts.

But it is a it's a big aspiration and it's an incredible amount of work that they have to put into to go through that process.

So well, Purdue is one of the meccas for astronaut training.

It is across the country.

Okay.

I have a now your research focus I found out was on the formation and evolution of the planets in our solar system.

So Dr. Carlisle Wizard, what's the deal with Pluto?

That's a great question.

So I'll be honest with you.

As planetary scientists, we call everything a planet.

You know, we call asteroids, we call Pluto, we call the moon.

They're all planetary bodies.

We refer to them as planetary surfaces.

Yes, technically, if you want to be specific, there are three things that you need to have.

In order to be a planet, you need to go around the sun.

So the earth checks that box.

We go around the sun.

You need to be round a sphere.

Earth also checks that box.

It is a sphere.

And this is the one that Pluto gets kicked out on.

You need to have cleared your orbital environment, and Pluto just has too much orbital junk in its orbit.

So rocky bodies, debris, things like that in Pluto's orbit, it's not gravitationally dominant.

It's not strong enough to kick those bodies out.

So so it's been downgraded to a dwarf planet by some by the International Astronomical Union in the early 2000.

So it's officially it's officially a dwarf planet.

It's not alone in its dwarf planet category.

There are dozens of dwarf planets that we've found since finding Pluto.

So but also found out there's a lot of, I guess, dissension among astronomers who are not on board with this redefinition.

Yeah.

So for a while, you know, people were kind of.

Pluto, We miss Pluto.

We wish it was a still a planet.

That's great.

But then in 2017, when we got the images from the New Horizons spacecraft and we saw Pluto as this active, beautiful, incredibly geologically rich world, people started to realize that it wasn't a dead rocky body out there in the outer solar system.

It's a fascinating planet in its own right.

So as planetary scientists, we advocate for it to be called a planet just because it's so interesting and fascinating that that it deserves its acknowledgment, I guess.

Well, now I understand it's not gravitationally dominant.

Is that one of the definitions?

Yes.

So it has to that's clearing its environment.

It's that gravitationally dominant.

It has to be the biggest, most gravitationally strong thing in its region, just like the Earth is in our region.

Okay.

Now, you said you grew up in the Washington, D.C. area.

I did.

And then you went to University of Alabama?

Yes, I did.

From D.C. that happen?

I you know, I was looking for a change.

I was looking for to kind of get out of my hometown and explore a little bit.

And I found the University of Alabama and it was a wonderful, wonderful time there.

I made some incredible friends and I became a huge football fan.

Well, yeah, real time.

Did you go to the space center in Huntsville?

No, I never made it out to Huntsville.

You know, that's the problem with being an undergrad.

You don't have a car, so you can't go.

That's right.

Okay.

Any other astronomers in your family?

No, actually.

So my brother is an engineer, but the majority of my family are lawyers and writers and, you know, things like that.

So I think we're a bit oddballs.

Have you always been a stargazer?

I have always been fascinated with the sky.

I one of my first memories is my parents making little Styrofoam planets for me and hanging them from my ceiling.

And I had the glow in the dark stars and all that sort of thing.

But really, what kind of kickstarted my journey in astronomy was my high school teacher.

We had a planetarium at my high school, nice, and we had astronomy courses and I did research with her and she was just phenomenal.

Lee-Ann Hennig was incredible Teacher, and so she kind of prompted me to be not only an astronomer and a planetary scientist, but also a planetarium director.

And do you remember your very first telescope?

I have actually never owned it.

Tell us what I know.

It's crazy.

I'm not much of an observer.

I wish I knew more about it.

But the Evansville Astronomical Society, they got me beat on that.

They're much more qualified than I am.

I love it.

I love doing the stars.

But I. I guess my path so far has been research on Royal Oak.

Yeah.

And so what fascinates you about the research?

What what really triggered your interest in research?

Yeah, so my research kind of at Purdue, my research at Purdue kind of focused on this mystery that we have in the solar system and, and really a mystery that's been staring us in the face for as long as we have been human beings here on earth.

And it's when you look up at the moon and you see the moon covered in craters, right?

So all of those craters are created when meteors come down and strike the planet, creating this big hole.

And for a long time, we assumed that those craters were created by asteroids, you know, rocky bodies and sometimes comets occasionally, but mostly asteroids.

And this kind of makes sense.

We know an asteroid killed the dinosaurs, so it makes sense that we thought they were asteroids.

But as computers have gotten better and better, we've realized that asteroids don't fit the pattern that we see on the lunar surface and and the Martian surface.

My research comes from mainly focused on Mars.

So we have this mystery of, you know, where did all of these rocky bodies come from?

What were they?

It's this now extinct population in the solar system that we just don't have a record for.

So that's where my research comes in, and I'm really trying to answer that question about what these populations were and where they went.

Well, there's a picture I saw of you next to a crater, a meteor crater in Arizona.

Yes, I was a meteor crater.

Arizona is one of the best preserved impact craters in the United States and I think around the world.

It's an incredible site.

So how big is.

It's not that big.

It's really small.

Yeah.

You can look from one side to the other, no problem.

But it is just really well preserved out there in the desert.

So I would encourage you to go visit it.

You can just sit right on the rim and it's great.

My guess is Dr. Carlisle Wishard.

She's the new director of science experiences at the Evansville Museum of Art and Sciences.

And let's see here, we talked about the eclipse coming up.

Have you seen many eclipses?

I've only seen one.

So I went to the 2017 one.

I actually stayed with friends down in Tennessee.

I sat in their driveway and just looked up and it was a life changing experience.

So I would encourage people, if you have friends that are from outside the path of totality, invite them over for for April the eighth.

So of course, eclipses are a fascination to us now.

But I guess early mankind terrified.

Yeah, when an eclipse happens.

I mean, it's this terrifying event, right?

You're going about your normal day and all of a sudden things get really dark and it's scary.

But after, you know, these eclipses, they only last 3 to 4 minutes, depending on where you're located.

So once once that eclipses occurred, you can go back to your normal life and hopefully not so scary.

So now you were an intern at the National Space Museum in Washington, D.C.?

Yeah, the Air and Space Museum.

You were a research intern.

What does that means?

So I did research under a researcher.

Air and space Museum, by the way, has a really well-defined research sector.

So it's not just about, you know, science education.

It's also about advancing science.

Okay, So I got to do wonderful research there, focused on sand dunes in a in on Mars.

So.

Yeah, so so what did you learn about sand dunes on Mars?

Sand dunes are a really great way of measuring wind patterns on Mars, actually, because you can see the sand blowing in the in, you know, on the patterns.

So learning new things about Mars is atmosphere every day.

So of course, Mars, I mean, that's a that's a target for this for the space travelers.

And you think that'll happen?

Somebody old man will be on Mars in your lifetime?

I hope so.

I mean, well, I mean, not my lifetime, but hopefully your lifetime.

Well, within both of our lifetimes, we will be back on the moon.

So the Artemis mission in 2025 will send the first woman and the first person of color to the moon.

So that's just two short years away.

So hopefully, you know, if all things go as planned, that will be really kind of reigniting the interest in space exploration for the next generation of scientists.

But I think it fascinating that people are already planning for colonizing Mars.

Yes.

I mean, that already begun.

I mean, they've already researched what they're going to do, how they're going to have the oxygen and water resources.

That has to be fascinating to you.

it absolutely is fascinating.

And I think we are definitely doing a great job of laying the groundwork for that.

Whether it happens.

And I think the plan is 20, 30 or something like that, that's very ambitious in my mind, but we'll definitely get there.

I mean, one of our greatest traits as humans is that we never stop exploring and we just keep pushing the boundaries to welcome back to Two Main Street.

I'm David James, and my guests are Dr. Carlyle Wishard the new director of science experiences at the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences.

And Margaret Dennis is here.

She's here to talk about the importance of museum docents, what they do and how you can get involved with the docent program.

So, Margaret, who are these docents?

What do they do?

Well, docents are an incredibly important part of the museum experience.

We're kind of educators, so we do a lot of improving the experience of our guests at the museum.

We deal with adults as well as children.

So, for example, when we have geek con or Super Saturdays, we also have a new endeavor called the Club, which is on the first Friday of every month.

It's a free day at the museum and we just have different programs for them.

And then a lot of our emphasis is with dealing with schools on field trips.

We see over 5000 students on a typical year, believe it or not, that's from 150 different schools from 19 counties in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

So it's just really a wonderful thing.

We have different tours that we offer, and none of that would be possible if it weren't for docents who we all are, all trained volunteers.

Now we talk to Dr. Wishard about the all the hype for the eclipse.

So are the docents involved in all this?

Yes, we are.

We have a special group of us have been trained on an Eclipse planetary show that Carlisle has put together.

And it is amazing.

I'm a visual learner.

And when people explain just with words about how the eclipse works, it just doesn't click.

So with this planetarium show, we're going to be able to show the students and the public because it's 1:00 every afternoon.

The museum is open.

We have the show going on and you can visually see why eclipses are are totally solar.

Eclipses are so unusual because you have to have five factors.

All fit in at exactly the right time.

And so we're being trained on being able to do that show for the students in the Tri-State.

And not only that, we have a grant from Explorer Evansville that we are they gave us money for field trips for students, and within two weeks all of the field trips were filled up for that opportunity.

So, yeah, incredible.

We already have 2000 students signed up to come and learn about the eclipse.

And of course, the eclipse is location, location, location.

We're right in the path of total totality, right?

Yep.

So that's makes it even more exciting.

Now, these docents volunteers, Yes, we are volunteers and it can be we have homemakers, we have engineers as myself, we have former teachers.

It is a fair it's it's a big commitment because training alone goes on for about five months, once a week, because we want to make sure that you have all the information at your disposal so that you can then share that with the students and the adults that come into the museum.

And the interaction is very important when they have a question.

Exactly.

We do have set tours that we offer.

For example, one of my favorites is it's called Mystery at the Museum, and it's basically teaching about the scientific method, but it's taught in such a fun way because there's been a terrible, terrible crime has happened at the museum and the students have to apply the scientific method to then discover who stole the cheese doodles.

Terrible crime.

But the kids really get into it.

I mean, I know it sounds hokey, but the first time I did it, those students, I mean, you could just see them get so excited and they're learning so much and they're don't even realize it, which is kind of fun.

Well, yeah, that's good.

But.

But yeah, but they get to do fingerprint analysis, chromatography to examine the ink analysis.

So it's just it's really a lot of fun.

And of course, the museum, one of the things I love about our museum and believe it or not, according to exploring Evansville, we have 8 to 9 museums in our immediate area and we are the only ones that are generalists.

So we basically we are, as you pointed out, we are the Museum of Art's History and science.

So we have art, we have history, we have science and art tours, and therefore the docents have to know all of that.

really?

Not just one specific area.

Correct.

Now you can show me a generalist.

Yes.

You can certainly focus on if as a docent, you really art is your thing, then that's what you choose.

You choose to be our art specialist.

All right.

So what are frequently asked questions on these tours?

What do people want to know?

there's it's depending on the tour.

We get a lot of questions about, you know, like if there's we have a cat mummy in our Humankind gallery.

So, you know, the cat is that for real?

They're really a cat in there.

And of course we can say, yes, there have been X-rays done and yes, there really are cat bones in there.

Now you have the is the giant bear still there?

Yes.

Cody is our mascot and he is still there.

He is still as tall and menacing.

Menacing, yes.

But the kids love what's one of their favorite things, I suppose, in front of the bear for pictures.

Sure.

And I know, of course, if people haven't been to the museum, you have this wonderful kind of a turn back time village.

Yes.

River level.

Yes.

River Town is where a lot of our history.

That's our history gallery, basically.

And the kids learn from founding of Evansville to Abraham Lincoln, Pioneer Days House towns grew up.

One of the things that the teachers, more than the students kind of find fascinating is we have, of course, the replica of the first doctor's office in Evansville.

And we always ask, so, you know, nowadays, how long do you have to go to university to become a doctor?

How long, David?

I know 15 years.

Get 815, depending right on the specialty.

Yeah.

So this doctor, he went through the grueling, absolutely time consuming education period of four months.

Gosh.

So.

So that's one of things that the teachers at that they're kind of like, wow.

So, yes, you could be a doctor in just for.

okay.

Now, what are some of the do's and don'ts when visiting the museum?

Now, as a docent, you kind of watch over things, don't you?

Yes.

We have an absolutely amazing curator of education, Karen Malone.

And she handles all of the scheduling with the schools.

So she has a lot of communication ahead of time with the teachers.

Okay.

So when the students get off the school bus, we get them into the nice, beautiful I can't pavilion.

They're at the entrance and we go over some of those manners.

Museum manners.

That's good.

That's a good way to put it.

Yes, on the positive.

But one of the things is, you know, just reminding that, you know, you can't touch the artwork if you're taking pictures, because nowadays, even kids in school have cell phones.

Sure.

Just be sure that the flash is off.

Right.

And we explain about how that the oils in your hands, even though you think that they're clean.

Yeah.

Oils in your hands and you can damage even though it doesn't look like you've done any damage just the accumulation of oil on the paintings will do damage.

But then we also tell them that when it comes to the science hands on area, well, they get to just explore and touch and do everything to their heart's content.

Any shout outs to any long time docents, volunteers.

You had people that been there for a long time.

Well, it's kind of interesting.

We're we're starting the way the docent training program works is, again, it's a fairly intense five months.

You do a lot of shadowing of other docents, and that was one of my favorite things because I got to interact with some of those very long term docents.

But then during COVID, the docent program kind of obviously with the museum being closed, a lot of things were online.

So a lot of our longtime docents at that time said, it's a good time, we're just going to retire.

So we have a new class starting up.

I started with only five students in my class and this new class we have about 12 interested people, so we're really excited to be growing some of the newer people.

But but yes, those experienced people who have stuck with it are just so valuable.

Do you remember your first time being let loose as a full time docent?

I actually, David, you know me from my Girl Scout days, right?

So?

So you know that I. I was the director of volunteer resources, so education is my thing.

So even before I finished training on all the modules, I was already leading tours.

Okay?

Because it just, it came natural to me.

So you weren't really a newbie walking, going through the halls and I didn't feel like it.

No, no.

Okay.

That's good.

I mean, I'd hadn't done some of the specific tours, but I'm definitely I'm a fast learner and and you know me when I get into something, I get in 100%.

So I know passionate.

I know doses, of course, are involved in outreach programs, schools, churches.

That has to be a very important role of the docents.

Yes, we have certain programs in particular that are kind of transferred easily to transfer sports.

So we do, for example, take a kitchen sink science program to schools.

And it really is it's just experience.

It's that you can do with things that you probably have in your kitchen and the kids really like that.

And we do that like at afterschool programs, YMCA type programs.

But we also have a mummy program which the both adults and students enjoy, which is just going over.

How did the mummy process work?

And and we have this cloth don't it's not a real not a real mummy as David's looking at me like okay so it's, it's a cloth mummy and we, and we show them how organs were removed and how they were put in special Coptic jars.

wow.

So that's neat.

I like that.

Okay.

I think you're gonna have to sign up to car.

Yeah, I will.

Yeah.

Okay.

You also have a, an outside train museum.

Yes, Amtrak.

It's the Evansville Museum of Transportation Center.

And we have some, honest to goodness, real trains there.

And the students that is one of the tours that students can take, but it is included in membership in museum admission.

So if you come to a museum, you can do the arts and science and history in the main building as well as Amtrak.

And it's basically a gallery of transportation.

So we talk about river transportation, we talk about air transportation, land transportation.

And then we have this beautiful model of Evansville in the 1830s.

Don't hold me to that number, okay?

But it's a beautiful little model city where you can see some of the buildings that still exist today.

And then, of course, you can go on the real train.

You can go in the caboose and see how the signalman would signal way back and then you can get on the engine and ring the bell.

That's a highlight for students.

Of course, the whole riverfront has a whole new look.

Now you've got that kid's kingdom and you've got the new the water treatment center.

Fall has become a tourist attraction.

Who ever think that the water treatment center.

So there's a lot going on on the riverfront.

Your neighbors museum.

Yeah.

And a lot of people, I think, initially see the museum from the trail.

So they see the sculptures that we have in our backyard.

Yes.

Beautiful sculptures there.

And there's always just a lot of traffic going through.

It's a great place to see the July 4th fireworks from true.

If you can't be in front of your TV watching WNIN ends.

That's right.

So, you know the fireworks.

You can come to the museum and see it from our backyard, too.

So, Margaret Dennis, why are you so passionate about supporting our local museum?

I just think it's such a treasure for a city our size to have number one as many museums as we do, and they are all amazing and excellent.

I highly recommend all of them.

But to have this quality of exhibit that we have and a lot of people say, Well, I went to the museum years ago, Well, guess what?

We only show 2% of our collection is on display at a time.

And that is kind of the national average.

2 to 3% of a museum's collection.

So we have rotating exhibits all the time.

So for anybody who hasn't been to the museum lately and they're saying, well, there's nothing new, there really is.

We have such top notch exhibits that come through that that that people don't realize.

Well, I was just going to say that museums are not stagnant places.

Not at all.

There's always a new exhibit and you and you coming up with new ideas to get people in the doors.

Yeah.

And again, it's it's not just and I think we do that a very good job at that at our museum is that a museum shouldn't be where you just go and look at something and that's it.

It should engage you.

So our staff has done an amazing job and pretty much for every exhibit there is a hands on component to engage you.

So right now we have this great exhibit on landscapes and there's a little area where you can then we encourage you to think about your landscapes and how would you design a landscape painting?

Or so now there are some perks for museum docents.

Obviously you make a lot of new friends.

I guess that's the biggest perk in it.

Yes.

Yes.

You get to know these people very well.

But we do have an enrichment program for docents because we want to continue learning.

So we do field trips of our own.

We might go to other museums, we might go to different gardens, different towns to learn about their history.

So it's it's really a great thing.

How does one get started to become a docent?

The best thing is to email, call the museum and talk with our curator of education, Karen Malone.

And certainly, obviously if anybody knows me, they can always ask me and I'll be happy to tell them, as would any of our docents.

But yes, the best way is contact the museum.

And usually the training runs from September through March with a break over the holidays.

What's your favorite corner or haunt at the Evansville Museum?

You know it.

When I first started, when I first became interested in the docents program, I was like, art is going to be my thing.

And then I started doing it and then I was like, gosh, But I really like the history part and and I'm not from Evansville, so I knew nothing of Evansville history.

And this is fascinating.

And then the science part, and then working with Mitch before and now with Carlisle, it's just like, my gosh.

So no, I refuse to choose a favorite.

Okay.

All right.

I thought a pin you down on there.

they're all so much fun.

And each class that comes in because we deal with students all the way from preschool, all the way through high school, and each class, even from the same school, the same grade.

You rotate through doing the tour in smaller groups.

And each group brings such a unique experience because each of those students is so individual.

So so it's just it's fascinating.

It's a lovely experience.

Now, earlier we talked about the total solar eclipse April 8th that will be visible in its totality from right here in the tri state.

Now, throughout early history, we talked about our ancestors reacting to the sky suddenly going dark, and that had to be a frightening experience.

But it only lasted a few minutes.

Yes.

Yeah.

Thankfully, it only last here in Evansville.

We're going to get about 3 minutes.

3 minutes, and it'll be spectacular, right?

Yes, 3 minutes you will never forget.

There you go.

Now you have a planetarium theater at your disposal.

That means shows and star parties.

And you're familiar with the star parties?

Yes.

So we actually just had one with the Evansville Astronomical Society.

We are we partner with them for quite a bit of our viewing nights.

We had one last week and then we have two more coming up in October.

So we're going to be bringing out the telescopes, looking at the moon, looking at planets.

One of them in October is focused on Saturn.

so you're going to be able to look through telescopes if you've never done that before.

I encourage you guys it's a free event, so come on out now.

I understand you work with the Children's Museum or some in Lafayette, Indiana, at Purdue or at Purdue.

We Purdue had a partnership with Imagination Station, which was a children's museum in Lafayette, where we would do annually, we would have events for kids.

I'm from Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Science Department, so they would be earth science focused activities and planetary science focused activities with kids.

So yes.

So of course, education's a big part of your job.

Absolutely.

At the museum and it's a huge part in the part that I think is one of the most important things I do.

So so STEM events, do you have any of those planned?

Yes.

So we've got a chemistry day which is coming up.

We're partnering with University of Evansville and University U.S.

So we're going to be partnering with them to do an event at the museum in October.

Don't quote me on the date.

I have to check on that.

But it is in late October.

We're going to be doing a chemistry focused today.

So it's going to be a great time, you know, And before we forget it now, you are still a student of the solar system.

We talked about that with a Ph.D. in planetary science from Purdue and we talked about some of the mysteries that still need to be solved.

We talked about the craters on the moon.

Anything else that's really fascinated you about the solar system?

I mean, for every single thing that we think we know about the solar system, ten years later, we find out we were completely wrong, which is why it's such an exciting time for space exploration in general.

I don't know if you saw recently India landed on the moon for the first time.

China has had a lot of success in the past couple of years.

Like I mentioned earlier, the Artemis program, we'll be sending people back to the moon from NASA, from the United States.

So it's just a really exciting time to be exploring space and being a planetary scientist.

So if you are maybe a kid looking to get into space exploration in the future, now's a great time.

You know, I'm fascinated by asteroids.

I mean, they're they're the fodder of these disaster movies.

Of course, you know, you see these huge asteroids heading right for Earth and how are we going to divert its path and everything?

So much studying on asteroids.

Well, I saw don't look up, if that's what you're referring to, the movie where the asteroid is coming down to kill us all.

Thankfully, I have I don't have to worry about that too much.

We have a lot of really great people at NASA that are doing all of that work.

So us regular scientists don't have to worry about being destroyed.

But asteroids are not a threat to humanity, but they're also the building blocks of the solar system.

So asteroids are kind of a way of looking at what the solar system looked like in its infancy.

So four plus billion years ago, those were the pieces that came together to build the planets.

So it's a really great way of looking back in our own history.

So I do little bit of that with my research at Purdue.

You No, I'm fascinated too, that they can predict the path of these asteroids.

Yes.

In advance.

Years In advance, Yes.

And the science of that, the math of that is incredible.

It's a lot of math.

So if you if you are, you know, intimidated by math, don't be intimidated.

Math is wonderful.

You know, math is great.

But that is a big part of being a planetary scientist is getting those trajectories right.

So we can protect ourselves.

Now, of course, you do follow the latest space missions for us.

And what do you think about space tourism?

Yeah, So I think from a scientist perspective, a space tourism is both exciting, but also a huge danger, right?

Space is as comfortable as we can get with it.

It's still extremely risky to go out into space and and to expose yourself to to the dangers of space in that way.

So right now, I mean, I wouldn't do it personally.

I would not become a space risk.

But I also have no desire to be an astronaut.

So I know there are people that are very comfortable with that idea of that risk.

And then from a from a scientist point of view as well, space tourism has the potential, if not done correctly, to actually contaminate other planetary worlds.

So people going to Mars, if we're not careful, they're going to be leaving things behind.

They're going to be leaving behind, you know, human waste.

We're humans.

We we shed hair, we shed skin.

We could have the potential to contaminate a planet that we're not 100% sure it doesn't have life yet.

So it's a risk for people, I think, to go to other planets, but potentially a risk that's coming up whether we want to or not.

But there's somebody studying that right now.

absolutely.

Yes.

There's a huge area of conversation that in that.

Amazing.

Yes.

They're already planning 50 years ahead.

Yes, incredible.

It really is now.

So you see humans being on Mars eventually one day.

I think it's inevitable.

One day.

I mean, humans, we we continue to explore.

We continue to push the bounds of what we know to be true.

And I think it's amazing that, you know, we can even be sitting here having this conversation about potentially putting people back on Mars when, you know, not too long ago they were wondering if we could even put people on the moon.

So now we talked earlier, you know, off mic here about your favorite maybe science fiction movies, space film.

Now, you love The Martian.

Yes.

I mean, I think that brings us back to this whole conversation about maybe possibly living on Mars, setting up a base on Mars.

I mean, I'm sure most of your viewers have at least heard of The Martian, the big movie a couple of years back.

But the idea of putting a sustainable colony on another planet, it's no easy feat.

There's a lot that has to go into that.

So planning decades in advance is is really critical.

Now, did you read a lot of science fiction as a young lady?

I did read I was a big reader, especially in middle school, high school.

I was a huge reader.

Science fiction has always been this world that I'm just like, it's almost too close to what I do every day that I'm like, I. I don't know.

That's like bringing work home, if that makes sense.

So but I do.

I mean, I grew up with Star Wars.

I love Star Wars as a kid.

I love science fiction movies and things like that.

So yeah, but reading it, I think that generates interest in young people to become scientists.

It definitely does.

I mean, you know, what they see on TV, what they read in books or comic books or anything like that.

That is what sparks your interest and that's what kind of triggers you to to want to study this in long term.

I mean, I say the event that sparked me to become a planetary scientist, it was actually on a visit to Kennedy Space Center, and we watched this movie about the Hubble telescope and Leonardo DiCaprio was voicing it.

And I was, you know, 15 year old and I was like, I know a celebrity, whatever.

I'll go see this movie and that, like truly that experience talking, hearing him talk about the Hubble telescope was life changing.

And that's why I'm here, in part why I'm here today.

Have you been to the two spring Mill State Park?

No.

Where is that?

It's near.

I'm just always I'm going blank here.

It's in southern Indiana and in in Mitchell.

Mitchell, Indiana.

And they have a museum dedicated to Gus Grissom there.

really?

Yeah.

Where she was, what they do.

And, of course, he died in the capsule fire.

Yes, but they have a replica of the capsule there.

Wow.

And they have all kinds of memorabilia of those early astronauts.

That's amazing.

So you to put that on your on your travel, you write that down.

It's it's Brynmill State Park.

Right?

When you enter when you enter the park, there's this museum is really well done.

Yeah.

It's really well researched and everything.

A lot of science in it and a lot of memorabilia of the state's early space program.

So anyway, that's.

That's my Southern DNA tourism pitch.

No.

And I love I love getting people into the museum that remember the Apollo era and those really early science missions.

I mean, those people come into the museum and they're just so excited to talk about, you know, the Apollo era, what they remember from their childhoods.

And then when I can tell them, you know, we're going back to the moon, you know, your grandkids will get to have that same experience as you.

That's really I mean, that's really powerful.

Now, we talked about, of course, the science is your is your gig at the museum.

And there's a lot of art and history there, too.

Yeah.

So you get to do it new education, don't you?

Absolutely.

And I think that's something I'm very passionate about in this position and I hope to bring to this position in the future is to integrate art history and science, because as Margaret mentioned, we are so unique in this area to be able to have all three specializations and be able to work together and collaborate to bring art, history and science to the Tri-State area.

So.

So are you enjoying your time in southern Indiana?

absolutely.

I've only been here for two months, but I feel like I've been so impressed with everything that Evansville has to offer.

You guys have so many cool events and activities and you know, there's a bunch of wonderful museums in town.

I've just been almost overwhelmed by the number of things that I can do in my free time.

So it's wonderful.

So you're you're just getting started here.

You probably have some future plans.

Yes.

And anything you can talk about?

Yeah, I have some big plans.

Some of them I have to keep under wraps.

Sure.

I understand that a lot of involve funding.

They.

Yes, they do owe funding.

So, you know, the membership part of it, that's the membership part.

But we have some really exciting things coming down the pipeline, especially next year.

Right now, we're focusing mostly on the eclipse.

Sure, that's going to be the big the big one coming up.

Big push.

Yeah, but after that, I'm hoping to to bring some things that are not so astronomy related and more general science related, other areas of science to the Evansville Museum.

So and as we talked about a planetary scientist, but I'm at heart a science lover, so all aspects of science are of interest to me and my predecessor, Mitch.

He did such a great job of bringing non astronomy related science to the museum as well as astronomy.

He had some wonderful past exhibits that focused on everything from, you know, math and numbers to air and the weather.

And I mean, he had such a broad range and I hope to be able to continue that legacy.

Do you think you're one of the youngest science directors at museums in the country?

gosh, I have no idea.

I haven't even thought of that.

I mean, it's a pretty good gig in that it is right out of school.

So lucky that Mitch took a chance on me and really believed in me and trusted me to to take the reins at the museum.

So I've been very blessed.

And of course, we talked about the really big show in the sky April 8th.

It's its splendor and rarity, witnessing a total eclipse.

And that has to be, like you said, your main focus right now is getting the word out on that and capitalizing on all the all the hype, I guess, about the eclipse.

Yeah, we just want our our visitors to really be prepared for what they're going to see on that day and to know the science behind what they're seeing and to understand why it is such a rare and spectacular event.

So that's why we have an exhibit right now about the solar eclipse and that's going on right now.

You can stop in on the museum anytime we're open and see the Solar Eclipse exhibition.

We also have an Eclipse Planetarium show in which I will be standing there doing, the show and showing you really what you're going to be seeing on the day of the eclipse.

So how about a little education here, lunar eclipse and solar eclipse?

Yes, it's about the orientation of the earth, moon and sun.

So in a total solar eclipse, the moon passes between the earth and the sun.

That's how it blocks out the face, The sun and a lunar eclipse is the opposite.

So we basically have a total solar eclipse.

They're actually not that rare.

The thing is that they mostly occur over places where people don't live the ocean, the Arctic, things like that.

So the opportunity to witness a total solar eclipse from your own backyard is incredibly a unique opportunity.

So in the path of the total eclipse, yes, on April 8th, it starts it's going to start in the Pacific Ocean, down through Mexico, come up through Texas, passed over the lower Midwest, and then it's going to come into the tri state area at around 132 or so, again, passing over Evansville at 2:02 p.m.. And from there, it's going to continue on up to the upper Midwest and through even bits of New England.

So it's going to carry on into the Atlantic and that'll be that.

So there'll be other eclipse parties along that longer path.

Yes.

So this area is really unique because that path will cover, I think the estimate is about 8 million people will be able to see it from their own backyards, which is just incredible.

So so how wide is the total eclipse path?

It's very narrow.

So it basically we are kind of at the bottom edge of that path.

If you go even just a couple of minutes south of US, you're not going to be able to witness totality, but it will cover up through above Indianapolis.

So just north of Indianapolis will be that kind of path.

So it's what does that like two and a half, maybe 3 hours total?

Dr. Wishard any special spot is going to be perfect to watch the total eclipse.

Yeah, well, any spot is going to be perfect.

You're going to be able to see it from your backyard.

But if you did want to go and have a more of an event type atmosphere, USI is actually doing a huge event called solar palooza that they're going to be open to the public and you're going to be able to go there and take part in all the activities that they have planned.

Wesselman Woods is also doing something as well as Angel Mounds and a couple of other sites around town.

But the museum is actually going to be closed on that day.

We're actually returning a favor.

So in 2017 we brought people down to the path of totality.

I mean, we were hosted by a number of a museum down there in the path of totality, and this time we are bringing people up.

So we're returning the favor of busing in some partner museums and bringing them to the museum for that day so that they can experience the eclipse for themselves.

Well, I think it would be be a wonderful experience to view the eclipse with other people.

The oohs and ahs.

Can you imagine the communal experience of that?

Absolutely.

I know for some people it's a very personal, spiritual experience.

So they like to go out and it's right into the field, into the woods, you know, quiet tranquility.

But other people, I mean, it's a party.

So.

So we're just going to be here.

Purch I mean, I'm going to be at the museum with all of those guests that we're bringing in.

So it'll be really beautiful if you do have a spot along the water to be able to look out and see the eclipse over the Ohio River.

So that's going to be quite an experience, definitely.

Thanks for being my guest and welcome to the Tri-State and thanks for sharing the majesty and the mystery of our solar system as well.

Thank you so much for having me.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

I'm David James and this is Two Main Street.