In a guided tour of the Earth and Mineral Sciences (EMS) Museum & Art Gallery, participants will learn about the history of the museum and its mission. The scientific process will be the underlying principle of the tour. Director Chris Widga and curator Patti Wood Finkle will introduce methods used in museums for educational purposes. View specific pieces of industrial art and learn about this collection of art, history, and earth materials.

Instructors: Dr. Chris Widga is the director of the Earth and Minerals Sciences Museum & Art Gallery and a paleontologist with the Penn State Department of Geosciences. Over the last 20 years, he has combined cutting-edge paleontological and earth science research with public outreach efforts and museum programming. Widga’s interest in emerging technologies has led to the development of immersive 3D resources, mobile apps, and data-rich online experiences that draw directly from museum collections. He has developed SciComm workshops for scientists and was co-host of the YouTube news program “Paleo Talks.”

Patti Wood Finkle is the curator for the EMS Museum & Art Gallery at Penn State. She has an undergraduate degree in anthropology and a master’s in museum science. She has become a strong proponent of utilizing campus museums in college curricula, an important topic in recent years. Finkle has increased efforts to engage with the college community to demonstrate the museum’s relevancy to the 21st-century student. She has been promoting this idea through a series of conference presentations and museum publications. She is also a co-founder and host of The M Files Podcast.