smithsonian

This past fall I interned at Spark!Lab, a national network of STEM-inspired learning spaces for children and families, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. My time there was in accordance with my participation in the inaugural Scripps Semester in D.C. program at Ohio University. Looking for a way to make the "Create It!" panels (essentially activity prompts) in Spark!Lab more accessible to foreign visitors and those with disabilities, my colleagues and adviser tasked me with creating a series of image-based labels. During my three months there, I worked with an interdisciplinary team of exhibit designers, curators, and inventors within the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation to simplify complex concepts into easily digestible and aesthetically pleasing formats. I was also responsible for updating staff members and volunteers on my progress, teaching them how to use the labels with visitors, and creating evaluation forms for the effectiveness of the labels.