Deb Archer, president/CEO of the Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau, will give a talk titled “Educational Tourism and Making UW-Madison a Destination for Exploration” on Monday, July 16 from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. in room 1360 of the Genetics-Biotechnology Center. This event is free and open to the public.

In the talk, Archer will describe opportunities for collaborations between the university and the tourism industry in ways that will cultivate the science savvy of learners of all ages throughout Wisconsin, strengthen the Dane County tourism industry, speed the outreach mission of the university, and reinforce the Wisconsin Idea.

This presentation is a part of “The New Constellation” seminar series, sponsored by The Center for Biology Education, the Science Alliance at UW-Madison, and WISCAPE. The title of the series refers to the forthcoming “bright spots” on campus for science outreach: the Microbial Sciences building (opens fall 2007), the WID/MIR building (opens 2010), the new Union South (opens 2011), and the renovation of Old Biochemistry.

These four locations will provide new places for UW-Madison to welcome visitor’s to campus for experiencing and learning about science. The new venues will also enable science outreach programs to retool and refuel the Wisconsin Idea. Some science outreach programs will be relocated into these buildings but all programs will be affected by these new spaces and opportunities to connect to students of all ages throughout Wisconsin.

The “New Constellation” series will explore questions of how the university can organize, fund, facilitate, staff, and evaluate science outreach programs in relation to these new locations. The series also aims to investigate how students can gain greater access to the researchers and resources of this university.

The series is part of a new research and program theme for WISCAPE entitled “The Wisconsin Idea and the Public Good.”