Planetary scientists can face challenges in effectively interacting with audiences. To help address their needs, the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) conducts professional development for planetary scientists through seminars and workshops. LPI also enables scientists to participate in public events, and connects them to requests for speakers. LPI’s Sharing Planetary Science seminars include current educational research and incorporate the participants’ own knowledge and experiences in engaging public audiences. Participants attend in-person or online. Post-session surveys indicate that all participants (100%) have found at least one aspect of each seminar valuable. Resulting resources are available online. www.lpi.usra.edu/education/scientist-engagement. In March 2019, working with the Volatiles, Regolith and Thermal Investigations Consortium for Exploration and Science (VORTICES) program, LPI conducted the first Planetary Scientist Engagement Institute. This 2-day training was attended by 23 planetary scientists from across the U.S. who learned about audience needs, common solar system misconceptions, resources for engaging audiences, addressing controversial topics, partnering to reach diverse audiences, and more. In the follow-up evaluation, all (100%) of participants found that the program met their goals and was useful. LPI has conducted a variety of scientist engagement activities at conferences, including sessions and workshops on communicating with audiences, using social media to share their science, and communicating with news media. All have proven popular. LPI hosts a variety of public events, and enables planetary scientists to participate as speakers and as activity facilitators. LPI connects scientists with requests for presentations, both locally and virtually. Future plans include developing a mechanism for evaluating the process and the perceived impact by the scientists. This poster will include further details of these professional development sessions, their resulting resources, the evaluations, and future plans.

Since 2017, the education and public engagement team at the Lunar and Planetary Institute has conducted seminars for planetary scientists (including early career scientists and planetary engineers) interested in engaging public audiences. Sharing Planetary Science seminars address some of the challenges in effectively interacting with audiences. Seminars include current educational research and incorporate the participants’ knowledge and experiences in engaging public audiences. Sessions include invited speakers with expertise in science education, science writing, journalism, communicating with policy makers, and social media. The seminars are hour-long sessions, on over a dozen topics including understanding audience needs, common planetary misconceptions, engaging culturally diverse audiences, and more. While those conducted in 2017 were limited to in-person participants, by 2019 scientists were welcome to join online. Resources, powerpoints, and recordings are available online, along with information about upcoming seminars, at www.lpi.usra.edu/education/scientist-engagement. The number of participants has increased over the past 18 months. Post-session surveys have been conducted after each seminar; participants find the seminars useful and interesting. This poster will include further details of these professional development sessions, which topics and aspects of the seminars are most popular, and the findings of the evaluation to date.

International Observe the Moon Night is an annual worldwide public event that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration. Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration by hosting a public or private event or attending an International Observe the Moon event – and uniting on one day each year to look at and learn about the Moon together. October 5, 2019 marks the 10th annual worldwide celebration of the Moon. Since 2010, an estimated 1.4 million people from across the globe have participated in International Observe the Moon Night events at museums/science centers, libraries, planetaria, observatories, K-12 schools, universities, public parks, community centers, private residences and businesses. Event hosts along with their partners help support and achieve global participation in International Observe the Moon Night. Between 2010 and 2018, a total of 5,551 events were registered worldwide. Over the last nine years, International Observe the Moon Night events have taken place in 107 different countries. Results of the evaluation of International Observe the Moon Night shows that the events continue to be successful in raising visitors’ awareness of lunar science and exploration, providing audiences with information about lunar science and exploration – along with access to lunar mission data and science results, inspiring visitors to want to learn more about the Moon, and providing connections to opportunities to do so. Each year, formative evaluation is used to make recommendations to the International Observe the Moon Night coordinating committee to make iterative changes for the next year. Worldwide evaluation data collection has included registration data, host surveys, visitor surveys, and social media data. The evaluation has been revised over the past ten years based on evolving program goals and resources available. Data collection has also included visitor interviews, observations, and alternative data collection strategies. We will discuss the challenges and successes of different evaluation strategies in evaluating the success of this program. Additionally, we will discuss the challenges and lessons learned in evaluating a large science outreach program that spans across so many countries and sites.