The mission of QESST public outreach is to provide a platform for engaging the community; students, parents, teachers, and the general public; in discussions about solar energy. Although there is a growing interest in advances of solar energy, many misconceptions prevail amongst the general community. Community outreach serves as a mechanism for engaging people and drawing them in. It is often the hook that creates interest in parents who pass that interest onto their children, or lures young students into more formalized QESST programs. Our outreach events range in scale from small workshops, large university wide open houses, and participation in educational television.
The Inner Space Center (ISC), located at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, utilizes telepresence technologies to bring oceanographic research exploration to the world in real time. The ISC serves the research community by hosting scientific parties, who remotely conduct research at sea. It also delivers a host of formal and informal science education programs, both in the ISC facility and through informal science education partner institutions