By Amy Geddes, the Water Institute and Sarah J. Brown, Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change. This is the latest in a series of #UWCommunity stories that feature Waterloo in the community.
Usually, you count yourself lucky to have avoided natural disasters first-hand. But Nature Unleashed: Inside Natural Disasters, the newest exhibit at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener, intentionally immerses visitors in the natural disaster experience via interactive displays.
Sponsored in part by the University of Waterloo in a three-way partnership between Community Relations, the Water Institute and the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change (IC3), visitors of all ages are invited to stand in the eye of a tornado, build a volcano, and move tectonic plates. A dialogue series of public lectures later in the fall, some featuring Waterloo faculty members, will augment the experience.
Depending on where you live, you are likely most informed of the disasters you are personally most at risk of in your local area,” says Roy Brouwer, Executive Director of the Water Institute. “ brings a greater understanding of both the mechanisms and impact of all kinds of natural disasters that different communities experience around the world. This helps to cultivate a global literacy on natural disasters, the science behind them, the hardships of those impacted and, most importantly, the solutions available for mitigating them.
The Water Institute and IC3 share a common goal of bringing experts from across disciplines together to promote interdisciplinary dialogue, innovation, and the ability to investigate some of the world’s most pressing challenges from every possible angle. Nature Unleashed embodies the use of applied, interactive education that helps adults and young people alike to understand complex, global issues like natural disasters.
Natural disasters are one of the many areas where water and climate change issues intersect and collaborative research and education is needed to better understand how to lessen our risk,” says Daniel Scott, Executive Director of IC3 and a member of the Water Institute.
Nature Unleashed, created by The Field Museum of Chicago, will be on display at THEMUSEUM in downtown Kitchener until February 20, 2017. Find out more at THEMUSEUM’s exhibit website.
Waterloo staff, faculty, alumni and students can receive 25% off admission to the exhibit when purchasing tickets online. Send an email to cre@uwaterloo.ca with your WatIM ID to get the promo code.
Originally published on the University of Waterloo Community Relations blog.