Carrie Boyce accepts a Special Award for Inclusive Science Engagement on behalf of Science is a Drag. Image credit: Falling Walls Foundation
Last week, the Falling Walls Foundation awarded the remaining Science Breakthrough of the Year 2022 titles. RCIScience is delighted to report that Executive Director, Carrie Boyce, brought home a Special Award for Inclusive Science Engagement in the Falling Walls Engage category for the Science is a Drag initiative.
The Falling Walls Engage competition received 193 applications from 66 countries. As a top 20 winner, Carrie travelled to Berlin to pitch Science is a Drag live to a jury at the esteemed Science Summit alongside winners from 17 countries. The topics varied from science and STEM literacy initiatives for children and underrepresented communities to water monitoring, offline access to knowledge, theatre shows, talking trees and, yes, science-themed drag shows.
“We initiated Falling Walls Engage to break the walls between science and society”, says Henry Alt-Haaker, Jury Co-Chair and Senior Vice President Strategic Partnerships and Robert Bosch Academy at Robert Bosch Stiftung, founding partner of Falling Walls Engage. “We have been impressed by the variety of this year’s applications...Their impact on science backed evidence-based decision making cannot be overestimated.”
Carrie highlights the challenges faced by LGBTQ2SIA+ scientists and the motivations for starting Science is a Drag on pitch day. Image credit: Falling Walls Foundation
The Science Engagement (Falling Walls Engage) category recognizes projects that promote scientific knowledge transfer, strengthen science communication, and include society into scientific processes. This year the Breakthrough prize went to Anna Berti Suman and her project Sensing for Justice (Breaking the Wall to Civic Evidence of Environmental Harms). The project researches the potential of grassroots-driven environmental monitoring as a source of evidence in environmental justice litigation, and as a tool for environmental mediation.
But a Special Award for Inclusive Science Engagement went to Carrie Boyce and the Science Is a Drag project (Breaking the Wall to queerer STEM Culture). Science is a Drag is the world's first fully science-themed drag show created to challenge cis-heteronormative stereotypes and cultures in science. It provides a safe platform for queer scientists and communicators to share their passion for science with local LGBTQ+ communities and their allies. “It’s an honour to co-produce Science is a Drag, to call out some of the inequities that continue to persist in science while at the same time providing a sanctuary for queer communities rooted in the joy of discovering science through the powerful art of drag”, reports Carrie. “Showcasing Canadian excellence in science engagement doesn’t hurt either.”
Carrie transforms into herself after starting her pitch in drag as ‘Rich’. Image credit: Falling Walls Foundation
About the Falling Walls Science Summit
The Falling Walls Science Summit is a leading international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral forum for scientific breakthroughs and science dialogue between global science leaders and society. The event takes place every year from 7–9 November in Berlin, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall. With formats Falling Walls Pitches (7 November), Falling Walls Circle (8 November) and Falling Walls Science Breakthroughs of the Year (9 November), the Falling Walls Science Summit is the leading forum for global science leaders from academia, business, politics, the media, and civil society to debate the potential of scientific breakthroughs to solve grand challenges and shape a sustainable future. The Falling Walls Science Summit is organized by the non-profit Falling Walls Foundation.