Graduate Museum Assistantships (GMAs) offer NCED graduate students the opportunity to spend approximately one semester working with the Science Museum of Minnesota (SMM) Earthscapes or Water: H₂0 = Life programs. These paid assistantships are simiilar in nature to a teaching or research assistantship and typically involve assisting SMM exhibit or educational staff, youth, and volunteers develop a greater understanding of the research science behind these exhibits and programs so that they may better interpret this science to museum visitors. To learn more, contact Education Director Karen Campbell.

Some GMA projects completed in NCED's first three years include:

• developing activities and field trips to teach Youth Science Center high school students about Earth-surface dynamics so they can serve as docents in the Big Back Yard
• developing materials to use with public officials in NEMO workshops hosted at SMM
• developing software to enable interactive visitor use of high resolution research-grade visualizations