DragonFlyTV Profiles Solar Energy Researchers in New Mexico

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia scientists Sandra Begay-Campbell and Cheryl Ghanbari will be profiled as part of KNME’s DragonFly TV: GPS “Going Places in Science.” The New Mexico episode was filmed at both museums and at Sandia National Laboratories, and features local kids and New Mexico scientists.

The one-hour episode of the nationally televised Public Broadcasting Service program will premiere at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science and ¡Explora! on April 14 at 10 a.m. at the Museum and at 10:30 a.m. at ¡Explora! The episode will run many times throughout the day.

From 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Begay-Campbell and Ghanbari will both be at the Natural History Museum to answer questions and discuss elements of their solar energy work.

The museums will also offer hands-on science fun with new activities that focus on key elements of the PBS show. This event is open to all museum attendees.

DragonFly TV, is a science show for kids and the only all-science show for elementary and middle-school kids on television today. Shows feature regular kids—not actors—pursuing inquiry-based science investigations in a real-world context. Now starting its sixth season on PBS, DragonFly TV: GPS “Going Places in Science” takes viewers on location to 14 science centers in seven diverse geographical regions.

The show takes viewers on location to science centers and museums around the country, from New Mexico to Alaska and from New England to Hawaii. It features real kids doing real science. For the first time on public television, kids use the cool science equipment in museums to answer their science questions.

Sandia is a National Nuclear Security Administration laboratory.

The show encourages its viewers to develop scientific interests beyond the limits of the television show by featuring ordinary children making their own science discoveries. Host and actor Eric Artell, is the tour guide, introducing the kid scientists and uncovering a “Science Secret” in each city. (Artell will be familiar to many teens as a recurring guest star on the WB television series, “7th Heaven.”)

The series is seen by more than a million people each week during its regular season and airs on nearly 200 public television stations nationwide.