maam2025buildingmuseums

Jessie Rock is a science educator and advocate. She founded the Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum in 2018 and served on the board of directors for six years before serving as Executive Director. Prior to this role, she taught hands-on geoscience courses at North Dakota State University, Concordia College Moorhead, and Minnesota State University Moorhead for fifteen years. She has facilitated science outreach activities and events in and around Fargo, North Dakota for over 20 years.

Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum (FMSM) is a community project to design and build a destination science museum where curious minds of all ages can explore and engage in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine, subjects collectively known as STEMM. Our mission is "Breaking barriers to ignite the curiosity in all of us!" and our strategies are rooted in inclusion and diversity. They shape every aspect of the FMSM experience, including conceptual framework, design, and learning opportunities.

Fargo, North Dakota is a vibrant community which has never had a science museum or science center, and the nearest facility of this type is three to four hours' drive from Fargo. Fargo has a diverse economy which includes biotech, ag technology and equipment, software and hardware engineering, diverse tech start-ups, three universities, medical research, an air force base, a Microsoft Campus, a level one trauma center, and more.

Building Museums Symposium
I'm thrilled to be here and look forward to learning all I can in this short time we have together. All discussion topics are welcome, and I look forward to meeting other participants. I love museums and my favorite bird is the Blue Heron!