Hi there. I’m Dr. Universe.
Ever since I was a kitten, I’ve been digging in the dirt, gazing at the stars, and exploring new places. I asked lots of questions like: Why do we get hairballs? Why are lasers so fascinating? Why do we have to sleep?
If you’re anything like me, you’ve got lots of big questions about our world.
Parents, Caregivers, & Educators
Who is Dr. Universe?
Dr. Wendy Sue Universe is a very smart cat who investigates tough questions from curious elementary and middle school students. Based out of Washington State University, Dr. Universe teams up with professors, researchers, and experts in the field to tackle big questions like: What is fire? Why does soda fizz? Why is the ocean salty? Why is liquid nitrogen so cold?
Washington State University is a public research university committed to its land-grant heritage and tradition of service to society.
Why Dr. Universe?
Dr. Universe knows that children everywhere deserve a chance to explore the possibilities in science, technology, engineering, and math. She inspires the next generation of scientists and engineers to think critically, solve problems, and ask big questions. She encourages children to explore and discover the ways science and engineering can help improve our world.
How does it work?
- Parents, caregivers, and educators can help children submit questions to Dr. Universe. She gets a lot of questions and does her best to answer as many as possible. She posts one big question each week on the website and sends it out in the e-newsletter.
- Students can read answers to questions from other kids, listen to the podcast, and watch videos on the website. The website is easy to project on an interactive whiteboard for a collaborative classroom experience. It’s also a tool for individual student research projects and accessible via computer or tablet.
- Each post on this website is fact-checked and vetted by a professor, researcher, or graduate student at Washington State University who lends their expertise. The content works well with Next Generation Science Standards or as a jumping off point for science lessons.
- Follow Dr. Universe on Twitter and Facebook.
Contact
Melissa Mayer, Science Writer, University Marketing and Communications, Washington State University, melissa.j.mayer@wsu.edu
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