Public Engagement for the Next Generation: The SGA Mediators

We’re living in challenging times—and around the world, young people are both our greatest hope and our shared future. At Science Gallery Atlanta, college students are bringing passion and curiosity to the museum experience, encouraging visitors to think in new ways about creativity, science, and justice. Visitors who attend SGA’s annual exhibits are met by mediators, students from a range of backgrounds, and interests who guide attendees through the discoveries on display at the gallery. 

SGA is committed to deepening youth engagement both now and in the future. Across the Science Gallery Network, which spans the globe, these student mediators are helping lead the way, empowering creative leadership, and helping spark meaningful dialogue about the shape of our world for tomorrow.

Turning Practice Into Research 

Kozbi Bayne, Science Gallery Atlanta Mediator.

Kozbi Bayne became a student mediator at Science Gallery Atlanta during her first year at Emory. “As a neuroscience and creative writing double major, I was drawn to SGA's mission to use the arts to increase public engagement with research,” she said. 

Through SGA, Bayne learned that Emory faculty members were partnering with the gallery as research fellows. That’s how she came to reach out to Dr. Madeleine Hackney, whose work integrates the arts into her studies on neurodegenerative diseases in older adults. Hackney welcomed Bayne into her lab to collaborate on a new project, called Intergenerational Methods for Processing Art to Understand Challenging Topics (IMPACT). 

“This has been my dream project,” Bayne said. “I’m able to study how older and younger adults can connect through science-based art on difficult issues such as addiction, social justice, and climate change.” 

Since 2022, Bayne has presented IMPACT data at the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry’s annual conference as an early investigator. The full IMPACT manuscript is currently under review, and with findings are expected to be published soon. “The opportunity to go through the publication process has tremendously advanced my understanding of the research world,” she said.  

After her time at Emory, Bayne hopes to continue researching arts-based interventions for geriatric populations. This summer, she is working with the Technology and Aging Lab at Mass-Brigham McLean Neuropsychiatric Hospital, gaining experience in non-pharmacological health interventions before starting her honors thesis in the fall. 

“The student mediator role has taught me how to communicate dense scientific material engagingly,” she said. “I've also loved connecting with people in the Atlanta metropolitan area who are open to talking about challenging issues from a scientific perspective.” 

Building Friendships 

While the mediator experience is helpful for bringing together members of the broader Atlanta community, it’s also an opportunity to forge friendships among the mediators themselves. Joana Cruz is a current mediator who joined SGA in November 2023 because she wanted to be intentional about the spaces in which she immersed herself. “I wanted to be inspired creatively and intellectually, and to have confidence that the work that I was doing was making some form of impact,” she said. 

Cruz feels fortunate to have had the chance to work on the pop-up exhibit You Don’t Got Dis?! As a huge lover of hip-hop culture, she says that this exhibit is what drew her to SGA. “It was such a treat to be able to meet legends like Darryl “Jasz” Smith and Talib Kweli and soak up all their stories as first-hand witnesses (and pioneers!) to the rise of Atlanta hip-hop,” Cruz said. 

But to Cruz, it was Hacking the Anthropocene that ended up being valuable in more ways than one. The Science Gallery Melbourne workshop opened Cruz’s eyes to the many ways human beings express complex ideas—and also provided a wonderful bonding experience with her fellow mediators, Alex Vidger and Tamiia Quinn. As part of the workshop, the trio created a collage together about climate change. “We ended up hanging out all together later on that week to make more collages together,” said Vidger. 

Cruz, Vidger, and Quinn each wanted to join Science Gallery for a similar reason: to meet other creatives and scientists, people interested in giving back to the community and in bringing others together to tackle urgent social and environmental issues. “So far, I’ve met numerous people who have met these descriptions, and I’ve learned from them how important community is in the fight against systematic problems with our society,” said Vidger. Cultivating lasting friendships has been the unexpected bonus to that work.

Moving On 

Ruy Tobar Mosqueira was a mediator for two years during his time as an undergrad at Georgia State University. He started his training during the development of Hooked in 2022 as part of an internship with Georgia State’s Neuroscience Institute. “SGA has made such an impact on me and the way I approach just about every professional aspect of my STEM career,” he said.

During his time with Science Gallery Atlanta, Mosqueira had the chance to meet an almost-endless supply of researchers and multimedia artists. He had direct access to learn from them every single day he was in the exhibition space. “I can’t stress enough how successful they were at making the gallery a safe space for every single person on site,” he said. “I swear they pumped something into the air. I physically could feel five pounds lighter walking into the site some days.”

Mosqueira participated as a post-baccalaureate researcher at the Mabb Lab at GSU immediately after graduating. He attributes his success to many factors, including Science Gallery, which provided a wide variety of resources both through its professional network and its study and educational materials. Last December, he came into contact with the Emory National Primate Research Center, and after a few months of interviews across multiple departments, he received a full-time offer in April 2024 to work at the Sanchez Lab, where he focuses on MRI analysis. 

“I think that my time and contributions at Science Gallery helped highlight the non-scientific parts of me that would’ve otherwise gotten buried in a resume padded with jargony, kind of absurdly niche STEM accomplishments,” Mosqueira said. “It helped me be more confident in myself as a whole.” 

The mediator experience is a wonderful example of what happens when young people take on big ideas and pursue their interests in creative and challenging ways. With such thoughtful and inquisitive students guiding visitors through Science Gallery Atlanta, it’s no wonder so many attendees have such a memorable experience. Mediators are an inspiration to the community around them—and are proof that amazing things can happen at the intersection of art and science.