Have you ever wondered what electricity is and where does it come from, or what is sound and how do scientists use sound to map the sea floor? What happens when rubbish ends up in the ocean? Is it true that some ocean plants glow? What surprises are there to be found in Galway Bay? Visit the second floor gallery at Galway City Museum to discover the answer to these questions and much more.

Galway City Museum, together with the Ryan Institute at NUI Galway, have launched SeaScience. This new exhibition invites visitors to learn and discover more about everyday science and the environment, and how research at NUI Galway feeds into this. It was the intention of all contributors to this exhibition to provide visitors with an experience that will help shape the way they view and experience the world.  

As a semi-permanent feature of the museum, SeaScience will be in place for the next 3-4 years; with some visitors already making multiple visits in the few short weeks it has been open.

“The SeaScience Exploration Zone is a space that was designed and developed to get visitors excited about learning about the ocean, about the amazing landscape of the West, and about just some of the diverse research that scientists and engineers at NUI Galway’s Ryan Institute are conducting”, says Dr Sarah Knight, Outreach Officer for the Ryan Institute. “It has been so much fun working with the Galway City Museum on this project. Combining the knowledge of the marine environment that we have in the Ryan Institute and my own experience in education and outreach, with the incredible expertise of James Reynolds, Director Eithne O’Connell and the rest of her team at the Museum, we have created a space that has something to explore for everyone.”

Irish science heritage writer, Mary Mulvihill, who officially launched the exhibition, said that people in Galway were doing research on salmon over 300 years ago. “So it makes perfect sense that this exhibition should be in Galway City Museum, in this lovely location where the Corrib River meets Galway Bay and the wild Atlantic Ocean. The research now being done at the Ryan Institute continues the work of many generations and even centuries of marine explorers. This new SeaScience exhibition is just what we need to inspire the next generation of marine scientists and engineers.”

Children of all ages can come and experience the wonder of SeaScience for themselves. Take a journey in the mini-super-submarine or explore the dark room of glowing plankton. The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10am until 5pm and admission is free! Bookings for group tours can be made by contacting the Galway City Museum, museum@galwaycity.ie.

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