“What if there was a way we could use pop culture stories and cosplay for education by weaving in science stories?” paleontologist Gabriel Santos asked during an October 2019 TEDx Talk. “What if we could take something like Jurassic Park, build a traveling exhibit out of it, then bring that exhibit to communities where education may not normally be a part of but the love for Jurassic Park already exists? What if we could help audiences remember scientific concepts better by relating those concepts to the characters, stories, and settings that they love and engage with every day? What if, through stories, we could inspire critical thinking and help audiences think bigger about their moment of time? Help them learn to ask the right kind of questions, not just from fictional worlds but in ours.”
The questions posed by Santos were rhetorical. Two years earlier, he had help launch the Cosplay For Science Initiative – collection of scientists who use cosplay as an education tool – that provided the answers and was the central focus of his TEDx Talk.
“As cosplayers, we help make scientists much more approachable by showing the diversity of backgrounds and fields,” he said of the nonprofit organization. “Whether we’re talking about spaceflight dressed as X-wing pilots, genetics as superpowered teenagers, or how potion making is just chemistry for wizards, our goal for the Cosplay For Science Initiative is to help our communities and fellow nerds find and appreciate the science in their everyday lives and interests.”
The seeds of the Cosplay For Science Initiative were planted during an event at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology in Claremont, California. Gabriel Santos dressed as Professor Oak from Pokémon and – in character – talked about how numerous Pokémon were inspired by real-world fossils.
“Because (Professor Oak) is a character, I found that people were able to talk to me much easier because they didn’t realize I was a paleontologist to begin with,” Santos explained. “They just thought I was some guy dressed up as Professor Oak talking about Pokémon, and then I was introducing scientific concepts into that.”
When Brittney Stoneburg at the Western Science Center later approached Gabriel Santos about helping to organize a dinosaur fossil exhibit at the 2017 Nerdbot-Con in Pasadena, Santos suggested that the two of them cosplay as characters from Jurassic Park. Attendees were soon flocking to their booth, attracted first by the costumes and then by the science after discovering that the two cosplayers were actual paleontologists.
The experience led Santos and Stoneburg to contact Michelle Barboza-Ramirez and Isaac Magallanes from California State University, Fullerton about forming Cosplay for Science. Between 2015 and 2017, members of the organization attended fifteen popular culture conventions and community events, creating pop-up exhibits for not only Jurassic Park but Pokémon, Games of Thrones, and Star Wars as well.
“Sometimes, for whatever reason, it can be a challenge to get our communities interested in learning about science, even within the walls of our own museum,” Gabriel Santos explained during his TEDx Talk. “In this age of instant information and technology, there’s a lot educators have to compete with out there, especially with pop culture. With the Cosplay For Science Initiative, we no longer compete with it. We embrace it and make it our ally.”
One reason why the Cosplay For Science Initiative has found success is their ability to use different popular culture franchises to get their messages across. The Game of Thrones exhibit, for example, examined real-world animals that inspired those found in the fictional kingdom of Westeros. When the organization was invited to the Rancho Cucamonga Library, meanwhile, Cosplay For Science crafted an outdoor “Galactic Archive” exhibit in which visitors traveled to various planets that make up the Star Wars Universe and then learned about the zoology of each planet, including how the fictional creatures evolved and adapted to their environment and similarities with animals found on Earth.
Gabriel Santos even revisited his brief portrayal as Professor Oak as part of a “Natural History of Pokémon” exhibit. “In the world of Pokémon, there are Pokémon that existed millions of years ago but now only exist as fossils,” Santos explained. “For Pokémon trainers to catch them all, they have to find these fossils and then revive them. But for the millions of trainers across the globe, many never realize that some of their favorite Pokémon were inspired by real-life fossils and extinct creatures. So by taking that connection, building an exhibit with real fossils that inspired Pokémon and dressing up as Pokémon scientists, we can bring natural history and paleontology to a comic book convention. We can bridge the connection between fantasy worlds and the real one and help audiences think bigger about their world.”
In addition to pop-up exhibits at conventions, Cosplay For Science has found ways to connect with fans on the Internet. A post on Instagram, for instance, of Gabriel Santos dressed as a Wilderness Explorer from the movie Up led to a discussion on geology. Another photo featured Ph.D. chemistry student Kellen Kartub dressed as Princess Bubblegum from the Adventure Time series. As well as being a princess and made out of bubblegum, the character is also a scientist and inventor, opening the door for Kartub to explain the chemistry behind candy and how sugar breaks down in the body for energy.
In both examples, Gabriel Santos and Kellen Kartub were able to connect with followers on Instagram in a more relatable – as well as scientific – way.
“Since I’m a chemist, I love finding chemistry in pop culture,” Kartub told No Man’s Land. “There aren’t always a lot of explicit examples of chemistry or chemists out there, so instead I look for the chemistry behind certain aspects of pop culture. Give me any theme, I’m pretty good at finding a connection to chemistry. For example, at LA Comic Con, Cosplay For Science decided on a Pokémon theme. I decided to discuss how chemistry (and physics) produces the magnetic characteristics of some our favorite steel-type Pokémon.”
The initial Cosplay For Science pop-up exhibit attracted 660 people, twice the number that could fit into the event room at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, where Gabriel Santos is employed as a paleontologist. That attendance figure later reached 4,206 during the three-day Los Angeles Comic Con. As a result of their success, Cosplay For Science decided to increase their ranks by adding biologists, chemists, physicists, and neuroscientists into the mix. A research division was also formed to examine the ways that fans interact with pop culture and how Cosplay For Science can better interact with fans, while another group within the nonprofit organizes events for the K-12 classroom.
“We’re kind of like becoming the Avengers, but with science,” Gabriel Santos proclaimed during his TEDx Talk. “And in education, there lies our powers. We fight for a better future where science and critical thinking guide our everyday.”
Anthony Letizia