Museum’s accessibility and inclusion coordinator wins Governor’s Award for Excellence
For immediate release ‐ September 28, 2016
Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request
RALEIGH — Liani Yirka, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences’ first Accessibility and Inclusion Coordinator, today received a 2016 Governor’s Award for Excellence for her tireless efforts to make the museum more accessible and welcoming to people with disabilities. The Governor’s Award for Excellence is the highest honor a State employee may receive and is awarded for “meritorious service that is so singularly outstanding that special recognition is justified.” Yirka won her award in the Efficiency & Innovation category.
“Liani Yirka’s exemplary personal and professional dedication to underserved communities brings North Carolina, with the Museum of Natural Sciences as the headquarters of her tireless efforts, very special attributes,” says Museum Director Emlyn Koster. “This award is a well-deserved high recognition of her unique approaches, ones which have paved the way for this Museum to be one of the world’s most accessible museums.”
Yirka began volunteering for the Museum as a Junior Curator in high school and was eventually hired full time in 2012. One of her first initiatives was to partner with SAS Institute to create the STEM Career Showcase for Students with Disabilities. The first museum-based conference of its kind, the Showcase provides students with a day of activities that encourages and inspires them to pursue their science, technology, engineering and mathematics interests, despite the obstacles they face. In addition, students are given the opportunity to meet scientists, who also have disabilities, in order to foster potential future mentorships. With the fourth annual Showcase coming up in November, the free event has proven very successful, attracting hundreds of attendees each year and reaching countless others online.
In a particularly innovative effort, Yirka worked with a software engineer from SAS, who is blind, to create a state-of-the-art program to increase interactions of disabled visitors with the various exhibits. The software program utilizes a screen reader, a digital map of the Museum’s exhibits, and a map of the structural aspects of the building to facilitate disabled visitor access. An app called NC NatSci was created to run this new program and is the first of its kind ever developed. This program was so successful that Yirka was asked to present the app at the prestigious 2015 South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive Festival.
Yirka led the Museum’s efforts to broaden access even more with the 2016 debut of an indoor navigation system for people who are blind or visually impaired. Combined with the GPS capability of the app BlindSquare, the program Yirka helped develop uses an indoor navigation system to guide blind visitors through the Museum. On top of all of this, Yirka worked with the NC Autism Society to develop “Low Sensory Days” whereby children on the autism spectrum can engage the Museum without being overwhelmed by external influences.
The Governor’s Awards for Excellence Program is designed to acknowledge and express appreciation for outstanding accomplishments that do not fall entirely within the scope of normal duties, but are in the nature of a major contribution reflecting credit on the person and State service. Awards are presented annually in seven categories.
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (11 W. Jones St. and 121 W. Jones St.) in downtown Raleigh is an active research institution that engages visitors of every age and stage of learning in the wonders of science and the natural world, drawing them into the intriguing fields of study that are critical to the future of North Carolina. Hours: Mon.- Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sun., noon-5 p.m. Visit the Museum online at www.naturalsciences.org. Emlyn Koster, PhD, Museum Director; Susan Kluttz, Secretary, N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources; Pat McCrory, Governor.
The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state’s natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Led by Secretary Susan Kluttz, NCDNCR’s mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state’s history, conserving the state’s natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development. NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette’s Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation’s first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.