News

This news post is arriving a little later than intended – it’s been a busy month for The Planetary Lab team! But: we are very excited to (finally) announce that our new pilot science centre is open in Green Lanes shopping centre in Barnstaple, over the summer holidays and until 26th September (updated)!

Since 25th July, we’ve been welcoming people of all ages to our debut exhibition, There’s No Place Like Home – adapted from our climate exhibition hosted in Exeter in 2022 and 2023.

Welcome to Abi, Ben and Jane!

We’ve welcomed our brilliant new Centre Coordinator, Abi (second from the right in the top image alongside our staff and wonderful volunteers Timon and Anna). Abi is running the centre with us and supporting our outreach events!

We’ve also been grateful for help over the summer from our temporary Exhibition Development Officer, Ben who has been helping us develop the astrophysics zones of the exhibition before he leaves for his PhD in September.

If you visit the centre, you’ll also notice the incredible mosaics and sketches of our very first Artist In Residence, Athena Jane Churchill! Jane has been lending her expertise to make our centre look and feel so special – despite our limited time and budget – and has given us so much help and inspiration. We’re really looking forward to continuing our collaboration!

Find out more about the exhibition experience here: https://planetarylab.org/barnstaple, and the range of workshops and events we’re running throughout our residency!

We’re now looking for our long-term home in Barnstaple, and we’re really grateful to North Devon Council for their support with this – along with The Fore who have generously provided funding and support to enable us to launch, it’s been transformative to have this opportunity, and we’re very excited about the next phase!

Stay tuned for updates – and in the meantime, while you can: come and visit us!

It’s been a busy time planning our rebrand alongside setting up our pilot centre in Barnstaple, and we’re finally ready to reveal our new identify!

The Planetary Lab is now the working name of Exeter Science Centre, and we’re really thrilled by how it sounds and what it represents. This new name better encompasses the breadth of what we do; we chose ‘Planetary’ as it emphasises our focus on global challenges and puts Earth in its universal context (more on that below) – and ‘Lab’ being a local place where you can come and get stuck in!

We’re really grateful to everyone who shared their ideas and preferences during our consultation sessions, plus the branding experts around the region who have generously offered their pro tips and opinions. We worked with the brilliant Bara Studios to pull together our final logo ideas into a beautiful brand, and we love the result!

In our logo, we wanted to symbolise Earth’s swirling oceanic and atmosphere currents (which have a P and L subtly hidden around the North Atlantic Ocean!) and we love our Earthy, vibrant colour scheme.

Do you notice how Planet Earth appears rotated by 90 degrees compared to the usual image presented on Western-oriented maps? We think it’s important to look at things with a fresh perspective, which science often enables, hence the new angle – and, of course, science tells us that in space there is no ‘right way up’ (we tend to use this view for historical reasons – here’s a fascinating article on the subject)!

Seeing Earth in its universal context: it’s easy to forget that we’re just one of the lucky lifeforms that managed to survive 4.5 billion years of Earth’s turbulent history, to be here today living and (uniquely) thinking, on this uniquely habitable planet.

Science is a powerful lens to look at things differently, and to help us understand the Universe we find ourselves in. We have to share a quote from renowned science communicator and astronomer Carl Sagan, who wrote a moving reading to accompany the iconic image of the Pale Blue Dot (which you can watch/listen to here): “It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”.

If you’re fascinated by astrophysics and want to look at our planet through a new lens, come along to our upcoming exhibition in our pilot centre in Barnstaple – officially open from 25th July 2026!

We’re thrilled to share that Mark Burnett will be supporting Exeter Science Centre in a voluntary strategic role focused on developing and implementing our Corporate Engagement Strategy.

With nearly 30 years’ experience in marine technology, environmental monitoring and innovation leadership — including around two decades with WGP Group and the past decade with Seiche Ltd — Mark will help strengthen partnerships between Exeter Science Centre and organisations committed to advancing science, technology and environmental understanding.

We’re working toward the development of a major new hands-on science centre in Barnstaple, North Devon, to connect everyone with local research, industry and action around global issues – and we’re keen to work with corporate partners to support our work, feature in our exhibitions, and to collaborate with us on educational projects.

Mark will be supporting us in reaching regional and global organisations to support meaningful STEMM engagement and contribute to addressing some of the world’s most important challenges — including the health of our oceans and rivers, climate resilience, environmental monitoring, and the responsible application of emerging technologies such as AI and advanced sensing systems.

By connecting industry with education and communities, we aim to:

• Inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers and innovators;
• Support STEMM learning pathways and future workforce development;
• Showcase real-world science and technology tackling global challenges;
• Enable organisations to demonstrate meaningful ESG and CSR leadership;
• Build stronger connections between research, industry, nonprofits and the wider public.

We welcome conversations with organisations, foundations and global enterprises interested in supporting science engagement and education, while strengthening their contribution to environmental stewardship and societal impact.

Huge thanks to our wonderful volunteer Julia Szewczyk who has written up an Exeposé article of her experience at the Our Positive Future: Exwick event last month!

Find the article on page 29 in the issue here: https://issuu.com/exeposeexeter/docs/issue_780 and see more about the event on our webpage, including the amazing poem for Exwick created and read by Micha Colombo!

We’re thrilled that Charles Stanley has featured an article by Natalie in their InFocus magazine, and now on their website!

In this article, Natalie takes us on a brief, personal trip to a positive future – and explains why we think science centres have a crucial role to play in making that positive future.

Check out the article and the references and further reading at linktr.ee/esc_infocus…

… which includes a link to the Association for Science and Discovery Centres campaign ‘Science Centres For Our Future‘ – this campaign highlights the important work of science centres in the UK, and how it’s crucial that they are recognised and supported alongside other cultural organisations.

“What’s your vision of a positive future?“

It’s something we’ve been asking our communities ever since our Climate Stories Gallery, in the run up to our first climate exhibition in March 2022 – and it was a key theme to our first video describing our work and ambitions.

Since then, we’ve developed this idea into a 1-day event experience along with our amazing collaborators Bob Walley and Katie Villa, which we’re working to take on tour across the region. We’re also very inspired by Rob Hopkins’ work in this area, who asks ‘what if?’ in his recent books and inspiring workshops, and the research (such as this work) around how imagining a better future can inspire people to work towards it.

Let us know what you think of the article – Natalie would love to hear what your vision of a positive future was like!

We are so grateful to have received funding recently to support our work in Barnstaple:

Philip J Milton & Company Plc: 40th Legacy Awards

Huge thanks to Philip J Milton & Company PLC for choosing us as one of the beneficiaries of their 40th Legacy Awards grants. They have provided £1,000 to support our consultation work for our first physical science centre with disadvantaged communities in Northern Devon.

The Marketors’ Trust: The Marketors’ Charity Grants 2025

We are thrilled to receive one of two £10,000 grants from the Marketors’ Trust to support our campaign in launching our upcoming science centre in Barnstaple! This funding will help us get the message out about our work to new audiences, and make a huge success of the launch of our very first space!

Stay tuned on our events and social media pages for updates – huge thanks to our generous funders for supporting our work!

We’re excited to announce that we’re one of 15 partners running the Association for Science and Discovery Centre’s science engagement programme: Demystifying AI!

This new programme has been created to support young people, families, schools and communities to understand AI in everyday life, careers and skills development in AI, and to platform regional diversity through both in person and online engagements. 

Over the next 3 months we will be developing a new hands-on experience as well as a series of livestream events. Stay tuned for updates on our webpage, social media and events page!

Help inform our livestream series!

We’re asking local experts your question in our new livestream series – so send us ANY questions you have about AI, and we’ll explore the answers in our new series!

Ask your question!

Are you a local research / industry professional working in / with AI? Get involved!

Demystifying AI is supported by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), with project development from Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC, part of UKRI) and the Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC).

Exeter Science Centre is part of a UK-wide network of regional science and discovery centres and museums all playing a strategic role in engaging the public with science and technology. Every year this network engages over 25 million people, delivering cutting-edge scientific research and broad and inclusive community engagement to develop essential STEM skills for future generations of scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians. 

Find out more about the Association for Science and Discovery Centres (ASDC) and the full range of national science engagement programmes running across the UK here: http://www.sciencecentres.org.uk/projects

Share your work!

If you’re a local researcher or industry professional working in the AI industry or who uses AI in your work on global issues, get involved via our Google Form: https://tinyurl.com/ESC-demystifyingAI