Meet Nüs
Since 2016, OMSI volunteer Nüs Hisim can be found on most weekends volunteering all over the museum. He helps educate visitors in the Feature Exhibit, usher the submarine queue, and guide guests through the museum’s many halls. But his favorite area, where he feels the most at home, is in the Chemistry Lab, connecting with learners of all ages and seeing them light up as they learn something new.
A chemistry and physics teacher for 34 years, Nüs Hisim now works at Vernier Science Education as a Chemistry Educational Technology Specialist. After a career in the classroom, Nüs now helps teachers implement new science technology into their classrooms.
When he moved to Oregon, Nüs knew he wanted to get involved in the community. He asked around the office for volunteer opportunities, and with his science education background, OMSI felt like a natural fit.
The Invention of the Break-Out Box
Nüs started volunteering in the Chemistry Lab first, immediately bringing his ingenuity and creativity to OMSI by helping staff create some forensic experiments and what he calls “break-out boxes.”
“Break-out boxes” are, he explains, like the inverse of an escape room. They are locked boxes that participants can only open by solving puzzles. He created the idea when he was a classroom teacher and now designs them for OMSI, where they are especially popular during OMSI After Dark events.
The puzzles are usually geared around a theme, so if he designs a box for an OMSI After Dark, he makes sure the box matches the theme of the event. His favorites so far include a medieval science box for Fantasy & Folklore, a Marvel character box during the Marvel exhibit, and one focused on high school chemistry for PROMSI.
For Nüs, volunteering at OMSI is more than just a creative outlet. “OMSI has filled the niche for me that I needed for sharing science with the community,” he explains. “The advantage of doing it with OMSI is that I can do it without grading papers or writing quizzes, so I just get to do the fun part of sharing science!”
So, next time you visit the Chemistry Lab and try your hand at a break-out box, thank Nüs!
