Indiana State Fair Animal Town Exhibits

Program Description

Community engagement is imperative for sharing knowledge about animal sciences. General awareness and education of animal production needs to be communicated to the public. This could be achieved by presence of various animals throughout the entire Indiana State Fair. The animal science specialists curated exhibits for poultry, swine, beef and dairy cattle, horses and llamas, and sheep and goats. These exhibits were housed in five different buildings for the duration of the ISF. Animal Science undergraduates were recruited and trained to be the interface between the fairgoers and animal displays under the oversight of specialists at the fair.

Outcomes

Overall, we estimate that just over 164,000 people visited the animal science exhibits which based on fair attendance resulted in 1 of 8 fairgoers. The visibility of animal agriculture, Animal Sciences, and Purdue University Extension increased amongst the Indiana populace. The hands-on exposure for the undergraduate as well as practicing how to talk to the general public resulted in immense personal growth as documented in debrief meetings with them. We estimated that over 11,000 questions were asked over the course of the ISF that were answered by the students and specialists. The overall intent of knowledge transfer was achieved. The Animal Town Exhibits have become a staple of the Indiana State Fair experience.

Contact information

Animal Science Department C/O Dr. Paul Ebner
765-494-4806​
https://ag.purdue.edu/department/ansc/index.html