Science at Pioneer Works

Science is a part of culture.

The integration of science is essential for the full expression of a cultural center. At Pioneer Works, we value the cultural impact of scientific thinking, discovery, and irrepressible curiosity.

Our Founding Director of Sciences, Janna Levin, is an astrophysicist, author, and Claire Tow Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Barnard College of Columbia University. Janna joined founder Dustin Yellin and founding artistic director Gabriel Florenz in 2012. She began the Science Studios with visionary support from the Simons Foundation. In the spirit of connecting great centers of education and culture, with support from Barnard College, Janna brings influential, creative scientific minds to our Pioneer Works community to explore unsolved quandaries and to engage in vivid public conversations.

The audience can experiment with technical equipment, look through our telescopes with astronomers in the garden, or edit the genome of yeast. We emphasize public engagement while providing a platform for scientific exchanges and scholarly research. We welcome our Visiting Scholars to be as singularly focused as they need to be on equations, data, observations, and measurements.

Pioneer Works is building New York City's first public observatory — home to a restored 1895 telescope with a storied history spanning more than a century. Learn more about the Observatory Initiative and see the telescope on view in the Science Studios.

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