“Would you like some curiosity?” Pamela Gay asked passersby at MagicCon: Atlanta last weekend. Most people responded to the Planetary Science Institute Senior Scientist with a tentative and slightly confused “yes?”
As she handed them a card – a Magic the Gathering token depicting the Curiosity rover and Mars – confusion transitioned to joy as science was inserted into their day (and sometimes into their decks).
In her day-to-day work, Gay – who is also a PSI senior education and communication specialist – directs CosmoQuest, a program which invites people to learn and do science through a series of podcasts and citizen science collaborations.
“This is a nerdy collaboration, with a strong focus on recruiting people from science adjacent audiences, such as folks who play the collectible card game Magic the Gathering,” Gay said. “When I was an undergrad, we’d all work on our physics homework together, and when we were done it was time to play Magic. Back then it was a game of fantasy creatures and clockwork artifacts. Today, thanks to the new Edge of Eternities set, there are landers and space stations with opportunities to fly between imaginary worlds.”
MagicCon is a series of festivals held throughout the year that combine tournament competitions with panels, cosplay, art and – when Gay is involved – unexpected moments of science.
She was invited to attend MagicCon as part of the Birds of Paradise (BOP) organization, a women-led community dedicated to making marginalized communities feel welcome by making space for them at the gaming table. Many women, queer and disabled people, as well as people of color, have experienced bullying and other issues within the gaming community. BOP handed out rainbow badge ribbons that read, “You can sit with us.”
“This parallels CosmoQuest’s message, ‘You can science with us,’” Gay said.
For three days, Gay spread a message of inclusion, and then talked to people about the science behind Magic the Gathering’s fictional worlds.
“Thanks to the positive audience feedback, I’ll explain one new Magic card roughly every week,” Gay said. She is also building a deck of meteors and other natural disasters capable of defeating even the nastiest of dinosaur decks. “In the battle of space rocks vs. dinosaurs, planetary science should always win.”
