Julia DeSpain’s career in some ways started with an elementary school field trip to the University of Iowa campus to visit the Old Capitol Museum and UI Museum of Natural History.

“The tour guide must have been a college student, and I remember thinking she had the coolest job,” DeSpain says. “It was one of the things that spearheaded my love of history. Coming to campus as a youngster started me down my path.”

The Danville, Iowa, native returned to the UI years later to get her undergraduate degree in history. She then went on to get her master’s degree in elementary education from North Park University in Chicago. Today, she is the director of education and engagement for the Pentacrest Museums on the UI campus.

Thousands of children visit the museums on field trips every year—7,961 during the 2017–18 academic year, to be exact. Another 4,704 visited through various educational programs held throughout the year. These children come from across Iowa, from Ida Grove in western Iowa to Muscatine on the Mississippi River.

Groups can choose to tour the Old Capitol Museum, the Museum of Natural History or both during their trip to campus. DeSpain says she has seen groups range from one class of 15 students to an entire grade of 150. Larger groups are split between the two museums, and at times another local area of interest, such as the nearby Devonian Fossil Gorge at Coralville Lake or Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch.

Along with community volunteers, 16 University of Iowa student employees work at the Pentacrest Museums as docents. DeSpain says each tour is slightly different depending on the specific docent’s background and particular interest.

“The experience of our students runs the gamut—some are history students, some are anthropology, some are English majors,” DeSpain says. “Some may be more passionate about a certain topic or time period and expand on that. The tours are also individualized in the sense that you can’t give the same tour to a group of kindergartners as you do to eighth-graders.”

The kids’ interests also impact the tours.

“We get really engaged students who are learning about the Old Capitol, the Iowa Territory, early statehood, or Native American cultures,” DeSpain says. “They have a lot of questions, and the tour can change based on the questions they have. There’s a lot of back-and-forth dialogue, which can be fun.”

Alexandra Murra says she’s been asked about every question imaginable as a docent—a few of them have even stumped her.

“It’s fun when a kid will find a topic they love and know so much about it,” says Murra, a third-year microbiology major on a pre-medicine track. “I had a kid school me on megalodons on a tour before. I’ve been schooled on sloths as well.”

The Iowa City, Iowa, native grew up attending programs such as the Creepy Campus Crawl at the Pentacrest Museums, and has volunteered at the Natural History Museum since she was a teenager. She’s now the museums’ education assistant in charge of planning and leading some of the same programs she enjoyed as a child, and she recently won UI Student Employee of the Year in the Campus Services category for her work on Night at the Museum programming.

Murra, who also is an undergraduate research assistant in the Ashutosh Mangalam Laboratory in the Department of Pathology, says while her work at the museum may not directly relate to her ultimate goal of becoming a doctor, it may influence the type of medicine she goes into.

“I often get the question, ‘Why are you working at a museum?’” Murra says. “It’s because I love to interact with kids, and I like the education aspect. This may lead me to pediatrics. I like explaining things that are complicated and making it comfortable for them to learn—and getting them excited about learning.”

As fifth-graders from Borlaug Elementary School in Iowa City, Iowa, toured the Museum of Natural History during an April 2019 field trip, the volunteer guide asked the group how scientists know certain plants and animals used to live in Iowa. The kids yelled, “Fossils!” Some fossils were then passed around so the students could touch and see them up close.

Tasha Johnson, a fifth-grade teacher at Borlaug Elementary, says the school has been bringing their fifth-graders to the museums for the past three years as part of a research unit on Iowa history. She says it’s a great experience and the kids are always engaged.

“Some of the lessons are government-related, and they make connections when they walk through Old Capitol,” Johnson says. “Or they remember reading about animals and plants that they see in the Museum of Natural History. The volunteer in Old Capitol mentioned that someone would get $60 for something. One of my kids asked if $60 was a lot of money. So, we had a really good conversation about how money has changed over the years.

“And, of course, whenever they see Rusty the Sloth, they freak out. It’s everyone’s favorite part.”

Murra says she loves taking kids past the life-sized ice age sloth and unofficial museum mascot.

“The automatic reaction of awe they get seeing something that big is fun,” Murra says. “They often remark that something that big couldn’t have lived in Iowa. They also want to know how he died and why there aren’t cool creatures like that here anymore. I also like to take kids up to the Laysan Island Cyclorama, because it’s an immersive experience where they can get a 360-degree view.”

It’s sometimes hard to predict what will spark a child’s interest.

“It’s always fun to see what connections are made and to know you’re igniting something,” DeSpain says.

DeSpain says field trips build important foundations in history and science as well as a connection to students’ home state and the university.

“Growing up in Danville, I would think, ‘Why can’t my parents pick up and move somewhere more exciting?’” DeSpain says. “It’s neat to be able to show them their state is special.”

Johnson agrees.

“They are so used to seeing things on screens and don’t always get that real-time, real-life experience,” Johnson says. “I think a lot of the history they hear is about WWII or things that didn’t necessarily occur right here. But we have all that history of how things changed in their own backyard for them to see. It’s neat for them to be able to physically be in the same location as all that history.”

Murra says she feels lucky to go to a university that offers the research opportunities that the UI does, but also has a strong commitment to its museums.

“One of the things I love about museums is they are constantly trying to educate people,” Murra says. “When I’m an alumna, I’ll come back here and take my kids on a tour of the museums because they’ve made such a big impact on my life.”