Early in 2025, WonderLab’s executive director is scheduled to retire

Bloomington, Indiana – The park or library can only capture the interest of many children for a limited amount of time. The WonderLab Museum of Science, Health, and Technology in Bloomington is a place where kids can engage with exhibits that have been igniting their imaginations and fostering curiosity since 1998. Karen Jepson-Innes, the museum’s current executive director and founding member, has made the decision to resign as part of the 2024–2026 Strategic Plan. New leadership, financial stability, encouraging a lifetime interest in research, and a dedication to planetary health are the four main focuses of this plan.

According to Jepson-Innes, her passion for science started in high school.

According to Jepson-Innes, “This journey was initiated by a really great high school biology teacher who brought in really authentic materials into the classroom, like a live snake.”

She pursued a profession in park interpreting shortly after graduating from college with a degree in biology. She later quit her work to pursue an insect ecology master’s degree.

Her inspiration for WonderLab comes from her practical science experiences in the classroom as a youngster. Additionally, she was looking for a task for her daughter, who was three at the time.
Jepson-Innes stated, “There was really not much to do in Bloomington for kids that age.” “We took our daughter to the Children’s Museum in Indianapolis, and they had a room called Playscape that was just for preschoolers.”

She believed that a place like Playscape was required in Bloomington. At approximately the same time, a group of people in the community began discussing the WonderLab Project. This organization, which is located in Bloomington, started out as a traveling science outreach initiative that brought science to public places like schools.

Jepson-Innes stated, “I attended one of the initial meetings and things proceeded, but that’s how I became involved.” “I personally needed to see what our town could benefit from something like WonderLab.”

As Wonderlab’s creator and spokesperson, Jepson-Innes collaborated closely with the late executive director Catherine Olmer on programming and displays, grant writing, and donor meetings. Being promoted to executive director entails managing the creation of strategic plans, maintaining personnel resources, assisting with fundraising, and developing new exhibitions.

As a scientist, she clearly enjoys solving mysteries, posing queries, delving deeply, analyzing data, and conducting experiments, according to Aleisha Kropf, Director of Marketing and Communications at the museum. At WonderLab, we believe that there is no right or wrong way to do something. It involves trying and exploring to see what you can discover.

Although scientists are expected to explore and be adaptable in their research, the executive director position requires the same qualities. According to Kropf, Jepson-Innes was accommodating when it came to pay parity for museum employees.

“She has been a strong advocate for us to shift from ‘nobody gets paid’ to ‘we need to hire people who actually expect to get paid,'” Kropf said. “She has assisted WonderLab in adjusting its pay scale to accommodate all employees’ needs.”

Businesses were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak during Jepson-Innes’s tenure at WonderLab. Instead, she reworked the financials during this period in close collaboration with the personnel.

“We redesigned our staff compensation plan and allocated significantly more funds to our front-of-house employees,” Jepson-Innes stated. “It may seem ironic, but we raised employee salaries to a level we had been aiming for for many years during that period of financial hardship.”
As a director, maintaining WonderLab’s community presence has always been Jepson-Innes’ top goal.

“She simply demonstrated a great deal of adaptability in considering how we could continue to be a viable organization and how we could maintain the satisfaction of our donors and members,” Kropf said.

One of her greatest WonderLab moments, according to Jepson-Innes, was when the facility allowed Bloomington High School South students to create a mural using a heat-reflective paint they had created. In 2023, the pupils were granted the Samsung Sustainability Innovation Award, which is granted to the champions of a STEM contest that focuses on social impact initiatives.
“I thought that was it,” said one of the high school kids, “when she said, ‘I grew up at WonderLab, and it was my science home.'” “Jepson-Innes said.” That encapsulates everything we might have hoped for in those bygone days. It was here that she forged her identity as a scientist.

As time went on, Jepson-Innes saw that former children were returning to WonderLab as parents. This strengthened her belief that her experience at WonderLab had a positive impact on the neighborhood. She is now prepared to retire and move on.

“I’m staying in town, but I’m excited to spend more time with my two grandchildren,” Jepson-Innes stated. “I’m planning to travel and engage in more of my favorite activities, such as lengthy treks. However, I do hope and anticipate that I will eventually find a connection to my professional work.

Jepson-Innes expressed her hope that WonderLab will remain loyal to its origins.

Jepson-Innes stated, “I hope it remains the same in many ways, and it’s in its core ways of just inspiring delight and wonder for visitors of all ages.” “I hope that in the future, it will serve as a place for future leaders to develop their careers.”

Although the new executive director, who is anticipated to be appointed in March, will carry on Jepson-Innes’ legacy, she does provide some parting words of wisdom for her successor.
According to Jepson-Innes, “Never give up.”