It's shaping up to be busy year for House of Science founder and CEO Chris Duggan.

The organisation she set up in 2013 to help get science resource kits into the Bay of Plenty's primary schools has gone national, she has just returned from joining NASA scientists on a flight to gather infrared data from stars in Earth's galaxy, and she has been named as a finalist for the ‘Women of Influence' awards in the science and innovation category for the third year in a row.

The former chemistry teacher spent 15 years in the classroom before leaving to set up the House of Science in Tauranga in 2013 'on the back of a dream” to help primary teachers teach better science – something that isn't happening in three quarters of New Zealand primary schools, she says.

'Rather than point the finger at others and say ‘you should be doing better' I thought I'd follow the ‘be the change you want to see' [mantra] and see if I could make a difference on a small scale in Tauranga.”

The House of Science resource kits contain everything a Year 1-8 teacher needs to get their students involved in hands-on science experiments and range in topics from flight science to forensics, food science to force and friction.

Tauranga currently has 48 of these kits available to 55 House of Science member schools and each week more than 2000 children are using them to learn science.

With the backing of the Wright Family Foundation, the organisation has gone national this year. A House of Science NZ Charitable Trust was established to develop resource kits and support the establishment of House of Science branches across the country.

Chris has reluctantly handed over management of the Tauranga branch to take over the role of national CEO.

'It's freed me up to take over the national roll-out. My job now is to find partners who want to come on board on a national scale, either to develop a new resource box or sponsor an existing box.”

Chris has enjoyed great success already, with some big players in the New Zealand science community, including the MacDiarmid Institute, ESR, NIWA, Ag Research and Massey University, signing up to be involved.

'It's really exciting. A lot of the Crown Research Institutes have a mandate to reach into the community to communicate their science to the general public, and that can be quite tricky, so we are providing a really nice solution for that by getting a resource into schools.”

The biggest barriers to the teaching of primary science are a lack of resources and a lack of confidence by teachers, says Chris.

'The government funds professional development for about 250 teachers each year but that's only a drop in the bucket.

'Our resources are designed to empower teachers through giving them hands-on equipment that kids can use and the whole class can get involved with. Because they are simple to use, the teachers are getting more confident in teaching the science lessons.”

House of Science receives no government funding. School membership fees make up about 10 per cent of the cost of running the service, with the rest coming from sponsorship by local businesses, community grants, and donations. Membership for schools includes professional development for teachers, says Chris.

'We give them strategies and methods they can use in the classroom. They need to be positive about it because science needs to be normalised. It's not a freakish subject only for highly-talented, gifted kids – it's actually for everyone, so it's important to have literacy in the whole community, not just for the kids who are going to go on to be brain surgeons or rocket scientists.”

As well as taking on a new role this year Chris has recently returned from a trip to Christchurch where she was one of nine VIPs, including Tauranga MP Simon Bridges, who were invited to join NASA scientists on a flight to gather infrared data from stars in Earth's galaxy

'It was very, very cool,” says the science buff.

And as for that nomination for the 2017 Women of Influence awards?

'Hey, it might be third time lucky.”