(Supplied)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

BARKING MAD SCIENTIST

Red Deer science prof and his dog harnessing the power of social media

Jan 13, 2020 | 2:00 PM

When someone hits 50,000 followers across their various social media accounts it tends to be a pretty big deal. But when a dog does it, that’s pawsitively ast-hounding.

Bunsen, a two-year-old Bernese Mountain dog who lives in Red Deer, can claim over 53,000 followers between his Instagram, Twitter and Facebook profiles. He is the family pet of the Zackowskis, including Jason, who is head of the science department and a chemistry teacher at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School.

Zackowski says things began as an experiment accidentally gone viral.

“My wife made an Instagram account as a fun way to share pics of him as an adorable puppy,” he recalls. “I read somewhere that Bernese Mountain dog puppies have this really over the top reaction to lemons because of the smell, so I put one down and he started doing barrel rolls and barking at it.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF A TRUSTEE ADDRESSED

Day 2 of LaGrange v. Red Deer Catholic: "This is not about cancel culture," says division counsel

10h ago

conducted energy weapon utilized

RCMP arrest man after confrontation inside Bower Place

12h ago

one suspect still sought

One charged after alleged armed robbery in Bower Place parking lot

12h ago

“It’s a part-time job. He is the Twitter science dog. He gets tagged and I get asked questions, from kids asking simple science questions to big picture questions that people want him to weigh in on.”

Every outing now is a chance for new content creation including every once in a while when Bunsen gets to go to school with Zackowski.

“This went from being cool for my students to just disbelief. A lot of them know how big his Twitter account is and there’s maybe a little bit of jealousy.”

Then came the podcast (or pawdcast), the second season of which launches in February. Zackowski says Twitter’s 280 character limit isn’t usually enough to meaningfully discuss science.

“The main Bunsen brand is about being approachable, wholesome and educational. Anyone in your family can listen to the podcast,” he says.

“I try not to get too technical, but if somebody wants to know something specific, they’ll get it. And I’ve made the decision to stay out of politics, unless politics has co-opted science.”

Often, that comes in the form of anti-vaxxers and flat Earth believers, though the most political Zackowski gets is with climate change.

During season one, The Science Pawdcast featured Shark Week’s Melissa Marquez, among others, and season two has Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a Canadian climate scientist at Texas Tech.

(Supplied)

“The quality of guests is 100 per cent because of Bunsen. “We’ve had an astrophysicist studying dark matter, we’re going to have a NASA engineer, an immunologist, and there’s this project which has trained guardian dogs to protect penguins, so I’ve got the head researcher of that coming on.”

Zackowski is has even received interest from the National Research Council to make Bunsen the mascot for Canadian science.

“It’s taken on a life of its own. Bunsen gains hundreds of followers a day on Twitter, and what I’ve learned is that if you use social media for good, there is so much power,” he says. “Bunsen’s account gets messages every day about how his pictures and posts get people through the day, so for those people, it’s like a mental health boost.

Follow Bunsen’s escapades on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and Zackowski’s Zed Science on Facebook also. The podcast can be found here.