As a new kid in town in 1985, Julie Moskalyk's decision to volunteer at Science North so she could make some friends turned out to be a pivotal one.
Assigned to help to clean yucky fin whale bones for the science centre's well-known skeleton display, the 15-year-old never imagined she would have a chance to see a live fin whale on a Homeward Bound adventure to Antarctica 40 years later.
And the time she had no way of knowing her volunteer job would put her on a path where she would walk with royalty and a prime minister, meet a genius, chat with a world-renowned environmentalist, and hang out with a rock star and a billionaire.
"I have been so very lucky that Science North became not only my career, but my other family and my other home … It is a very special place to work,” she told Sudbury.com recently.
Moskalyk, who became science director in 2017, announced she is retiring at the end of the month.
"I've spent 39 years at Science North. I have worked here my entire career and I have travelled all over the world and been involved with so many incredible projects."
Those projects include the F. Jean McLeod Butterfly Gallery, developing the first travelling exhibition, "Discovering Chimpanzees: The Remarkable World of Jane Goodall" in 2002, and “The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not" travelling exhibition in 2013.
Moskalyk, whose maiden name is Perreten, was born in Manitoba. Her father was a colonel in the Canadian Armed Forces, which meant the Perreten family moved often from one military base to another.
Her interest in science began when her family lived in Australia for several years and she became fascinated by the jungle.
'My dad's final posting was to Sudbury when I was 15. It is difficult when you move to a new place … I was looking for something to do, so I decided to volunteer at Science North."
While attending Marymount Academy, she was hired as a "bluecoat" part-time science demonstrator on weekends and during the summer.
Hooked on science, Moskalyk studied biology at Carleton University in Ottawa, but returned home in the summers to work at the science centre.
"I was part of the first teams to do the science summer camps on the road that are now in 35 different communities across Northern Ontario," she remembered.
By the time she graduated, she knew she didn't want to be a researcher doing fieldwork or in a lab. She wanted to share her passion for science through education.
"I wanted to inspire people of all ages to discover science in their everyday lives, which is the mission of what we do at Science North. I was hired right out of university as staff science for outreach.
"In that job, I was on the road travelling all over Northern Ontario as far north as James Bay and as far west at the Manitoba border."
Moskalyk's area of expertise is entomology, the study of insects. She was still fairly new at Science North when she worked up the courage to bring her idea for a butterfly gallery to her boss.
"I loved bringing the butterfly gallery to life. Jim Marchbank, who was the CEO at the time, was really the one who made it happen. It was just a nugget of an idea I had that I pitched,” she said.
"The reason this is such a great place to work for such a long time is that there is a spirit of innovation. The ability to 'just run with it' is in our DNA. There is a culture of 'go do great things for visitors.' Take risks.”
A lifelong learner, Moskalyk took on various assignments, including working with the international sales team which creates attractions for other science centres.
"I travelled in Asia, Europe and throughout North America,” she said. “In the early 2000s, Science North started doing quite a bit of work in China and in Asia. I was part of the team that got us in those markets selling our exhibits, programs, consulting services and our multi-media immersive shows."
Her next challenge was Dynamic Earth. As senior manager, she oversaw the development of numerous popular exhibits and the Halloween attraction Pumpkinferno.
In 2017 she was named science director when her mentor Jennifer Pink retired.
"It is a role I think I was preparing for my entire life," said Moskalyk, who still proudly wears the signature Science North bluecoat lab jacket and enjoys working on the exhibition floor and talking about science when she can.
The list of prominent people she has met at Science North include King Charles III, then Prince of Wales, when he visited with the Princess of Wales in 1991. In July 2023, she led a hike at Fielding Park with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau where they talked Sudbury's regreening achievements. Other noteworthy guests have been conservationist Jane Goodall, scientist Stephen Hawking, and John Kay, lead singer of the band Steppenwolf.
She particularly enjoyed working with Canadian entrepreneur James Pattison Jr., the president of Ripley Entertainment on "The Science of Ripley’s Believe It or Not" and "The Science of Guinness World Records' travelling exhibitions.
"He is a leader and incredibly creative. I got to meet him and build a relationship. He was a great mentor to me," she said.
Moskalyk said the time feels right to retire although she knows she is leaving one of the best jobs in Sudbury – one that also allowed her time for a satisfying life as a wife and mother. She and her husband, Kirk, a successful caterer, have two children, a daughter who is a physician and a son who is attending university.
"We are talking about 39 years of my life and it all seems just like yesterday," she said during our interview. "If you can find a job you love to do, it is worth everything. In all my years at Science North, it never felt like a job."
The vibrant 55-year-old has no definite plans for the next chapter of her life but she plans to continue doing volunteer work. And who knows where that will lead?
Vicki Gilhula is a freelance writer. Journeys is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
