I ❤ science & dogs

There’s just something about a dog wearing glasses.

Throw in a lab coat and a science fact or two and you’ve got yourself the makings of a social media empire. At least that’s how it turned out for Jason Zackowski.

Seven years ago, the Red Deer science teacher was marking chemistry assignments in his classroom at Lindsay Thurber school while his puppy Bunsen lounged nearby. Zackowski’s mind lingered over the fact that, as a Bernese mountain dog, Bunsen is quite large. That led to a thought of putting a lab coat on the dog. Then came safety glasses, a cellphone photo and a social media post.

The post took off and Zackowski realized he’d tapped into a special recipe: people like science if it comes from a unique, engaging perspective. For the next two years, Zackowski provided such a perspective through a stream of tweets in the “voice” of Bunsen, who seemed equally as enthralled with science factoids as he was with moose legs and bacon.

“People bought into the make believe of it, that a dog was teaching them science. It was all very relatable,” Zackowski says.

From that beginning, Zackowski has since built a popular “science dogs” brand whose mission is to “teach science through empathy and cuteness!”

The path to teaching

While growing up in Elnora, Alberta, Zackowski had a natural love for any science that crossed his path. This lead him to pursue a bachelor’s degree in science with the intention of advancing to a masters and becoming a research scientist, possibly in food sciences. However, during his third year of undergrad, Zackowski noticed something. He was more interested in the climactic “learning moments” of science than he was in compiling and interpreting vast amounts of data — the backbone of scientific research.

“You’ve got to pick a career that you love and that wasn’t something I loved,” he says.

Although he knew he was not destined to be a research scientist, Zackowski completed his science degree, then drew on his experiences as a swim instructor and completed an education degree. It was a natural fit. He has been a high school science teacher for 19 years and still loves engaging students’ natural love of science.

“I really like designing experiments that teach curricular objectives but also have a wow factor,” he says.

Social media presence

On the science dogs front, Zackowski gradually expanded the brand beyond his initial series of social media posts into a variety of content that now includes a podcast, a website, merchandise, activity books, a newsletter and subscriptions to texts from one or more of his pets.

The roster of pets has also expanded to include a golden retriever named Beaker, a cat named Ginger and a second Bernese mountain dog named Bernoulli.

The brand is now up to half a million followers on various social media platforms and, for Zackowski, being a content creator has become a side hustle that consumes almost all of his nonteaching time. His wife Kris, also a teacher, is heavily involved as well.

“We’re a year or two away from having to make a hard decision about if I can stop teaching and just do that,” he says. “We’re not there yet, but that decision is coming, I think.”

Shaping the future

The Zackowskis’ weekly podcast, The Science Pawdcast, focuses on timely science news, dog science and an interview with a working scientist.

“We get to talk about their science, but I also ask them about their pets,” Zackowski explains. “It really humanizes scientists. Scientists love their cats and their dogs and their fish just as much as anybody else who is a pet owner. I think that we need more of that with scientists … aside from knowing an awful lot about one specific thing, they’re exactly like everybody else.”

Every Saturday, the Zackowskis record Pet Chat, a live spinoff of The Science Pawdcast that is billed as a community gathering for pet-related games and stories. The show’s livestream attracts more than 2,000 followers from around the world.

In everything that the Zackowskis produce, a common thread is positivity and genuine affinity for science, animals and people.

“Being a joyful, educational thing on social media gives me a lot of fulfillment because social media can be this disgusting, dark, angry place,” Zackowski says. “One of our fans said it best — they said we’re a light on social media.”

“We get messages from people from all over the world ... that our content is the reason that they got through a terrible situation or a hard time or depression,” he says. “When we were smaller, we would get those occasionally ... but we’re seeing that weekly now.”

“I know that being a teacher matters and what I do shapes the future, but the joy and positivity of our social media presence matters too.”

Off the leash with Jason Zackowski

As a science teacher, what is your favourite, go-to experiment?

Probably hydrogen gas balloons. I make the hydrogen gas chemically, trap it in a balloon, and then it's like the Hindenburg—when you light it on fire, the whole thing explodes. Nothing engages kids more than an explosion. You would need a really good quote from The Grapes of Wrath to rival a fireball.

To what do you attribute your love of animals?

I have always had trouble being in social situations as I sometimes suffer from social anxiety, and I found so much more comfort in hanging with a dog than with people. I respect and like my colleagues and friends, but truthfully, I would trade any social situation at any time to be with dogs. I love the quiet of them, and their expectation of you is just that you are kind.

Your wife Kris is also a teacher and is heavily involved in the science dogs empire. How does she contribute to the success of this endeavour?

Kris is my co-host on The Science Pawdcast, our live Pet Chat show, and runs our social media presence on Threads and Blue Sky. Now that we are writing books and organizing merchandise, there is no way I would have time to do things all by myself. She is a huge part of the organization behind what we do.

You’re heavily into Comic-Con. Can you provide a brief summary of the places you’ve gone and the people you’ve met through this interest?

We have been all over Alberta and into Saskatchewan. My creative outlet is designing costumes for my family, and it has allowed us to do charity work and promo work for films. Memorable people we have met include James Gunn, Stan Lee, members of The Kids in the Hall, and most recently Emily Swallow who plays the Armorer in The Mandalorian.