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Chatbots have proven to be effective tools in the fields of marketing, sales, customer relationship management and many other applications. This research explores the opportunities for chatbots to contribute to the promotion of scientific research and initiatives. The Etelman Observatory Research Center of the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) houses the Virgin Islands Robotic Telescope (VIRT), a fully-automated, robotically controlled, and queue-driven 0.5 meter research grade telescope. The Etelman Observatory's mission is to be a world-class research and education center that engages with the local community through various outreach activities in all its initiatives. Given the challenges of physical presence during the COVID-19 crisis, Observatory personnel decided to adopt chatbot technology to engage interested parties over the Internet in its key scientific instrument for astrophysics -- VIRT. VIRTBot is a chatbot designed to provide VIRT with a voice that interested community members can engage with directly. The team implemented VIRTBot with Amazon Web Services (AWS) technologies in the cloud and deployed the solution online. Volunteers were surveyed about their knowledge of the Observatory's activities after reviewing either an FAQ or engaging with VIRTBot. The study demonstrated that the FAQ outperformed VIRTBot in terms of knowledge dissemination, but VIRTBot outperformed the FAQ in measures of interest and engagement. Our research suggests that, under the right conditions, chatbots improve engagement over traditional web resources in promoting STEM educational initiatives to the public. Keywords: Chatbot, Amazon Web Services