UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater
August 10-17, 2020
Hi Everyone,
This past week two white pavilion tents went up on Henry Mall, one on the roadway in front of Old Biochem, and the other in the roadway of one of the crossing roads.
The tents were not put up on the lawn because of turfilogical reasons. They were put up over asphalt because they’re gonna be there for a long time, with lots of people working and walking beneath them.
These are the covid-testing tents. The tests are by reservation only for university employees and students. Bring your Wiscard ID. They’ll ask you your name, your birthdate, and your serial number, which is the 10 digit number on your Wiscard. You get to twirl the 6-inch cotton-tipped applicator in your own nose, four times in each nostril. Clockwise, counterclockwise, or combination—your choice. You get the results online.
The tents are right outside my office window. The tents will be a proxy for me for how we’re doing in dealing with covid and how soon we welcome the public to the indoor spaces of their public land-grant research & extension university. If the tents are still up in mid-October, I expect the folks who maintain the tent will add walls. If they’re up in November, I expect they’ll add propane heaters. (If they’re still up in January, I don’t know what to expect.)
Whenever we fold our tents, it will likely mean we are on the move to another approach to dealing with the coronavirus.
In the meantime, one of the topics of our Science Alliance meeting at 10am on Monday is the developing picture of policies in outreach programs, and especially programs with youth, during the covid times.
Thanks!
Tom Zinnen
Biotechnology Center; and Division of Extension, Wisconsin 4-H
Note: Liz Jesse has set up an archive for the Updater at https://science.wisc.edu/science-alliance/
Notable This Week
Science Alliance Meeting
1. Science Alliance meets by webinar at 10:00 am Monday August 10 online. Email ejesse2@wisc.edu to receive the link. Matt Stilwell will convene us. The draft agenda for August 10 includes
Welcome
b. Updates on science outreach programs.
c. Updates on re-opening of UW-Madison, of peer universities, and of Wisconsin K12 schools.
d. Discussion of the UW-Madison policy, updated this past week in an email from the Office of Youth Protection & Compliance, for this fall on face-to-face programming and videoconferencing programming with youth.
e. Spring 2021 Committee and subcommittees on re-opening campus to youth programing
f. Plans for a Science Alliance presentation to Campus Partnerships Organization on the youth-programming policy
g. Developing a science outreach template for virtual visits/field trips this fall.
h. The possibility of developing hands-on science Kits through bulk purchases, and producing a Handbook to accompany each kit.
i. Constellation of outdoor programming venues: Ideas for making outdoor science venues of the UW Campus a constellation of destinations for exploration. As long as our indoor venues are closed to the public, the university’s outdoor venues may provide a welcoming way we can engage in person with visitors while maintaining coronavirus precautions.
j. Henry Mall as Covid Testing Alley: https://news.wisc.edu/preparations-to-begin-july-30-on-henry-mall-for-covid-19-testing-site/.
k. Other announcements or topics
===
2. Please add your upcoming online programs or resources with learners of any ages to the list at http://science.wisc.edu and be sure to include program events in the calendar at http://today.wisc.edu and tag them with “Science” and any other appropriate tag.
3. Programming Events this week
a. Shaping the Endless Frontier: How the Midwest Can Spark the U.S. Economy. August 11 at 11:00am. Register at https://warf.wufoo.com/forms/z1hdta8813xh0ga/
b. Badger Talks Live: “Welcome to the UW MakerSpace” with Lennon Rodgers. August 11 at 12 noon. Register at https://www.facebook.com/UWConnects/
c. Virtual Saturday Science Workshop with UW Space Place. August 15 at 10:00am. Check at http://www.spaceplace.wisc.edu/#satworkshops
===
Five Powerful Routes to Promote Your Events: The Updater newsletter (750 subscribers), the Science.wisc.edu portal, the @sciencewiscedu Twitter feed (3.2K followers), the @UWMadisonScienceOutreach Facebook page, and the today.wisc.edu calendar.
4. Add your news, requests and programming announcements to the Updater by emailing them to ejesse2@wisc.edu
5. Check out www.science.wisc.edu for more science activities! We’re delighted to help you promote your upcoming science outreach events. Send a note to Liz Jesse at ejesse2@wisc.edu.
Or post your events to the @sciencewiscedu Twitter feed and to the @UWMadisonScienceOutreach Facebook page.
===
6. To subscribe to the Updater, send an email to allianceall+subscribe@g-groups.wisc.edu. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to allianceall+unsubscribe@g-groups.wisc.edu.