UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – November 23, 2020 – Science Outreach on Campus

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater

23 November 2020

Hi Everyone,

It’s Thanksgiving week, usually the occasion of our national frenzy to travel over the river and through the woods by sleigh or sledge, or by planes, trains or automobiles, to gather with family and friends and to thank goodness for Pete Rozelle and the nationally televised games of the NFL. But I speak only for my family, and especially for my mother, who by her own volition would time our Thanksgiving Dinner for halftime of the first game.

This synchronicity was not much of a wonder, when one kept in mind that her Dad, a shoe repairman, made for her a football and taught her how to punt and to dropkick. This would be in the mid 1930’s—long, long before Title IX unchained females from the sidelines and welcomed them to the fields and courts and tracks and gymnasiums of their schools and colleges.

It is a testimony to the power of tradition that a football made by hand in the mid 1930’s could assign the time, or at least the timing, of a series of Thanksgiving dinners 40 and 50 years later.

In sports and in science outreach, as with families and communities, this year more than a few traditions have been broken, or perhaps just suspended. But many more have also been started. It is too early to tell which ones will reverberate through the years, but at least some that are being kicked around now will be around for decades to come.

Thanks again!

Tom Zinnen

Note: please visit https://science.wisc.edu/science-alliance/ for the updater archive.

Notable This Week

1. Science Alliance meets weekly by Webex at 10:00 am Mondays, including today, November 23. Email Liz Jesse at ejesse2@wisc.edu or Tom Zinnen at zinnen@biotech.wisc.edu to receive the link. The meeting notes are archived on https://science.wisc.edu/science-alliance/.

The draft agenda for November 16 at 10am includes:

- 11:00 – 11:02 Welcome
- 11:02 – 11:15 Brief updates from colleagues and their science outreach programs: 1
- 11:15 – 11:30 Detailed overview by Biocore Outreach Ambassadors of their Mineral Point Family Science Night on November 13 (see #5 below)
- 11:30 – 11:40 Q&A with Biocore outreach Ambassadors
- 11:40 – 11:45 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 coming this week and soon:

Panel Discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in STEM. November 23 at 5pm CST. Hosted by Graduate Women in Science. http://today.wisc.edu/events/view/154866

Badger Talks Live: – https://www.facebook.com/UWConnects/l ive & https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/events/ Tuesday, November 24, Noon CST. “Three Views of Infinity: Finding Your Voice, Building Your Path, Enjoying Your Journey” by Mark Hetzler, Professor of Trombone.

“PLATO Frontiers in Life Sciences” public seminar, by Zoom. Wednesdays at 1 pm CT. September 30 through December 9 (except Nov 25). https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvcOmqqDMiEtDdb9mSYczXmivRVETlkeUp This week Nov 25 we go dark. On December 2 we resume with “Hormone Supplements in Older Adults” by Craig Atwood, Geriatrics & Adult Development, SMPH

“Wednesday Nite @ The Lab” public science seminar, by Zoom. Wednesdays at 7 pm CT. Every Wednesday night, 50 times a year. Register at go.wisc.edu/240r59. This week Nov 25 we go dark. On December 2 we resume with “Engineering, Innovation and Ingenuity in Response to Covid” by Lennon Rodgers of Engineering

The UW Now Livestream. Tuesday December 1 at 7pm CST. Presenter TBD.

Virtual Saturday Science Workshop with UW Space Place. Saturdays 10:00am. Check at http://www.spaceplace.wisc.edu/#satworkshops.

About Every Two Weeks: Maritime Archeology Webinars. Tamara Thomsen and Caitlin Zant. Wisconsin Historical Society. Archive of past talks at https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS16271 Contact Amy Wyatt for dates and times.

Check for other research seminars presented online and available to all at http://today.wisc.edu/events/tag/science

4. Upcoming Lineup for Wednesday Nite @ The Lab online by zoom starting at 7pm Central. Register at https://go.wisc.edu/240r59
Schedule and descriptions at https://science.wisc.edu/wednesday-nite-at-the-lab/

Nov 25 Dark
Dec 2 Lennon Rodgers, “Engineering, Innovation and Ingenuity in Response to Covid”
Dec 9 Jeff Sindelar, Animal & Dairy Sciences, “The Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery Building”
Dec 16 Steffi Diem, Engineering Physics, “Fusion Energy: Harnessing the Power of the Sun on Earth”

Dec 23 Dark
Dec 30 Dark
Jan 6 Kerri Coon, Bacteriology, TBD

Jan 13 Nam Kim, Anthropology, “Origins of Warfare in Human History”

5. A note from Michelle Harris, as background for the discussion today at the Science Alliance meeting.

The Biocore Outreach Ambassador (BOA) co-chairs and I met this morning and some of them can make the next Science Alliance Meeting at 10:00am Monday Nov. 23rd. They are happy to have this opportunity to describe the Gather.town platform that we used to host the Mineral Point Science night last Friday, and to share what went well and what we’d like to do differently for our next virtual Science Night.

Also, we are really curious to discuss ways that Science Alliance can help families with connectivity challenges to better participate in online outreach events. I know that school districts and many of our UW-Madison students struggle with this and it would be great to brainstorm ways that we can address this issue of equity.

Thanks so much, see you on Monday!
Michelle

Michelle A. Harris, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Biology Core Curriculum

6. Happy Thanksgiving!