UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – December 14, 2020 – Science Outreach on Campus

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater

14 December 2020

Hi Everyone,

On November 10, 1942, following the British victory at El Alamein and three days into the Allied invasions of North Africa, Winston Churchill growled words of flinty optimism: “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

In the past few days of our times, we have the happy news of vaccines OK’d for emergency use, with trucks and jets streaming to destinations around the nation, a scene several other countries have also seen or are about to see.

While these first deliveries are encouraging, the numbers still warrant continued caution and persistent patience. In the US alone, our 328 million people include some 263 million people 18 & older. Each will require two doses for a total of 520 million doses; even if one subtracts vaccine decliners (about 40% of adults?) that leaves a need for 312 million doses. Eventually, once the vaccines are approved, we’ll have to add in the children.

As UW-Madison notes in its new covid policies for spring semester 2021, “vaccines are not expected to be widely available until at least the second quarter of 2021 and probably later for healthy young adults (that is, most students).”

Finding ways to spread the word to a wide audience, as well as to listen to concerns and ideas of the public, will be a leading part for many of us in science outreach in the coming months. Biology, engineering, logistics, and social justice are just some of the angles that we’ll be working.

The ways we continue to slow the spread of the virus will continue to impinge on our abilities to do programs in person with the public. The science savvy we help cultivate, and the connections to the people & places & programs of the university, will continue to help many folks in Wisconsin make strategies and decisions that can help us all get sooner to the beginning of the end of the scourge of covid in the coming year.

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, December 14. 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 December 14 at 10am includes:

- Welcome
- Quick Updates
- Science Expeditions April 9-11:
  - UW-Madison’s new covid policies for spring semester
  - Organizing & first meeting for planning teams
  - Online Events
  - Outdoor Activities on Campus & Other UW-Madison Sites
  - Possible Indoor Sites
  - Communications & Promotions
  - Others?
- 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:

Badger Talks Live: – https://www.facebook.com/UWConnects/l ive & https://badgertalks.wisc.edu/events/ Tuesday, December 15, Noon CST. “Theater and the Mastery of the Mind” by Mark Hairston, Dept of Theatre and Drama.

“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. On December 16 Steffi Diem of Engineering Physics speaks on “Fusion Energy: Harnessing the Power of the Sun on Earth.”

The UW Now Livestream. Tuesday December 15 at 7pm CST. Speaker TBD as of 8:30am Dec 14.

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

Check for other events 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/

-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, “Why Mosquitoes Love You (and Other Things You Never Knew About Mosquitoes and Their Microbiome)”

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

-Jan 20 Claudia Solis-Lemus, Plant Pathology & Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, “Through the Looking-Glass of Data Science”

-Jan 27 Sean Carroll, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, “A Series of Fortunate Events: Chance and the Making of the Planet, Life, and You”

5. Paul Brandl and Tom Zinnen, co-organizers of the “PLATO Frontiers in Life Sciences” seminar series, are looking for your suggestions of colleagues who might like to give a ~50 minute talk by zoom on their research to a group of ~25 retirees. They’re an affirmative and appreciative audience. Now in its 16th year, “PLATO Frontiers” runs Wednesdays starting at 1pm, beginning on February 24, 2021. Please contact Tom Zinnen with suggestions: zinnen@biotech.wisc.edu.