Science Outreach on Campus
Sharing Science With Wisconsin

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – February 15, 2021

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UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater
15 February 2021  
 
Hi Everyone,
 
We have just endured the coldest nights of the winter so far, as low as -18 last Tuesday and -10 on Valentine’s Day.   On the brighter side, we are nearly two months into days of growing daylength, with the sun climbing higher every day in the noontime sky.  Your indoor plants, if they’re like mine, are zooming with the increasing intensity of the sunshine.  
 
February may be a bitterly cold month, but when I was a kid it was also the month that the seed catalogs arrived.  Burpee, Park, and Jung’s were harbingers of salad days to come.  The Ides of February is a time of hope and anticipation, looking forward to the thaw, to the melt, and to shoots of green.
 
Since 2003, mid-February is also the time we in the UW Science Alliance begin to invite our researcher and outreacher colleagues to register to participate in the UW Science Expeditions Open House.   As an open house, Science Expeditions is based in part on the idea that hospitality is reciprocal, and if we as UW-Madison scientists & scholars hope to be welcomed by the public into communities around Wisconsin, then we in turn have the happy task to welcome the public to the campus of their public land-grant research & extension university.  
 
I hope you’ll look around on these bright snow-covered days and think about whom you can invite.  I also invite you to register to provide an online or outdoor event yourself. 
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 February 15. 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 Monday, February 15 at 10am includes:
 
 
2.  Please invite your colleagues in research & outreach to participate in the 2021 UW Science Expeditions Open House on April 9, 10 and 11.
You’ll need to use your UW log-in.
 
3.  Programming Events coming this week and soon:
 
  • The UW Now Livestream.  Tuesday February 16 at 7pm CST.  “Policy Ideas for the Pandemic Economy and Beyond.”  Featuring J. Michael Collins, the Center for Financial Security;  Laura Dresser, associate director of the Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS); and Tim Smeeding, professor of Public Affairs and Economics
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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

Feb 15  Special Monday Night Edition:  Screening of “The Serengeti Rules” with filmmaker Sean B. Carroll.  Part of UW-Madison Darwin Days.  Special registration for Feb 15:  https://go.wisc.edu/tgpp7j.  More information here.
 
Feb 17  A Panel of Three Invited Speakers on “The Co-evolution of Mammals and Microbes” for UW-Madison Darwin Days.  
Jemma Geoghegan, University of Otago
Aspen Reese, University of California, San Diego
Paul Turner, Yale University
Moderators: Caitlin Pepperell and Tony Goldberg of UW-Madison
Special zoom registration for Feb 17:  https://go.wisc.edu/77qbzd
 
Feb 24  Rebecca Hutcheson, McArdle Laboratory of Cancer Research.  “Making the Virus Causing COVID-19 Safe for Research.”  
 
 
5.  The Arboretum Lectures and Symposium

 

WINTER ENRICHMENT VIRTUAL LECTURE SERIES
The 2021 lectures will be virtual on Thursday mornings, February 4 through April 8, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Lectures are $10 each and advance registration is required. 7 or more lectures for $70. Talks will begin promptly at 10 a.m. (CST).
 
Note: the Winter Enrichment lectures are free to students and that link is also on the website.  We’d love students to participate! 

 

  

February 25. How Microbes Shape Our Lives, Transform the Environment, and Influence Climate Change. Charlotte Francoeur, Ph.D. Student, Department of Bacteriology, UW–Madison. Register by February 21.

 

March 4. Holy Ground: Working with Faith and Indigenous Leaders to Build Resilience. Dekila Chungyalpa, Director, Loka Initiative, Center for Healthy Minds, UW–Madison. Register by February 28.

 

March 11. Beyond the Clinical Walls: Environmental Determinants of Health. Jamie Ferschinger, Director, and Stephanie Mercado, Neighborhood Revitalization Coordinator, Department of Environmental Health, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers. Register by March 7.

 

March 18. Climate Change and Wisconsin’s Forests: What We Know, What We Expect, and How to Adapt. Stephen Handler, Climate Change Specialist, United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service and Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science. Register by March 14.

 

March 25. Treaty Rights, Culturally Important Beings, and Indigenous-led Climate Adaptation in the Ojibwe Ceded Territories. Robert Croll, Policy Analyst and Climate Change Program Coordinator, and Hannah Panci, Climate Change Scientist, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. Register by March 21.

 

April 1. Using Markets to Achieve Conservation: Examples from the Field. Dominic Parker, Associate Professor, Agricultural and Applied Economics, UW–Madison. Register by March 28.

 

April 8. Climate Change, Reality versus Development: Global South and Worldwide Perspective. Marie-Josée Paula Houénou, specialist in climate change and environmental law and strategies, and city advisor, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow at UW–Madison. Register by April 4.

 

ARBORETUM RESEARCH SYMPOSIUM
February 18. Arboretum Research Symposium. Students, faculty, and other researchers will present findings from projects on Arboretum lands and in the Lake Wingra watershed. Free. Register in advance. About the Arboretum Research Symposium»

 

ARBORETUM VIRTUAL CLASSES
 
Fridays, February 19 and 26, 10:30 a.m.–12 p.m.
Nature Poetry, session 2 
These classes offer a sampling of modern nature poetry. Session is two classes, February 19 and 26. Instructor: Troy Hess. Fee: $15 for session. Space is limited. Registration required by February 14. 

 

Tuesdays, March 2 and 9, 6:30–8 p.m.
Writing Your “Marshland Elegy” 
In this two-part class, we will interpret Aldo Leopold’s “Marshland Elegy” through the contemporary lens of unprecedented loss of species and ecological diversity. Session is two classes, March 2 and 9. Instructor: Troy Hess. Fee: $15 for session. Space is limited. Registration required by February 25.
 
 
6.  Madison Makes! A Virtual Showcase of Local Makers presented by Monona Terrace


Have you taken on a new creative project during this pandemic, or reignited your passion for an existing hobby?  If you’ve found enrichment in making and creating during these challenging times, we’d like to hear from you!

Madison Makes is a new virtual event occurring on March 6, which will showcase videos of Madison area people who love to create and want to share it with others. 

 
 
7.  The Wisconsin Energy Institute’s Virtual 2021 KidWind Challenge is March 6.
 
 
8. School of Pharmacy Outreach Events

 

FEBRUARY 27, 2021 |  9:30 AM – 12:00 PM CST

Learn about the many career paths for pharmacists and the exciting field of pharmacy during the UW–Madison Pharmacy Career Exploration Day. This virtual event is designed for those who are interested in exploring the pharmacy field and what you can do with a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. The event will feature a pharmacists panel, sessions with current PharmD students, and an overview on clinical training opportunities. Registration is required.
1. Pharmacist Career Overview — Learn about the wide variety of exciting career options within the field of pharmacy.
2. Pharmacist Panel — Get the perspectives of practicing pharmacists about their day to day, and ask your questions during the Q&A.
3. The UW–Madison Advantage — Learn about the unique aspects of the UW–Madison PharmD curriculum that prepares graduates to excel in their desired career path after graduation.
4. Student Breakouts — What is it like to be a pharmacy student at UW–Madison? Learn more during these session led by current PharmD students.

 

MARCH 13, 2021 |  9:30 AM – 11:45 AM CST

APRIL 10, 2021 | 9:30 AM  – 11:45 AM CST

Please join us online for our UW–Madison School of Pharmacy PharmD Spring Open House virtual event, designed for those who are interested in exploring the Doctor of Pharmacy program at UW–Madison. These events will feature an Admissions Q&A, PharmD student panel, and overview of the curriculum and co-curricular opportunities. Registration is required.
1. Curriculum and Experiential Learning — Find out how our curriculum and experiential learning opportunities help differentiate our students through specialization.
2. Opportunities for Co-Curricular Learning — Learn about student orgs and co-curricular activities that can enhance PharmD students’ development and preparation for career success.
3. Admissions Overview — Join this session to learn more about the PharmD admissions process, application timeline, prerequisites, and the selection criteria.  
4. Student Panel — What is it like to be a pharmacy student at UW–Madison? Learn more during this Q&A with current students.
 
 
9.  Wonders of Physics Goes Online for 2021

After 37 years of physics presentations to the public, The University of Wisconsin – Madison is this year sponsoring a physics video competition for teachers and students.

We invite you to submit a 2-minute video demonstrating a physics concept. Awards will be given for the best videos, and winners will be posted on our website and edited into a longer video to be shown on public television.

We encourage submissions from students and teams, but for legal reasons, anyone under the age of 18 must work under the supervision of a parent, guardian, or teacher who will submit the video on their behalf. This could be a fun educational project for families or for physics classes during this period of social distancing.

The deadline for submissions is June 30, 2021. You can find more information at https://wonders.physics.wisc.edu/contest/.

 
10.  Microscopes for Schools
ZEISS has launched a granting program to give away microscopes throughout the school year of 2021 to K-12 schools in districts who are interested in incorporating digital microscopy into their lesson plans in the coming year. With your local outreach leadership, I thought you may be interested in case there are people you think could benefit and would want to apply.
 
Anyone interested can find out more information and apply here: https://www.zeiss.com/microscopy/us/local/scopes-grant.html?vaURL=www.zeiss.com/scopesgrant
 
Additionally, please let me know if there are any upcoming activities that ZEISS can support. We’ve been participating in science outreach online events by either providing demo digital microscopy equipment for events or presentations from our team.
 
Best regards,
 
Kimberly Toops PhD
Account Manager
ZEISS Research Microscopy Solutions
 
11.  Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers is sponsoring the “Wisconsin Water Week Essay Contest” with levels at grades PK-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12.  Entries are due on April 1.
 
12.  The Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies is excited to invite you and your STS colleagues to four virtual events that we are co-hosting this spring – “Science and Technology in the Hispanic World” – a special seminar series prepared in collaboration between the Holtz Center and Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program. The first event is scheduled for Tuesday, February 2 at noon CST.


How does global science and technology affect Hispanic societies and ecosystems? How does cultural inheritance of hispanic societies inform citizens’ attitudes towards science driven technological projects? How do science and technology from the North mobilize indigenous science to resist undesired transformations? What are the culturally specific debates and conflicts that emerge in various local contexts where science and technology bring changes? This series features renown scholars and activists to introduce us to science and technology driven social debates in Spain, Mexico, Paraguay and Nicaragua.

More information and access details will be provided as each event approaches.

Tuesday, February 23, 12-1 pm, via Zoom

Mexico:   Robin Canul: “Perspectives of development in Yucatán Península”.
Event details

Tuesday, March 23, 12-1 pm, via Zoom

Paraguay:   Kregg Hetherington: “Agribiopolitics: Plants and humans in the age of monocrops in Paraguay”
Event details


Tuesday, April 20, 12-1 pm, via Zoom

Nicaragua:   Birgit Muller “Facing the Environmental Mission: Small Farmers in Nicaragua and the Agro-Ecological Challenges of the Neoliberal Food Regime”

Jamie Adcock
Communications Specialist
University of Wisconsin-Madison
The Holtz Center for Science & Technology Studies
sts.wisc.edu | @HoltzCenter | Facebook