Science Outreach on Campus
Sharing Science With Wisconsin

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – April 5, 2021

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UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater
5 April 2021  
 
Hi Everyone,
 
I don’t know if it’s a Universal truth, and it may not be true in certain galaxies far far away, but it certainly was true where I grew up:  Hospitality is Reciprocal.  If you want to be invited over to your friends’ place, you in turn need to invite your friends to come over to yours.  
 
When it comes to science outreach on our University campus, this too is true:  Hospitality Counts, and Venue Matters.  The idea of  “venue” is rooted both in the infinitive  “to come” and also the place to which one arrives.  
 
We look for venues to accommodate our visitors, places where we can talk together and listen together and share our ideas and aspirations, places where were can show what we’ve discovered and invented, places where we can share how we view and do science, places where visitors can take part in and contribute to the life and vitality of the university.  
 
We do this all year round, but especially this week, April 9-11, during the 19th Annual UW Science Expeditions Open House online and outdoors.
 
Alas, one month into the second year of Covid Time, we still cannot welcome the public in person to the campus of their public land-grant research & extension university.  So we do what many others have done — we take a hint from Clint:  we improvise, we adapt, we overcome. 
 
This weekend the venues will be mostly online, but the hospitality will be fully in line with our tradition of hospitality in welcoming the public to campus to come experience science as exploring the unknown.  On behalf of the organizers of Science Expeditions 2021, I hope you’ll invite your family & friends to spend some time connecting with the people, places and programs in science here at UW-Madison.  We’re looking forward to getting to see you at our place, and we look forward to visiting you at yours.
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 April 5. 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, April 5 at 10am includes:
 
  • Welcome
  • Updates
    • Outlook for public programs for adults and for children in Spring 2021 and in Summer 2021
  • Science Expeditions Campus-wide Open House April 9-11:  
    • Online Events Team
    • Outdoor Activities on Campus & Other UW-Madison Sites  
    • Communications & Promotions Team
      • News release
      • Social Media campaign
      • Banners over Campus Drive and Park Street and on Genetics/Biotech
      • Wisconsin Public Radio ads
      • Print Ads
    • Engineering Expo April 9:  https://engineeringexpo.wisc.edu 
  • Other announcements or topics  
 
2.  Coming This Weekend:   Please invite your colleagues in research & outreach to Spread the Word about the 
2021 UW Science Expeditions Open House on April 9, 10 and 11.
 
3.  Programming Events coming this week and soon:
 

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

  • April 7  “Only a Game Can Save Us: How Educational Games Create a Pathway toward High-quality, Low-cost, Equitable Learning for All” David Gagnon, the Field Day Lab, Wisconsin Center for Education Research
  • April 9  Special #UWScienceExpeditions Friday Night Edition of Wednesday Nite @ The Lab with Tracey Holloway of the Nelson Institute and Bassam Shakhashiri of Chemistry, on issues in Global Warming.
  • April 15  “Insights into the Development of Covid Vaccines”   Mary Hayney, School of Pharmacy
  • April 22  “What’s a Portrait Doing on this Map? Reinterpreting Captain John Smith and His Map of New England” Matthew Edney, History of Cartography Project and the University of Southern Maine.
5.  Solve Climate by 2030:  Green Recovery, Climate Solutions, and a Just Transition
Wisconsin Energy Instute
Join us on April 7 from 7–8:15 p.m. CT

Register at https://energy.wisc.edu/events/solve-climate-2030-green-recovery-climate-solutions-and-just-transition

The world’s top climate scientists have told us we have a ten-year window to make rapid reductions in the carbon pollution causing global warming in order to hold the warming to the low end of under 3° F. Meanwhile, clean energy solutions have gotten less expensive, and in many markets, these solutions now cost less than fossil fuel alternatives. Focusing state and local action around climate solutions could open the road to “solve climate” over the next decade.

Taking action on climate change has never been more crucial, and doing so can lead to healthier communities, economies, and environments across our state. Join us on April 7th from 7–8:15 p.m. CT for an evening of conversation with the folks behind some of Wisconsin’s leading climate solutions. Learn more and register here »
Event speakers include:

• Mandela Barnes, Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor
• Morgan Edwards, UW–Madison Assistant Professor of Public Affairs
• Stephanie Janeth Salgado Altamirano, UW–Madison student, Member of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change
• Dylan Bizhikiins Jennings, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission Director of Public Information
• Seth Hoffmeister, Wisconsin Conservation Voters Organizing and Political Director

  

6.  The Arboretum Lectures and Classes
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! Winter Enrichment online registration form»

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.

7.  “Nature, Your Partner in Wellness” with Jane Hawley Stevens, Friday April 23, 4:00 pm CDT.  Register at www.go.wisc.edu/N0Q53X
 


Join Jane Hawley Stevens, 2020 Organic Farmer of the Year and founder of Four Elements Herbals, for a virtual afternoon teatime conversation. 
 
Conversation is open to all online.  However, tea will be available ONLY for residents of these UW Housing Learning Communities: GreenHouse, Women in Science and Engineering, BioHouse, Multicultural, International, and Chadbourne Residential College. Learning Community residents may go to their Housing portal (www.go.wisc.edu/my-housing) to register to get a FREE ! box of Four Elements Herbal Tea delivered to their front desk before the event!
 
For questions or accommodations please contact Sam Wood at sjwood2@wisc.edu

8. School of Pharmacy Outreach Events

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.  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. 


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, 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” Event details

11.  The 9th Annual Madison FUN Partners Co-sponsored Bird & Nature Festival is Sunday April 25 from noon to 4pm
Now is the time to reserve your table at the April 25 Bird and Nature Festival!   
Contact Paul Noeldner (paul_noeldner@hotmail.com) if your group is coming and provide as much info as you can.

 

• Help Celebrate Earth Week with an Amazing Gathering of Nature Groups!
• Open Door Bird Sanctuary will offer ongoing Live Raptor Exhibits inside the Rainbow Shelter.
• People will enjoy visiting our Nature Group Tables and Exhibits, Kids Chalk Art, Kite Flying, Food Carts, Music and more!
• We will be in an outdoor area with face masks and social distancing required
• The Public will come any time between Noon and 4pm and take turns at tables and activities, no large groups

FREE TABLE SPACE PROVIDED!

• Fold-Out Tables will be available in the Rainbow Shelter Patio area with hand sanitizer provided!
• Nearby Picnic Tables will be available for the public to relax and do activities with social distancing.
• A few indoor tables will be reserved where needed such as the Herp Society and Butterfly exhibits, no rain date

FEATURE YOUR GROUP AND ACTIVITIES!

• Groups can have Table Displays and Educational Exhibits and Activities with hand sanitizer for table visitors
• Groups can offer take home handouts, native seed packets, and kids activity sheets like Bird Bingo
• Volunteers can lead short nature themed walks or activities for people visiting the table, like Find a Frog
• Volunteers can also help with the event in general by helping host Chalk Art, Kite Flying and other activities
• Volunteers can come for whatever part of the afternoon you can do, and it is ok to leave early if necessary

PLEASE REPLY WITH –

• Your group name, who is volunteering from your group and their contact info
• Your group table theme or activity topic for example “Meet Friends of Pheasant Branch”, “Skins and Bones” or TBD to be determined
• NOTE: The total number of tables may need to be limited for social distancing, so reply as soon as possible to reserve your spot!
 
12.  Tune in to the following University Place program premiering on the Wisconsin Channel in April: 4/26 at 8:00 am and and 9:00 pm CDT Hybrid Future: Electric vs. Electrified Powertrains 
Andrea Strzelec, Program Director
Masters of Engineering in Engine Systems, UW-Madison
 
Professor Strzelec compares vehicles with internal combustion engines, battery electrics, and hybrid systems (with both an engine and electric motor) and shows that there is no such thing as a zero emissions vehicle.
 
This program may also be viewed on or before the broadcast date at  pbswisconsin.org/uplace .