Science Outreach on Campus
Sharing Science With Wisconsin

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – April 19, 2021

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UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater
 
19 April 2021  
 
Hi Everyone,
 
My son Will and I went for a bike ride on campus yesterday, stopping by the Biotech Center, then past Allen Garden and on to the lakeshore path out to Picnic Point.  It was the first time I’d seen the bike racks on the new concrete pad, and Will’s first time seeing the Stone Gate parking lot in its paved, pothole-free glory.  
Biking back from Picnic Point we detoured to check out the new Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Building, and I was astonished to see a whole new five-deck parking garage to the west of it.  Even more surprising, the entire Natatorium has been razed, its footprint neatly scraped, and the earliest phases of reconstruction appeared underway behind a chainlink fence. 
 
How could this be?  How could two major projects have happened and I never noticed, how could I have never biked by the sites on my way from the Biotech Center to meet with colleagues at the Ebling Library?  
 
This is the starkest example for me personally of what 13 months working away from campus has meant.  Disruption, disconnection and dislocation are powerful feelings.  I’m anticipating this will be true for many of the visitors that many of us in science outreach had been hosting in weekly or monthly or yearly cycles for years.  
 
The popularity on a springtime weekend of campus destinations such as the Arboretum, Allen Gardens, the Lakeshore Path and Picnic Point underscores that we can anticipate similar happy returns when our indoor venues can re-open.  I expect visitors will be on occasion disoriented by the presence of some new buildings as well as by the absence of some familiar faces.  That part of our job that is helping new visitors connect with the people, places & programs in science at UW will take on a new angle:  re-connecting with our long-running visitors.  That, too will be a happy return. 
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 19. 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 19 at 10am includes:
  • Welcome
  • Updates
    • Outlook for public programs for adults and for children in Spring 2021 and in Summer 2021
    • Review of current public programs open to the public on campus
  • Science Expeditions Campus-wide Open House April 9-11:  
    • Review, with a week’s perspective
    • Setting the dates for 2022 UW Science Expeditions
    • Budget
  • Other announcements or topics
    • Family Gardening Day Online  
2.  Now in Archive:   Please invite your colleagues in research & outreach to check out the YouTube archives of presentations from
2021 UW Science Expeditions Open House on April 9, 10 and 11.   
3.  Programming Events coming this week and soon:
  • The UW Now Livestream.  April 20 at 7 pm: “A Cost-Effective Green Future” with Tracey Holloway, Nelson Institute Distinguished and team leader for NASA’s Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team 

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 21  “What’s a Portrait Doing on this Map? Reinterpreting Captain John Smith and His Map of New England” Matthew Edney, History of Cartography Project at UW-Madison; and the University of Southern Maine.

April 28  “An Invitation to Mathematical Physics & Its History” Jont Allen, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagn

May 5  “How to Make Computers Everyone Can Use, Including Seniors Who Can’t/Won’t”  Gregg Vanderheide, Trace R&D Ctr, University of Maryland

May 12  “The Origins & Works of the ‘Dear Pandemic’ Project”  Malia Jones, Applied Population Lab

May 19  “How to Reduce the Risk of Wildfire Ignition from Power Grids”  Line Roald, Electrical & Computer Engineering

5.  “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

6.  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/.

 
7.  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
 
8.  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!
 
9.  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 .