UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater – January 31, 2022

UW-Madison Science Alliance Updater 

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Hi Everyone,

Among the newly elected Fellows from UW-Madison is Kevin Niemi, a co-founder of Science Alliance who for many years convened many of our meetings and who published the Updater until his retirement last year.

In April Kevin also was honored by UW-Madison with the Ann Wallace Career Achievement Award.

The citation for this award provides insights to some of the reasons he was elected as a AAAS Fellow:

“During his remarkable 24-year career with WISCIENCE, Kevin Niemi, who retired in January 2021, was a leader in identifying and developing partnerships with community members and organizations. He brought his expertise in STEM education to K-12 students, to UW–Madison students, and to teachers in school districts throughout the state, nation and even the world, primarily in Thailand.

“His legacy includes managing a statewide network for biology teachers and co-leading the Science Alliance, a community of UW–Madison science outreach professionals. He served as president of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers and currently is its CFO.

“This would be impressive enough, but Niemi combined his outreach work with a deep devotion to shared governance and to the professional development of academic staff at UW–Madison and in the UW System. He served on governance committees for over 20 years, including six years as an elected member of the Academic Staff Executive Committee. In all six years, he served in leadership positions (three as chair, three as vice chair). He is thought to be the only person in the committee’s history to serve in a leadership role for the entirety of their term, a testament to his skills and reputation.

“As one nominator said, ‘Many believe in shared governance, few have lived its ideals more than Kevin.’ ”

Kevin was elected as a 2021 AAAS Fellow in the Section on General Interest in Science and Engineering.  Twelve other Fellows were elected in that section, and at the top of the alphabetical listing of them was Alan Alda.  Mr. Alda came in with some great company.

Congratulations to Kevin!

Tom Zinnen

 
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Coming Up This Week and This Month

1.  During the spring semester, Science Alliance meets at 10:00 am Mondays, including today, Monday January 31. 

Please Note:  We will be meeting by Zoom on January 31 and for the coming few weeks. We will not be meeting in person at the Wisconsin Energy Institute for the time being.

The Zoom link for the spring meetings of Science Alliance will continue to be: 
https://zoom.us/my/glbrc.weieducation.vmr?pwd=L2Q0L0g0S3lEd2gyazNscjA1d2JYZz09 

The draft agenda for January 31 at 10am includes:
•  Welcome
•  Updates

•  Science Alliance Booth at WSST on April 7-8 in Wausau.  Set up by 3:45pm April 7;  Exhibit 4:00 to 6:00pm and again 9am to 3pm April 8   $400.  Exhibitor Registration site:  https://wsst.wildapricot.org/event-4484399

•  The new Science Near Me site funded by NSF:  https://sciencenearme.org

•  Science Expeditions 2022 Planning

Publicity

Communications

Venues

Presenters in Person

Virtual/Hybrid Options

•  Other Business

•  Next Meeting:  February 7 at 10:00 am.

As with the #Updater, the meeting notes are also archived on https://science.wisc.edu/science-alliance/.  

The Doctor of Pharmacy program is hosting several events that will help attendees learn more about pharmacy careers and the renowned PharmD program at UW–Madison. Many of these are virtual, allowing greater access to interested students around the world. However, there’s nothing like an in-person experience. If you’d like a face-to-face conversation, we’d love to have you visit us at the School of Pharmacy. 

February 9:  PharmD Information Session (virtual) — Get a general overview of the UW–Madison PharmD program, including application and admissions, curriculum options, and post-graduate outcomes. REGISTER 

February 17:  Mock Interview Session (virtual)  —  Intended for students interested in applying to our PharmD program this cycle or next, these sessions give applicants the opportunity to prepare for their interview with current PharmD students. This is thelast mock interview session of the academic year. REGISTER 
 
March 5:   Pharmacist Career Exploration Day (in-person) — This session is in-person event is a great opportunity to hear directly from practicing pharmacists, faculty, and students about the wide variety of exciting pharmacy career paths. REGISTER

If you have any questions about the above events please contact Lindsey DeCarlo, lindsey.decarlo@wisc.edu
 
Lindsey DeCarlo 
Pronouns: she, her, hers
 
PharmD Recruitment and Event Coordinator  | Student & Academic Affairs
School of Pharmacy | University of Wisconsin – Madison
2220 Rennebohm Hall | 777 Highland Avenue | Madison, WI 53705
P: (608) 263-4860 | F: (608) 262-3943 | www.pharmacy.wisc.edu

Allen Centennial Garden, in partnership with the Friends of Allen Centennial Gardens, offers an annual Saturday morning winter program series during January and February on garden-related topics for ACG Friends and volunteers as well as the general public. Last year’s programs were virtual, and we will be using that format again in early 2022. There is a $10/session fee, but they are free for the Friends and volunteers.  To register go to allencentenialgarden.wisc.edu.

Jane Cramer
Friends of Allen Centennial Gardens


10.  UniverCity Alliance (UCA) is partnering with the American Geophysical Union through its “Thriving Earth Exchange” program to launch in April 2022 the next cohort of community science projects in Wisconsin. 

#1: Help us find projects in Wisconsin communities. We need local or regional governments, tribal governments, community-based organizations, grassroots organizations and other advocacy or non-profit groups to let us know what geotechnical projects keep them up at night. We will share these projects with local and national experts who can help formulate solutions with your community. Encourage your community to apply by March 1 to join the April 2022 community science project cohort! 

#2: Help us find people who can manage the projects: We need volunteer Community Science Fellows to be the glue that holds the project team together by serving as project managers, facilitators and connectors. They represent cohort of people from all backgrounds and career stages interested in growing their practice of community science while guiding project from idea to impact. Apply by March 1 to be a Community Science Fellow!    

In addition to projects from Wisconsin communities, we’re looking for people who may be interested in volunteering to manage the projects. These Community Science Fellows don’t necessarily have to have a background in science and could be folks with great project management, facilitator and connector skills. 

There’s more information on our website here, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions. If you’re able to share this with anyone who might be interested, that would be great! 

Thanks! 

Best,

Abby Becker