Category: News

The Center for Science and Environmental Outreach, along with the Michigan Tech Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers student chapter, conducted a Family Engineering Night at Escuela Avancemos Academy in Southwest Detroit (Mexicantown) on Nov. 24. John Deere provided support for the event, which featured activities in both English and Spanish and offered a free dinner in the school’s cafeteria. Approximately 180 participated, including students in grades K-5 and their family members.

The following members of the Michigan Tech community presented at the event:

• Uzi Mendez ’13 (Bio Med)
• Michael Briseno (Bio Med/ECE), undergraduate student
• Zoe Miller (CEE), master’s student
• Gabriella Shirkey ’13 (HU)
• Joan Chadde, director of the Center for Science and Environmental Outreach

From Tech Today.

PI Joan Schumaker Chadde and Co-PI Lloyd Wescoat (CEE), “FACTs&Careers: Scalable v. Intensive Educational Programs at a Public Aquarium to Increase STEM Career Choices,” Wayne State University

Read more at Tech Today.

Come to the free K-5 Family Science and Engineering Night, tomorrow at 6 to 7:30 p.m., at the Portage Lake District Library. Michigan Tech science and engineering students will present two activity sessions.

• Pre-K to Second Grade: “Buzzing Bees” and “What Floats Your Boat?” 6:05—6:45 p.m.
• Third through Fifth Grade: “Be a Computer Programmer” and “Blood and Guts” 6:50–7:30 p.m.

For more information, call the Portage Lake District Library at 482-4570.

Family Science Night is conducted by the Western UP Center for Science, Mathematics and Environmental Education and Michigan Tech with funding from the Family Engineering Program and assistance from Portage Lake District Library Community Programs.

From Tech Today.

Amy Lark, PhD
Amy Lark joins the Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences as an assistant professor. Lark comes to Michigan Tech from Michigan State University.

She received a PhD in Science Education and a master’s in zoology from Michigan State.

Lark belongs to the National Science Teachers Association, the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research and the Society for the Study of Evolution. She has been published in American Midland Naturalist and theJournal of Comparative Physiology.

Read more at Tech Today.

Joan Chadde attended the 43rd Annual North American Association for Environmental Education Conference this month in Ottawa, Canada, where she presented “Engaging Under-Represented Students in Urban Forest Stewardship.”

Also traveling with Chadde was Houghton High School science teacher, Lauri Davis (partner-teacher with the Center for Water and Society), who presented “Environmental Research Projects: Getting High School Student Intimate with Nature,” a project funded by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative.

From Tech Today.

Joan Chadde has been selected to receive one of Michigan Alliance for Environmental and Outdoor Education’s (MAEOE) most prestigious awards. The William Stapp Award recognizes career achievement in environmental education.

Chadde was nominated by Janet Vail, associate research scientist at Annis Water Resources Institute (AWRI) at Grand Valley State University, and supported by many others. Vail lead the water education/outreach program at AWRI

From Tech Today.

Water Festival Set for Thursday, 900 Grade-School Students to Attend

The 2014 Water Festival will be held in the Great Lakes Research Center on Thursday, Oct. 23. Almost 1,000 students in grades four through eight from local school districts are registered to attend.

Students will spend a half-day on campus and will attend four 35-minute activities. The Water Festival is designed to offer students engaging Great-Lakes-based content taught by Tech scientists, students and community experts (including artists and historians).

Activities offered include remotely operated vehicles, non-native invasive species, Great Lakes monitoring, land and water stewardship, Keweenaw geology, the aquatic food web, fish ecology and more.

“The Water Festival will provide an opportunity for students to learn about and celebrate our most precious natural resource: clean, fresh water,” said Joan Chadde, education program coordinator. “We will present a wide variety of topics related to the Great Lakes, from science and engineering to social studies and the arts.”

From Tech Today.

2014 Water Festival is made possible with funding from Michigan STEM Partnership, Michigan Tech Center for Water & Society, Earth Force, and the Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative. Coordinated by the Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative and hosted by Michigan Tech University.