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This past year Cliff and Eli have been involved as science mentors for high school students in the Boulder Valley School District Science Research Seminar program. Students learn about the scientific method in class, and work with science mentors outside of school to complete research projects. Cliff advised Piper Dumont from Broomfield High School who studied the effects of plant litter on microbial respiration in unvegetated soils. Eli advised Emika Brown and Isabelle Rusk from Fairview High School who compared microbial community composition and soil properties between prescribed burns and recent natural wildfires. These students did a great job working in the lab this year as well as presenting their findings at the science fair!
The School of Global Environmental Sustainability at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado hosts a public lecture series on Antarctica (link). At the Fort Collins Public Library, Pacifica presented our cryoconite research to around 30 members of the public.
Alex gave her talk for the Biological Science Initiative (BSI) symposium. As a BSI scholar Alex helped work on the Llullaillaco project. In her talk she discussed our work with penintentes and her role in helping to analyze the sequencing data. Great job Alex!
Dorota and Pacifica held a workshop for 14 high school students at the University of Colorado Mountain Research Station. Together they gave a presentation on soil ecology and guided students through making their own cell phone microscopes to explore soil meiofauna (nematodes and tardigrades!) as well as the rest of the microscopic world around them! This event was in support CU's Science Discovery (CUSD) Mountain Research Experience.
Isabella Bowland, a rising high school senior at Boulder’s Fairview High School, did an outstanding job representing the Schmidt and Suding Labs at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in May. Last year, Isabella took a class called the Science Research Seminar, in which students go through the scientific process and find science mentors to work with throughout the year. Isabella worked in the Schmidt Lab with Cliff Bueno de Mesquita on the Moving Uphill project, doing staining and microscopy of alpine plant roots collected across a high-elevation landscape. After being awarded best in plant sciences at the regional science fair in Boulder, Isabella advanced to the main ISEF event in Los Angeles, where she continued to display a thorough understanding of alpine plant-fungal interactions, and was awarded best in plant sciences. Congratulations Isabella! We are proud!  Jack was one of a few researchers to present for a fundraising effort in support of the Sibinacocha Watershed Project. The Sibinacocha is an unique high elevation ecosystem that is currently threatened by a number of factors including climate change, development, and tourism. The Watershed Project is a non-profit conservation organization that is working to protect the ecosystem. This is where our Peru site is located. If you are interested in donating please follow the link.
Pacifica taught a class at The Gizmo Dojo in Broomfield, CO. Using only a cell phone, lens from a laser pointer, and some puddy, each member of the class was able to see the microscopic world all around them!
Hosted by the CU Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) organization, the event included a workshop focusing on science communication, and several talks from researchers, one of which was Pacifica. Selected from many applicants Pacifica was invited to present our research from Antarctica in a TED talk style presentation.
Pacifica spoke with Nichole Falkowski's 5th graders (and two other classes of 5th graders) at Westview Elementary in Northglenn, CO. She was accompanied by her sister, Aleah Sommers, a PhD candidate studying the melting of Greenland's ice sheet (link). Together they described how glaciers form, how they flow, and why they matter to people. They also showed pictures and answered questions about field work on glaciers. The sisters like to refer themselves as "polar opposites" (i.e. Pacifica's site is in Antarctica and Aleah's is in Greenland(Arctic))  Aleah (left) and Pacifica (right) showing pictures of fieldwork on glaciers with a home-made slime model of a glacier in front. While outdoors on Ob Hill Pacifica skyped with Tanque Verde Elementary School in Tucson, AZ. She talked to Svea Anderson's class- and the rest of the 4th grade- about our research on cryoconite holes, and answered questions about what it was like to camp in a tent in Antarctica.  Pacifica on Ob Hill preparing for her skype session.
Dorota is a Science Ambassador for the CU Science Discovery outreach program.
To read about an event she helped host at the Boulder Public Library click here...link. Jack was interviewed by the CU Graduate School. The GradMinute video series seeks to highlight the variety of outstanding research being conducted by graduate students across the university.
See what Jack had to say about his work...link. While presenting a poster at ASM Microbe 2016 in Boston, MA, Adam was interviewed by a reporter from New Scientist magazine.
Find out what they talked about...link. |
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