STEM – Page 10 – The Big Words Blog Site

An Interview With Dr. Vernon Morris Regarding The Atmospheric Sciences And STEM Education Part One

I originally conducted this interview with Dr. Vernon Morris in February of 2016 and published it in both the Examiner and the Edvocate. Not only is he a scientific peer, be he’s also a hero of mine. In addition to his duties at Howard University’s Department of Chemistry and NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS), he regularly takes his group out to the schools in the DC schools system to conduct science demonstrations. He is an example of regularly being visible and helping to fulfill the needs of students in the community.

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While Black History should be celebrated throughout the year and not just in February, the month provides the opportunity to not only recognize African Americans who have made significant contributions in the past, but also those who are presently making history. As there are numerous African American scientists and innovators who are typically celebrated during Black History Month in Science (Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)), there are also quite few African American scientists in modern times that are worth recognizing. One such scientist is Dr. Vernon Morris of Howard University. On Feb. 16, in honor of Black History Month, Dr. Morris granted an interview to discuss his background, the path to his current career, and potential avenues for under-represented minorities to get involved in STEM.

Anwar Dunbar: First Vernon, thank you for this opportunity to interview you. My writings in February tend to focus on Black History Month. There are African American scientists that we usually recognize such as George Washington Carver, Charles Drew, Mae Jemison and Percy Julian for example, but I realized that there are many African American scientists and innovators who are currently in the trenches expanding our scientific knowledge, and in your case making a difference in the community. You’re doing great things in and out of the lab so I thought it would great to get your story out. So with that, let’s get started.

Talk a little bit about your background. Where are you from?

Vernon Morris: I’m an Air Force brat so I don’t have a traditional home to claim, because I’ve lived in 14 different places growing up. I finished high school in eastern Washington State; Spokane. I’ve been living in Washington, DC longer than any other place, so this is my home now.

AD: Now growing up, were there any scientists in your family who you were exposed to at an early age? What got you interested in science?

VM: No, I actually was not exposed at all. I never had the chance to do science fairs or any of that stuff. I think my first exposure to anyone who was in science was actually one of my mother’s friends, Carolyn Clay, who was an engineer from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). I used to talk to her a little bit and she actually got me into an engineering camp late in my high school years. After that time though, I wasn’t even thinking about going to college to be perfectly honest with you.

Both parents were in the Air Force. For much of my later youth my mother was a teacher and then a principal. Truthfully, the only post high school institution I was thinking about was the Air Force Academy because they had a good boxing program. I loved boxing and I thought I was pretty good. My decisions throughout most of high school revolved around how to pursue boxing.

As I said, my mother’s friend got her doctorate in chemical engineering from RPI. She had to be one of the few at that time, and I think she was working at Hanford Research Labs in Richland, Washington, which was a nuclear facility. She worked there so I would see her from time to time when she would come visit my mother.

I always did well in science, but there wasn’t much encouragement to actually do science. I liked math a lot. I liked any kind of science; physics, chemistry, biology, all of those, but I got more discouragement in school than encouragement. So she was one of the first people to say, “You know, you’re good at this stuff, so think about doing it.” So the opportunity arose to go to Seattle (University of Washington), a more populated part of the state, where the camp was held and to see that engineering was cool. I actually linked up with one of my father’s friends (a Mason) who was a steam engineer at the camp. I apprenticed with him the rest of the summer on different projects. It was interesting to see how things are being built, and how to apply the science, but it didn’t really change my course.

I ended up going to visit some friends and relatives in Atlanta. There I saw the Atlanta University (AU) complex a little bit later and frankly speaking, that had a greater influence on me. I received scholarships to go to other places, and visited them, but they didn’t have the same appeal as the AU Center. Seeing my father complete his Bachelor’s Degree toward the end of high school, really made an impression on me as well.

AD: So you went to the famous AU Center. Did you go to Clark-Atlanta, Morehouse, or Morris Brown? Which one?

VM: I went to Morehouse and I had not made up my mind on a major. I was literally running around trying to find a job and ran into Henry McBay, who is a very distinguished scholar and mentor for a lot of folks who got their chemistry degrees at Morehouse; and he basically offered to buy my books and a calculator, and take care of my school supplies if I would major in chemistry.

AD: Really?

VM: Yes, and I didn’t have enough money to say no (laughing). I said, “Sure, it’s no problem.” He told me that I would have to major in math if I majored in chemistry so that I’d understand the upper level courses. And that’s actually how I selected my major in math and chemistry. It was through Henry McBay. I was literally running to get to another part of the campus and it was oriented in such a way that the Chemistry Building was my cut through. He happened to be in the hallway and I almost ran into him. He literally told me to slow down and then asked me about where I was going, what I was trying to do, asked what my major was, and through that conversation I wound up choosing my major.

AD: Had the two of you met before? You must have made quite an impression on him for him to make that offer.

VM: No, I had never met him before. It was my first or second week at Morehouse, and he was curious about whether or not I liked Chemistry. He also introduced me to another professor who actually became my mentor later and who gave me a research job, Mr. John Hall.

AD: So you earned your Bachelor’s Degree from Morehouse. Where did you go after Morehouse?

VM: From Morehouse I went to Georgia-Tech. My doctoral studies were in Atmospheric Sciences, with applications in physical chemistry, so I took a lot of courses in physical chemistry and all of the core courses in atmospheric sciences. My thesis was a combination of theoretical and experimental investigations of inorganic chlorine oxides, and the chemistry of the stratosphere. It involved the application of matrix isolation, infrared spectroscopy, some ultraviolet spectroscopy to look at short-lived intermediates, free radicals that form from low pressure and low temperature reactions. I performed quantum chemical calculations to help interpret the experimental results.

AD: And just briefly, what did you find?

VM: We found that some low temperatures stabilize some novel free radical structures that are completely unstable in the gas phase, and influence some of the heterogeneous reactions, and some of the actual gas phase chemistry that showed depletion. It was actually related to the stratospheric depletion of the ozone.

At that time the stratospheric ozone hole wasn’t a well-understood phenomenon and they were trying to figure out whether it was dynamic or if it was chemical, and it turned out to be a combination of both. We looked at the chlorine oxides in particular, extensively, and then some of the nitrogen oxides and how they contributed to the ozone depletion.

AD: Now one last question about your thesis; what got you interested in atmospheric sciences?

VM: It was John Hall. I was again in a quandary about what I wanted to do, but it was either go into chemical physics, which is what he had done, or go into a more applied field. At that point the ozone hole and stratospheric depletion of ozone in general was a really big deal and there were a lot of open questions. It just seemed like a really exciting way to take the math, the chemistry and the physics and go after these larger scale environmental problems that were presenting themselves.

A single discipline wasn’t enough to address them. You had to come in with a very multidisciplinary background. I liked physics. I tried to triple major in physics, but I it would have taken too long to finish so I just minored in it, and majored in the other two. I liked applying chemistry and physics, and I liked understanding the environment.

John Hall actually had a joint appointment between Georgia-Tech and Morehouse, and while he was encouraging me to go to UC-Berkley or to Harvard, or some of his alma maters, the opportunity to go to a different school and still work with him was appealing, and actually my first daughter was born before I graduated, so weighing the prospect of leaving and not being near her sort of factored into my decision.

AD: So at Howard University you interestingly go out to the ocean and conduct research there. Just briefly, talk about your research.

VM: We’re working on a lot of stuff, but the work revolves around trying to get a better quantitative understanding of how atmospheric particulates influence the chemistry of the atmosphere and climate across multiple scales. These are multiple spatio-temporal scales. There are time scales because the lifetime of aerosols tends to be days to months, but their influence in the atmosphere tends to range from that time scale to much longer time scales as clouds change their optical properties; that influences radiative balance and seasonal fluctuations. If you look at particle evolution, once an aerosol is formed and injected into the atmosphere from the ground layer, how does it influence and have these multiplying effects across larger spatial fields as it moves around the atmosphere, and through larger temporal scales as it effects something that has a multiple “follow on” effect?

The ship experimental cruises allow us to look at the transport of aerosols that are transmitted from Africa either from the Sahara Desert or as a result of burning biomass from “Slash and Burn” agriculture. Particles get into the atmosphere and influence tropical cyclone development, and they influence acidification of the upper ocean. They also influence microbiological transfer, the transfer of microbes across hemispheres. They influence cloud properties and precipitation properties downstream and food security. So they have all of these implications that are much longer and much larger than a particular fire, or a particular dust storm. You have to connect that with field observations, laboratory studies and with space-based observations as well.

AD: My first time meeting you was here in DC at the 2012 National Organization of Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) annual conference where you won the Percy Julian Award for excellence in teaching. Was that for your teaching activities at Howard, or was it for the community outreach that you do at various local schools?

VM: I think it was for the combination of teaching and mentoring. In fact, I think it was the Henry McBay award actually, though there was a separate award for Percy Julian. That was very special for me because I was a McBay mentee. I think it was a combination of teaching and producing students at the university, the outreach internationally, and then the outreach locally, the way we try to get science to the community; the underserved communities in particular.

AD: I’m a pharmacologist, so my knowledge of all of the notable African American chemists is admittedly limited.

VM: Percy Julian actually designed the chemistry building here on the Howard campus. He designed this building, designed the labs, and then laid out everything and then, because of a personal dispute with the provost and the president at the time, actually left before the building was commissioned.

AD: You know, Vernon, as you were talking just now, I was just reflecting on how important it is to know these things. A couple of years ago a mentor who himself isn’t a scientist, but who saw that I was trying to develop my own writing and mentoring voice, gave me a copy of “Forgotten Genius”, the documentary about Percy Julian.

When I was I watching it, I couldn’t help but feel that Dr. Julian’s story would have been so valuable to know when I was going through my own doctoral studies. I didn’t deal with the racism that he endured, but just the scientific process; so many experiments have to be done before you finally get to the ones that actually work and generate quality data. That documentary conveyed the essence of science, and it took me a while to figure that all out while I was working on my own thesis. It would have been so valuable to know beforehand.

VM: We actually screened that film here. We used to show it on a regular basis to our chemistry majors because it’s very eye opening and shows the commitment that you have to have, in addition to some of the resilience you have to have for things to work out. That guy was brilliant.

AD: Yes, and there is a whole culture to what we do as scientists, and the story conveyed that as well.

This interview will continue in part two of A Black History Month interview with Dr. Vernon Morris. A special thank you is extended to Dr. Morris and Howard’s NCAS for providing the pictures in this post. If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment.

Please visit my YouTube channel entitled, Big Discussions76. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right-hand column in this post and throughout the site, or add the link to my RSS feed to your feedreader. Lastly follow me at the Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, and on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Endless forms most beautiful: Exploring evolution & celebrating Darwin day

From Feb. 10-12, the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium hosted their second weekend of 2017 titled “Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Exploring Evolution & Celebrating Darwin Day”. The weekend was dedicated to the study of the formation of life on earth. On Friday Feb. 10 there was a viewing of the short film “The Origin of Species” which told the stories of Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace. On Saturday Feb. 11 there was a viewing of the full dome show “Natural Selection”. On Sunday Feb. 12 there was a second showing of Natural Selection.

In addition to the shows, this Friends’ weekend also featured a lineup of speakers from the science community. Friday’s and Saturday’s speakers visited the planetarium on behalf of the Michigan State University’s “Darwin Road Show”. On Friday, students from George Washington University’s Department of Biological Sciences discussed their graduate research projects. Tiffini Smith discussed her thesis project which focused on “Sexual Selection” and its role in evolution. Chris Day discussed his project which looked at the abilities of Cancer cells to evolve and develop resistance to pharmaceuticals. On Saturday, Alexis Garretson of George Mason University discussed her research on native wildlife and ecosystem interactions. On Sunday, Dr. Thomas R. Holtz, Jr., a Professor at the University of Maryland and a Research Associate of the National Museum of Natural History discussed “The Evolution of Dinosaurs”.

The Friends will host special events at the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium one weekend every month until the end of the school year. Each weekend will be geared towards increasing STEM education/awareness for all ages and will feature a specific theme. For more information, visit the Friends’ website: http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org. The theme of March’s weekend will be: The Art of Science: The Creative Side of Our Natural World.

A Black History Month Reflection On Percy Julian

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“Why is Percy Julian important and what did he do in the field of chemistry? A better question would be what did he NOT do in the field of chemistry?”

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I originally published this piece on Percy Julian in February of 2015 when still writing for the Examiner. He is someone I would also consider a Hidden Figure at least in my life. Attaining a Ph.D. in the sciences myself, I did not learn about Percy Julian until well into my science career in Regulatory Science.

When I watched the documentary Forgotten Genius, I was amazed not only about what Julian had to overcome, but also everything he accomplished scientifically, and how the very same scientific process I experienced as graduate student was similar to his. Dr. Vernon Morris of Howard University’s Department of Chemistry and NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS), later shared with me that watching Forgotten Genius was in fact required for the Chemistry graduate students at Howard University, and rightfully so.

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My last black history month reflection for 2015 will focus on the legendary Chemist Percy Julian. Though honored with his own postal stamp in 1993, the name Percy Julian did not register in my mind until the annual conference for the National Organization for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) in 2012. Someone won an award named after him that night, but not being a chemist myself, I did not have a feel for why he was held in such high honor in that particular circle. It turned out that there was an entire pantheon of well-accomplished African American chemists.

Later on, a mentor gave me a copy of Percy Julian: Forgotten Genius. The DVD chronicled Julian’s life from his youth in the Jim Crow south, to his collegiate studies at Depauw University, to his doctoral studies abroad in Austria, and then through to his vast research career in the chemical industry which almost did not happen due to racism. What stood out to me most from Percy Julian’s story was his perseverance in spite of the racism he encountered, as well as the fact that his original scientific interest was in plants which he later returned to, after receiving his chemistry training.

Why is Percy Julian important and what did he do in the field of chemistry? A better question would be what did he NOT do in the field of chemistry? Among his many accomplishments were:

Becoming one of the first African Americans to earn his Ph.D. in chemistry after Sir Elmo Brady and Edward M.A. Chandler, by isolating the active ingredients in Corydalis Cava and identifying their structures. In the pre-civil rights era, Dr. Julian was not admitted to any graduate programs in the United States, so he had to travel Vienna, Austria, where he studied natural products chemistry under Dr. Ernst Spath at the University of Vienna.
After being denied professorships at universities in the United States, he was hired as the director of Chemistry for Glidden’s Chicago chemistry labs. For African Americans, this breakthrough occurred ten years before Jackie Robinson integrated Major League baseball. At Glidden, Julian isolated the alpha protein from soybeans, the first plant protein to be produced in bulk in the United States. The alpha protein led to the generation of oils that were used in both food and industrial products of all kinds.
Discovering how to isolate large scale quantities of stigmasterol from the calabar and soy beans and then developing an industrial process for using it to generate progesterone in large quantities. This led to numerous hormone therapies and therapeutics by allowing pharmaceutical companies to industrially synthesize other sex hormones in large quantities making them more affordable (testosterone, estrogen, etc.).
Creating processes to mass produce Compound S (which could be converted to Cortisone), which at that time was a novel but expensive medication for arthritis and inflammation. Julian’s discoveries made the drug affordable for the general public and greatly improved the qualities of life of many people.
Starting his own company (Julian Labs), which mass produced hormone intermediates for the major pharmaceutical companies but potentially more importantly, gave jobs to African American chemists who could not get work anywhere else due to racism. He also made himself a millionaire in the process.

In addition to his many scientific achievements and victories in the realm of chemistry, Percy Julian became highly involved in the Civil Rights Movement and with the NAACP. In the latter stages of his life, he was celebrated with more than 18 honorary degrees and more than a dozen civic and scientific awards. He became only the second African American to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1973.

Julian’s story is important for several reasons. First it shows what can be accomplished with great perseverance. Second it is a testament to how much talent was and is wasted in urban communities due. Julian’s story is very important for African Americans pursuing advanced degrees particularly in the sciences (see my West Indian Archie essay). When watching Forgotten Genius, much of what Julian went through during graduate school reminded me of my own experience. Seeing his story years ago would have helped me better understand the significance of my own graduate studies. Today his story can help inspire younger generations of potential African American scientists, and innovators in a world where STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education is becoming increasingly important.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my writers blog Big Words Authors, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at bwllcnl@gmail.com . Best Regards.

Tokiwa Smith discusses SEM Link and STEM

One of the goals of the Big Words Blog Site is advocacy of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) awareness for under-represented minorities, and starting discussions about increasing access. I personally try to get involved in these types of efforts whenever my schedule permits it. In the fall of 2016, I assisted Dr. Vernon Morris and his team from Howard University’s NOAA Center for Atmospheric Sciences (NCAS) at the Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link’s (SEM Link) First Annual DC, Maryland and Virginia (DMV) STEM Career Fair. Recently I had the opportunity to interview the Founder and Executive Director of SEM Link, Tokiwa Smith. We discussed the organization, its inception and goals, and the current challenges of exposing under-represented minorities to STEM education which would lead to their ascension into these careers.

Anwar Dunbar: First off Tokiwa, thank you for agreeing to talk about your background and very important for individuals from our backgrounds to openly discuss our careers and how we got to where we are. With that said, let’s start with you. Talk about your background.

Tokiwa Smith: I have a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from Florida A & M University. I’ve used my STEM degree to help inspire and train future STEM professionals – pre-college and undergraduate students – through my work at various academic institutions, non-profit organizations and government agencies.

AD: Most of my African American peers in STEM had a mentor (myself included), someone who recognized their potential and encouraged them to pursue a STEM career. Was there a mentor or mentors along the way who encouraged you to study Chemical Engineering, or were you always interested in that discipline?

TS: Even though I grew up in a college educated family and most of the adults in the village that raised me were college educated, there were no STEM professionals in my network, other than my aunt who was a Microbiologist for the Food and Drug Administration. I was a girl who always loved and excelled in math and science. My 6^th grade teacher, Mrs. Richardson, noticed my aptitude for math and science and told my mother to encourage me in those subjects. So throughout my formative years, I was encouraged by my mother and my teachers to excel in math and science. I thus always had confidence in my abilities in STEM. It was in 10^th grade, in Mrs. Shy’s chemistry class, that I discovered my favorite STEM discipline was chemistry. In 11^th grade as I was getting tutored in physics by a friend’s father who was a Cosmetic Chemist, and I discovered that I didn’t want to be a chemist. I did some research and learned about chemical engineering. I decided to major in Chemical Engineering because it combined my love of chemistry and math.

I didn’t meet a female African American Chemical Engineer until my sophomore year in college. The following year I took my first class with professor Dr. G. Dale Wesson, the only African American professor in the department. I was further exposed to Chemical Engineering through his mentorship and his taking me to my first STEM professional conference. At that conference I was able to meet a myriad of people – students from other colleges and universities, and STEM professionals who made me aware of the possibilities for career options that I could pursue with a Chemical Engineering degree.

AD: What is SEM Link and how did you start it? Why did you start it?

TS: Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link, Inc. (SEM Link) is a tax-exempt national nonprofit organization, which I founded in 2005 in Atlanta, GA, on the premise that exposure to members of the STEM communities is critical to student achievement and career exploration in math and science. Our programs and events enhance the STEM educational experience for K-12 students by providing them with opportunities to engage in hands-on STEM activities, exploration of STEM careers and learning about real-world applications of STEM in their classrooms and communities.

The idea to start SEM Link came to me in 2002 while working at a school in Atlanta. I saw many brilliant students who had the aptitude to pursue STEM careers, but weren’t considering them because they didn’t know any adults who were STEM professionals. I had people in my network that I started inviting to the school for various activities (career exploration activities and tutoring, etc.) to provide opportunities for students to meet and interact with STEM professionals.

In 2005, I decided to create a nonprofit organization to expose more youth to STEM education and careers; specifically to provide opportunities for them to meet and interact with STEM professionals and to engage in hands-on STEM activities. I chose the name Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link (SEM Link) because, at the time, there was no focus on technology (T). I wanted the organization to be the link (connection) between K-12 students and the STEM community. Our vision statement is, “Unveiling potential through exposure,” because the inaugural Board of Directors and I thought it best described the vision that we had and the work that we wanted to do as an organization. We could help create the pipeline for the future STEM workforce by exposing youth to STEM education and careers.

AD: What are you goals for SEM Link?

TS: SEM Link currently serves two urban areas, Atlanta and the DMV. It is our goal within the next five to seven years to expand to six additional areas. The urban areas we are looking at expanding to include: Chicago, Dallas, Miami and other urban areas on the east coast, in the south and midwest. In addition, we are in the process of transitioning from a startup phase to a sustainability phase. The process includes recruiting new members to the Board of Directors, increasing the number of individual donors, building and maintaining relationships with corporate partners, and starting a major gifts program in the next fiscal year.

AD: What are the challenges in getting under-represented minorities involved in STEM?

TS: Minorities, especially African Americans, come from cultures that have had scientists, engineers, mathematicians and inventors dating back to Ancient African civilizations. African Americans have continued throughout history and today to make an impact in the STEM fields as professionals and inventors. The first challenge to me is representation; minorities don’t see enough folks that look like them who are STEM professionals. Students aren’t told enough of the stories of the successes of former and current minority STEM professionals. They aren’t exposed often enough to opportunities for them to meet and interact with STEM professionals of color.

The second challenge is that students don’t get an opportunity to engage enough in hands-on STEM activities inside the classroom and during out of school time. Although it’s important for students to learn and master STEM concepts and theories, it isn’t limited to a textbook. It’s hands-on and it asks and answers questions that we may or may not already have the answers to.

The final challenge is that at times we only encourage the “smart” kids to pursue STEM careers. There are children that have a natural inclination towards STEM and you can observe it based on their interests and how they play. For example, a kid that collects insects for fun has a natural inclination to be a biologist even if they may have academic deficiencies in school. We should also encourage those kids to pursue STEM careers and provide them with the academic support they need to overcome those deficiencies and excel academically.

AD: That’s interesting. I can confirm the lack of STEM role models. In my youth in Buffalo, NY, I don’t remember seeing any STEM professionals of color. Biology was my favorite course and I just naturally followed it.

In terms of being careful not to only focus on the “smart” kids, one of the things my father, a retired science teacher, told us once was that individuals who grow up in inner cities and substandard conditions are actually very creative and inventive out of necessity. Malcolm X also discussed this in his autobiography regarding the wasted intellectual talent in our inner cities.

I was talking to a fellow toxicologist about how it’s more difficult to give students a good look at parts of the biological sciences because you have to take them to research centers to see the experiments being performed versus computers, cell phones and designing apps and video games – the more “techie-stuff”. Have you found that students seem to flock towards one more than the other?

TS: I think the reason that kids are flocking towards techie stuff is because of the current trend to push teaching all kids to code. The reality is not all kids have the ability or are interested in coding and tech. However, coding and tech are easy to push because it is something that the general public can understand because, unlike other STEM disciplines, they can easily see the connections to their everyday lives. Those of us that work in other STEM disciplines must do a better job of telling the stories of what we do as STEM professionals and help the general public to see the connections between STEM disciplines and their everyday lives.

I disagree that the only way to expose kids is to take them to places where professionals in engineering, biological and physical sciences work. Although that would be nice and it is a great experience for the students, it isn’t always feasible. Kids make decisions on what they will become when they grow up based on the careers of the adults in their lives; even people that they may meet only once. A child meeting a STEM professional one time and learning what is possible for them can change the entire trajectory of their lives. So the first step is for STEM professionals to get out of their workplace and go to where the kids are – schools, community events, etc. – and talk to the kids about what you do, why you do it and your career path to get there.

The second thing is to talk to kids about how your fields connect to their everyday lives. For example, a toxicologist can talk to students about things like lead poisoning and how it can be detected in one’s body. The final thing is that STEM professionals can engage students in hands-on and/or project based activities that can expose the students to their field.

AD: Well, Tokiwa, those are all of the questions that I have. Do you have any parting comments? Would you like to tell the readers how they can learn more about SEM Link, and where they can contact you, on Twitter for example?

TS: My parting comment is the keys to getting kids interested in pursuing STEM are encouragement and exposure. We must encourage students to engage in activities in the STEM disciplines for which they show an aptitude and passion. We also must encourage students to engage in out of school activities – doing hands-on STEM activities on their own. We must expose them to as many STEM disciplines and out of school time activities as we can. As adults, we must be willing to step outside of our comfort zone and sometimes go against the trends. If we do these things, we will allow our children to discover a passion and aptitude to pursue STEM careers.

To find more information about SEM Link, you can visit our website at: www.semsuccess.org, and sign up for our mailing list. You can follow us on social media as well. Our Twitter handle is @semlink. We are also on Facebook and Instagram. Lastly, you can connect with me on Twitter. My Twitter handle is @tokiwana.

AD: Well thank you, Tokiwa, once again for your willingness to discuss SEM Link. It’s very important work and myself and others look forward to seeing your effort grow. Also thank you for providing the pictures used in this piece.

Thank you for taking the time to read this interview. If this interview, you might also enjoy

• Dr. Quin Capers, IV discusses his path #BlackMenInMedicine, and the present landscape of medical education
• Dr. Namandje Bumpus discusses her educational path, and her research career in Pharmacology
• A Black History Month interview with Howard University’s Dr. Vernon Morris part one
• A Black History Month interview with Howard University’s Dr. Vernon Morris part two

If you’ve found value here and think it would benefit others, please share it and or leave a comment. To receive all of the most up to date content from the Big Words Blog Site, subscribe using the subscription box in the right hand column in this post and throughout the site. Lastly follow me on Big Words Blog Site Facebook page, on Twitter at @BWArePowerful, and finally on Instagram at @anwaryusef76. While my main areas of focus are Education, STEM and Financial Literacy, there are other blogs/sites I endorse which can be found on that particular page of my site.

Citizen science and astronomy

From the Jan. 27-29, the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium hosted their first weekend of 2017 titled “Citizen Science and Astronomy”. The weekend was inspired by NASA’s current efforts to incorporate the astronomy work of citizen’s into its own research. On Friday Jan. 27 there was a viewing of the full dome show “Undiscovered Worlds” following the Friends’ annual meeting. On Saturday Jan. 28 there was a viewing of the full dome show “Oasis in Space”, which was followed by a talk titled “The NASA Solve Program” by Dr. Amy Kaminski. Dr. Kaminski’s talk was followed a showing of “Journey to the Center of the Milky Way” by the European Southern Observatory. On Sunday Jan. 29 there was a second talk titled “How You Can Get Involved in Citizen Science” by Dr. Jessica Rosenberg (National Science Foundation and George Mason University), followed by a showing of the “Magic Treehouse”.

“The thing I’ve become really passionate about is this idea at NASA of how we can connect, share and involve people in the work we do in aeronautics and space exploration,” said Dr. Amy Kaminski. “How do we bring that to the American and global public?

“NASA has a fabulous public affairs office, and great education programs where we’re continually informing people about the latest and greatest coming out of NASA – when we are launching – where we are landing. We have internships for students of all ages but the thing I’ve gotten particularly excited about is the idea of citizen science, and how we make people active contributors to the program. Then it’s not just about education, but it’s also about making science more accessible to people – making everyone a participant in the space program, because after all it is the nation’s space program.”

Dr. Kaminski’s talk started off highlighting how science first became its own career path in the nineteenth century and how in the early twentieth century it involved encouraging citizen involvement. She then discussed the NASA Solve program which provides numerous opportunities for citizens to get involved. She further highlighted NASA’s three motivations for encouraging citizen involvement before going into detail about the individual projects within NASA Solve:

· An abundance of data and the ability of humans to interpret data in ways that computers can’t and;

· A recognition that great ideas can come from anywhere, including out of aerospace disciplines; and

· The world is now highly connected and interfaced in terms of the internet and the ability to share data.

“NASA Solve is like a marketplace,” Dr. Kaminski said describing the program’s website and the multitude of available projects with the potential for citizen involvement. Some of the exciting projects within NASA Solve include: Globe Observer, Aurorasaurus, and Disk Detective. To learn more about NASA Solve and to become involved the opportunities available there, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/solve/index.html.

The Friends will host special events at the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium one weekend every month until the end of the school year. Each weekend will be geared towards increasing STEM education/awareness for all ages and will feature a specific theme. For more information, visit the Friends’ website: http://friendsoftheplanetarium.org. The theme of February’s weekend will be: Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Exploring Evolution & Celebrating Darwin Day.

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The Toxicology Mentoring and Skills Development Training program hosts inaugural weekend

“Going forward, by 2050 we’re going to have to double food production to feed the population – a tremendous responsibility. The biggest threat in my mind to that grand challenge is contamination to our water and our soil from various chemicals and toxins,” said Dr. Patrick Halbur. “We need people focused on that area to prevent and solve that problem, and so there are tremendous opportunities in Toxicology.

“We live in a world with infectious diseases and that’s always a big threat, but we almost always figure out ways to eradicate them or develop a new vaccine to solve those diseases. But the grand challenges I think are in Toxicology.”

From January 14-15, the Toxicology Mentoring and Skills Development Training Program (ToxMSDT) hosted its inaugural weekend at Iowa State University. The program was sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Iowa State University, Tuskegee University, The Ohio State University, the Leadership and Mentoring Institute (AABHE), and the Interdepartmental Toxicology group (Tox).

Just briefly, Toxicology is the science of characterizing the effects of poisons (toxicants) on living organisms. The ToxMSDT program itself entails pairing up mentors in the field of Toxicology from both the public and private sectors with students from Iowa State and Tuskegee Universities. Mentors and mentees established contact prior to the weekend before meeting in person at the inaugural weekend. The weekend consisted of full slate of talks and workshops including:

Welcomes by Lisa Nola (ISU College of Veterinary Medicine), Patrick Halbur (Chair, Veterinary Diagnostic and Production Animal Medicine), Richard J. Martin (Chair, Interdepartmental Toxicology), and Wilson Rumbeiha (ToxMSDT Program PI);
A keynote presentation: Career Choices for Toxicologists by mentor Robert Casillas, Ph.D., Vice President, Strategic Global Health Security, MRI Global and the Hispanic Organization of Toxicologists (HOT);
A training titled Developing a Mentoring Relationship that Works by Barbara Johnson, Ph.D., Director of the Leadership and Mentoring Institute, affiliated with the American Association of the Blacks in Higher Education;
A student poster competition and;
A Bioethics Talk titled What is Done in the Dark? By Deloris Alexander, Ph.D. of Tuskegee University.

“Toxicologists are the guardians for human, animal and environmental health,” said Dr. Wilson Rumbeiha, Professor of Toxicology at Iowa State University and Coordinator of the ToxMSDT program. The goal of the ToxMSDT program is to support educational activities that complement and/or enhance the training of a diverse workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs. While Toxicology is an essential component of the nation’s biomedical research enterprise, there is a lack of under-represented minorities in the field where there coincidentally is a shortage of scientists in general – especially Doctors of Veterinary Medicine/Doctors of Philosophy (DVM/Ph.D.).

Toxicologists are in many places, and the field impacts many, many lives around the world. Toxicologists make the world a safer, healthier and more sustainable. That’s a message I want you to take as I proceed through my presentation,” said Colonel and Dr. Richard Casillas, one of the mentors in the program. Dr. Casillas’s talk described his educational and career paths which led him from the world of academic research to the military, and then to the private sector. A major theme of his talk was the career flexibility that his training in Toxicology afforded him.

To learn more about Toxicology and the ToxMSDT program, go to: http://www.toxmsdt.com/.

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An astronomer looks for the Christmas Star 2016

From the Dec. 9-11, the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium hosted their final weekend of 2016 titled, “Science and the Christmas Star.” Each day of the weekend there were showings of the show titled: An Astronomer Looks for the Christmas Star. The program was created in house by the Friends, and focuses on the phenomenon of the Christmas Star which according to biblical texts led the three Wise Men to the baby Jesus Christ in the manger.

Friday Dec. 9 was member appreciation night where all members were admitted for free. There were standard showings of the program on Dec. 10 and 11. Following each showing, Friends’ board of director, astronomer Jennifer Bartlett, Ph.D. portrayed Hypatia of Alexandria. Her portrayal featured of a monologue where she argued for an alternative explanation for the Christmas Star. Following Michael Molnar’s, The Star of Bethlehem, she argued that the “star” was a powerful horoscope including the lunar occultation of Jupiter in Ares at dawn on April 17, 6 BC.

“The mystery of the Christmas Star has been a mainstay of Planetariums for years during the Christmas Season,” said Friend of the Arlington Planetarium, co-creator and co-narrator of the program, Dr. Alice Monet. The program itself discussed the potential explanations for the Christmas Star; a planetary conjunction, a comet, a supernova, or what is more believed in nonscientific circles, a Miracle.

The Friends will host special events at the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium one weekend every month until the end of the school year. Each weekend will be geared towards increasing STEM education/awareness for all ages and will feature a specific theme. For more information, visit the Friends’ website. The theme of January’s weekend will be: Citizen Science & Astronomy.

On the shoulders of giants

20161119_193757 From November 18-20, the Friends of Arlington’s David M. Brown Planetarium hosted their third weekend of programming for the 2016-17 school year titled, “On the Shoulders of Giants”. The weekend was dedicated to the most notable astronomers in the 20th Century, and their contributions to science. As per usual the weekend featured a stellar lineup of digital shows in addition to an interactive panel discussion highlighting scientists and astronomers who laid the groundwork for modern astronomy and space exploration.

On Friday November 18, there were viewings of the full dome shows Two Small Pieces of Glass and Cosmos: Harmony of Worlds. On Saturday November 19, there was a viewing of the full dome show Natural Selection followed by a panel discussion titled, “On the Shoulders of Giants”. On Sunday November 20, there were showings of the full dome shows Astronaut, and Accidental Astronauts.

Saturday’s discussion featured three very notable and knowledgeable speakers in the world of astronomy. The discussion was started by Dr. Seth-Ann Howard who previously gave a talk at a Friends’ weekend titled, “4000 Years of Women in Science”. She was followed by retired NASA scientist Steven Dick, and David DaVorkin who serves as a curator at the Smithsonian National Air & Space museum. The panel’s discussion involved a host of visual images and simulations and was a “Who’s Who” of the astronomy world highlighting its most notable pioneers and their contributions to the field. Some of the names included:

· Cecelia Payne- Discovered what stars are comprised of in terms of chemistry;

· Bertil Linblad- Discovered how the Milky Way rotates;

· Karly Jansky- Detected radio signals from the Milky Way;

· Joceylyn Bell- Discovered Pulsars;

· Percival Lowell- Discovered the canals on Mars and;

· George Elory Hale- Built the largest telescopes of his time.

20161119_210154 Some of the more well-known names often used in entertainment world’s references to science were also mentioned. Albert Einstein is frequently referred to in Science Fiction media for his Law of Relativity, and has been portrayed in various TV shows and movies. Edwin Hubble had a telescope named after him. Carl Sagan who is most known the TV series Cosmos, was also a writer (Contact which was adapted into a film), in addition to his research in astronomy, cosmology, astrophysics and astrobiology. The interactive discussion was followed by a question and answer session from the audience.

The Friends will host special events at the David M. Brown Planetarium one weekend every month until the end of the school year. Each weekend will be geared towards increasing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education/awareness for all ages and will feature a specific theme. For more information, visit the Friends’ website. The theme for December’s weekend will be, “Finding the Christmas Star”.