From Terry Bilinski:
Tomorrow (Tuesday 4/26) from 2-4:30p in Carter Auditorium our Ecology lab students will be presenting on their semester research projects at Wild Basin. The theme of this research is, “The effects of urbanization on ecosystem services at Wild Basin.” All are welcome to attend!
St. Edward’s University has issued a press release about our recent Steelcase Active Learning Center grant award. Furniture installation in JBWN Room 206 will commence this summer. Get ready for a new, interactive learning space to come online for the 2016 – 2017 academic year.
Angie Lux ’12, a former biology student and Noyce Scholar at St. Edward’s, was recently featured in an article on the SEU webpage. In the article, see discusses how she developed a love for science and the impact that the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program directed by Prof. Steven Fletcher has had on her career as a teacher in secondary education.
Link: https://www.stedwards.edu/articles/featured-stories/2016/04/save-teachers
From Paul Walter:
Angie Lux ’12, a former biology student and Noyce Scholar at St. Edward’s, was recently featured in an article on the SEU webpage. In the article, see discusses how she developed a love for science and the impact that the Robert Noyce Scholarship Program directed by Prof. Steven Fletcher has had on her career as a teacher in secondary education.
In his two years as Dean of Natural Sciences, Dr. Gary A. Morris has enjoyed meeting with the NSCI Advisory Board each semester. This spring’s meeting marked a special occasion as Dr. Bob Wilems (’63) handed over the reigns as chair of this board to Nick Cristea (’09). The members of the Advisory Board thanked Bob for his many years of service leading the board and look forward to his continued contributions as a member of the board.
Bob Wilems (right) hands off leadership of the NSCI Advisory Board to Nick Cristea (center), with Dean Gary A. Morris (left).
This spring’s agenda featured a visit by CS Prof. Bilal Shebaro and students from his mobile app class, Sophie Gairo, Gage Martin, Marisa Bisaga, and Chloe Becker. They presented their work leading a session at the CCSC conference (held at SEU earlier this month) on mobile app development in which they taught current CS professors how to build mobile apps. The also talked about their experience during the Apple TV hack-a-thon as well as the new opportunities provided by the NSCI seats at the Capital Factory.
Next, Munday School of Business Dean Nancy Schreiber and Career Center Director Ray Rogers presented information on our internship matching program with the Austin Tech Council and the developing and deepening relationships between NSCI and MSB students and programs.
Dr. Morris gave an overview of 2015 – 2016 accomplishments in NSCI, including faculty publications, student awards, and recent grant awards (including the Steelcase grant).
Mr. Michael Lykaios Guerrero presented information on our existing 3+2 engineering partnerships, our partnership with Notre Dame for the ESTEEM program, and our developing partnerships in the health professions.
Mr. Michael Morelius and Ms. Kristina Bachman then gave a presentation on 2015 – 2016 accomplishments in Advancement, with special attention to pledges and contributions to NSCI and Wild Basin.
The meeting was adjourned for lunch around noon. Many Advisory Board members then attended the annual Senior Seminar presentations.
At the Faculty Recognition Gathering on Wednesday, 20 April, Dr. Laura Baker received the Distinguished Career Award from St. Edward’s University, recognizing her outstanding contributions to teaching, scholarship, and service. Dr. Baker has taught over 600 sections of courses and 4700 students in her time at St. Edward’s, all while frequently serving as Department Chair or Department Head. Congratulations to Dr. Baker. (We proudly note that the winner of this award has come from NSCI both of the last two years: Dr. Bill Quinn was last year’s winner.)
Dr. Baker receives the Distinguished Career Award from SEU surrounded by her CS faculty colleagues.
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden sent around email this morning reminding all NASA researchers of NASA’s celebration of Earth Day: “At NASA, it’s Earth Day every day…”
You can follow NASA’s Earth Science Field Missions over the next 6 months on the Earth Expeditions page.
NASA has launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #24Seven for people worldwide to upload photos of what they’re doing to celebrate Earth Day and improve our planet.
NASA will share “a day in the life” of Earth Science through a series of images on the 24Seven website.
What did you do to celebrate Earth Day? Add a comment to this post.
Check out the article in Friday’s Austin Statesman.
Thanks, Carol!
St. Edward’s University is delighted to work with Higher Orbits to host its first Go-for-Launch camp this summer, 11 – 13 July. Teams of high school and college students will learn leadership skills and teamwork. An astronaut will be in residence for the entirety of the camp. With the help of all the mentors, student teams will design an experiment for the International Space Station (ISS). A panel of experts will judge the student proposals, and the winning project will be built, flown to the ISS, and conducted on the ISS. If the launch occurs in the USA, the winning team will receive an invitation to attend (travel costs not included — but seeing a rocket launch is really cool).
The cost of the three-day camp is $250, which includes lunch and snacks each day. This is a day camp only (no housing).
Note that scholarships will be available, and there is an option on the registration form to register for as little as $10 with a commitment to fundraise with Higher Orbits partners (PopCorn Factory and FannieMae)!
For those of you who are NOT students, we are still recruiting mentors for the camp. Contact Dean Morris for more information.