Learn Trail Building Skills for Your Future and Our Parks!

Wild Basin is hosting the Central Texas Trail Tamers in teaching a FREE class on building and maintaining the trail systems that public lands, like Wild Basin, offer to the public.  The CTTT will offer two “Introduction to Trail Maintenance” classes before they move on to advance trail techniques.  The three courses currently scheduled (see schedules below) use a curriculum developed by the Pacific Crest Trail Association and U.S. Forest Service Trails Specialist John Schubert.  In them you will learn “how trails work”, basic design concepts, safety protocols, and how to gain “trail eyes”.  If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity where you can gain a new skill to add to your resume and are interested in the fields of land management or public land conservation and stewardship then you will find these workshops beneficial to your career.  Please, RSVP and tell me what you like in your breakfast taco!

To attend these workshops or if you have any questions please contact Aaron Haynes at ahaynes1@stedwards.edu.

Schedule of Workshops at Wild Basin:

Workshop Date
Intro to trail maintenance 1 February 11, 8:30a.m.
Intro to trail maintenance 2 March 18, 8:30a.m.
Advanced skills in trail maintenance April 15, 8:30a.m.

 Schedule of CTTT workshops:

If these workshops aren’t enough for you and you need to fast track your trail skills while gaining some volunteer experience, then the CTTT offers other workshops that you are invited to attend. To get more information about these opportunities contact Kevin at KEVIN@kdeiters.com or go to www.trailtamers.org for a list of scheduled events by CTTT.

Become a Breakthrough Teaching Fellow this Summer – Due 2/23

And teach middle school students who will be the first in their families to graduate from college!

Breakthrough Austin seeks enthusiastic, creative and successful college students to teach and mentor during our 6-week academic summer program.  Under the guidance of seasoned teaching professionals, Teaching Fellows will provide instruction in English, math, social studies, or science to classes of eight to ten students.  Teaching Fellows will also serve on committees, lead study skills lessons, and design Explorations (electives) classes for their students.  Breakthrough Austin is an AmeriCorps program and provides financial benefits in addition to incredible professional development.

For More Information:

Breakthrough Austin Teaching Fellow

www.breakthroughaustin.org

 

Save the Teachers

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

A New Era Is Upon Us: Gravitational Waves and the Physics Minor

Gravitational Waves:  Last week, the detection of gravitational waves was announced.  The detection was of the merger of a 36 solar mass black hole with a 29 solar mass black hole that occurred 1.3 billion light years away (or 1.3 billion years ago).  This was the most powerful astrophysical event ever detected and it was done with the most sensitive detector ever built.  Just prior to the merger, the black holes were moving at about half the speed of light relative to each other.  Upon their merger they made a 62 solar mass black hole, which tells us (36 + 29 = 65) that 3 solar masses are were given off in the form of energy as gravitational waves.  That is equivalent to completely annihilating 3 suns and having them converted to pure energy in a fraction of a second.  Power is the rate at which energy is given off, and this event was momentarily 50 times more powerful than the light output of all the stars in the universe.

This is just the beginning of an entirely new way of doing astronomy.  To date, almost all astronomy has consisted of measuring light.  Predicted by Einstein’s theory of General Relativity, gravitational waves travel at the speed of light but are fundamentally different than electromagnetic waves (light).  When a gravitational wave passes through you, it will stretch you in one direction while squeezing you in the other.  It is that stretching-squeezing effect that was measured by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational wave Observatory (LIGO).  The detector makes precise enough measurements to measure an effect that is one thousandth the width of a proton.  Up until now, when violent explosions occur, we can only see the bright light on the outside and are left to infer what may have happened on the interior.  Gravitational waves instead allow us a way of probing directly into the heart of the most energetic events in the universe.

The Physics Minor:  It is also an exciting time regarding the physics curriculum at St. Edward’s.  Starting in the fall we will be offering a physics minor.

Course Listings for the Physics Minor (* denotes a required course):
PHYS 2425 University Physics I* (4 hrs) [or PHYS 2325 + PHYS 2125]
PHYS 2426 University Physics II* (4 hrs) [or PHYS 2326 + PHYS 2126]
PHYS 2126 Electricity, Magnetism, and Optics Lab* (1 hr)
PHYS 3336 Quantum Mechanics and Spectroscopy (3 hrs) [or CHEM 3336]
PHYS 3337 Thermodynamics (3 hrs) [or CHEM 3337]
PHYS 3338 Numerical and Scientific Methods (3 hrs) [or COSC/BINF/MATH 3338]
PHYS 3345, 3445 Special Topics in Physics (3 hrs, 4 hrs)
PHYS 4146, 4246, 4346, 4446 Independent Study (1 hr, 2 hrs, 3 hrs, 4 hrs)
PHYS 4157 Research (1 hr)

Students must take at least 18 credit hours of the above to satisfy the minor.  Note that some of the courses are cross-listed.  For those students that are interested in the physics minor, please let your adviser know as soon as possible since it may require careful planning.  For instance, PHYS 3338 and PHYS 3345 will only be offered upon sufficient demand.  Also, come speak with Paul Walter and he can explain why getting a minor in physics is a great idea.

If you are interested in either of these topics (or in becoming a physics teacher at the secondary level), feel welcome to discuss them with Paul Walter (JBWS 274 — pauljw@stedwards.edu).