Category Archives: Student News

2016 Ozonesonde Workshop Sees Largest Enrollment to Date

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Preparing to launch!

Preparing to launch!

The Tropospheric Ozone Pollution Project (TOPP) started in 2004 with a seed grant from the Shell Center for Sustainability at Rice University.  TOPP uses weather balloons with special instruments to measure ozone, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, latitude, longitude, altitude, wind speed, and wind direction all in an effort to understand ozone pollution.

More than 100 students have participated in the project over the years.  While TOPP started in and is primarily focused on Houston, Texas, the project also runs a station in Idabel, Oklahoma (since 2010), and has orchestrated launches in Nacogdoches, Texas; Beaumont, Texas; College Station, Texas; Ft. Worth, Texas; Valparaiso, Indiana; Ft. Wayne, Indiana; Hastings, Michigan; Cumberland, Maryland, and University Park, Pennsylvania in the United States as well as Las Tables, Panama (NASA TC-4); San Jose, Costa Rica (NASA TICOSONDE), and Sapporo, Japan (Fulbright).  The project is actively preparing to begin a program at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas during the Summer of 2016.

Each year, faculty and student participants gather at the ozonesonde laboratory at the University of Houston for a workshop during which they learn how to condition, calibrate, safely launch, and monitor the flight data from the ozonesonde instruments.  This year’s group included 8 students from the University of Houston, 2 students from Southwester University, and 6 students from St. Edward’s University.

Thanks to Alex Kotsakis (University of Houston Ph.D. student) for taking the lead in many of the training exercises as well as preparing the laboratory for the many visitors during the workshop.

This project is currently funded by the Capital Area Council of Governments, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the Earth Science Division of NASA.

2016 Ozonesonde Workshop participants.

2016 Ozonesonde Workshop participants.

4th of July 40% Discount for Go-For-Launch!

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Spread the word — there’s a discount on registration for the Go-For-Launch event July 11 -13 at St. Edward’s University.  Enter the code

STARS&STRIPES

and get 40% off the $250 registration fee.  The discount is only good through July 4.  Register here NOW!

For more info on the camp, follow these links:

NSCI News Story

http://goforlaunch.space <— general info

http://higherorbits.org/student-programs/go-for-launch/st-edwards-university-july-2016/ <— details on our program

Contact Gary A. Morris, Dean of Natural Sciences, with any further questions.

Higher_orbits_4th_twitter

 

Ecology Lab Students Present Wild Basin Work – Tuesday, 26 April, 2 – 4:30 pm

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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!

Spring 2016 NSCI Advisory Board Meeting

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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).

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.

Celebrate Earth Day (22 May) with NASA

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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.

 

Compete to Put an Experiment on the International Space Station: Go-for-Launch at St. Edward’s University, 11 – 13 July 2016

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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).

Click here to register today!

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)!

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For those of you who are NOT students, we are still recruiting mentors for the camp.  Contact Dean Morris for more information.

 

Event for Students – Reimagining Your Future: Business and Science Students in Laboratory Austin

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Topic:             Reimagining your Future: Business and Science Students in Laboratory Austin

Who:  Current NSCI and MSB undergraduate students, facilitated by Bro. Richard Daley, with Dean Nancy Schreiber (MSB) and Dean Gary A. Morris (NSCI).

What:  A brainstorming workshop that empowers business and science students to collaborate with each other and develop the skills necessary to pursue a thriving career in Austin.  The outcome from your conversation will help the Deans identify ways to help you achieve your goals.

Objectives:

• Business students and science students develop collaboration and communications skills between the disciplines
• Learn about the skill sets needed to help fill Austin’s tech talent gap (i.e., how to increase your odds on getting hired in Austin)
• Share your ideas for ways St. Edward’s University can help, programmatically or through extra-curricular activities
• Communicate directly with Dean Gary A. Morris (School of Natural Sciences) and Dean Nancy Schreiber (Munday School of Business)

Date:                Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Time:               3:30 pm – 6:30 pm includes dinner
Location:         JBWN 206

NOTE:  Registration is limited to 40 students (20 from MSB and 20 from NSCI).  Register here TODAY!

UPDATE:  As of 9:30 am on Thursday, 21 April, we have only 9 NSCI STUDENTS REGISTERED!  MSB has 20 students registered!  Help us out, NSCI Students!

CANCELLED: World Intellectual Property (IP) Day 2016 Comes to St. Edward’s

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A conversation on how IP contributes to technology, music, and the arts.

 

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

 

 

Apply for Co-Working Space at Capital Factory – Deadline is 22 April

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From Sophie Gairo:

The School of Natural Sciences has been allocated 5 co-working spaces available to current St. Edward’s University undergraduates for the project period 1 May – 31 August 2016.  You may apply using the Google Form here.  For more information, write to comp.sci@stedwards.edu.  The competition is open through 5 pm on Friday, 22 April, with project selections to be completed by 29 April.

capitalFactory

A Costa Rican Almanac

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I grew up on trees, rolling down grassy hills, and swimming in creeks that ran next to my house. It was the best childhood ever and for some reason I could not wait for it to end and for me to become an adult. Now that adulthood seems freakishly close, I sometimes wish I could go back to being 11 years old and having a clubhouse among the branches of a plum tree. Our pet was a toad, which escaped the crate we had created for him and seemed to have survived the fall because we did not see him again after that. As an 11 year-old I failed to take care of a toad, but then again it was probably fine without my help in the first place. As some version of an adult that I am today, I hope to do a better job taking care of the planet than I did of a toad when I was 11.

Some Plum Tree From the Internet

Our clubhouse plum tree looked a lot like this.

I almost want to say that the world is a playground but it feels more like someone than something, and it seems wiser than me. In an effort to catch up and understand Earth a little better I decided to apply for EcoLead, a global, environmental leadership exploration program, designed by faculty and staff from the Environmental Science and Policy department and Student Life at St. Edward’s University.

Ecolead has been an amazing experience that takes me back to the creeks, trees, and grassy hills from my childhood, and reminds me that adulthood is as exciting as it seemed when I was 11. I’ve met other tree people, creek lovers, and grassy trailblazers. We are recording our experiences in a blog called A Costa Rican Almanac. In our entries we also identify current environmental issues, do research on them, and offer sustainable solutions. To see how our view of the world evolves as we go through this experience, follow the link bellow. No action is too small when the needs of the world are great.

http://sites.stedwards.edu/mikewa-ensp234901sp2016/