NASA Opportunity for Female High School Juniors

Engineer your dream job! Your adventure begins in 2012 with an online community and culminates with a summer experience at NASA Johnson Space Center in Summer 2012. Collaborate with girls from across the country and female NASA engineers and interns. Get ready to start your dream! For specific project information, visit http://wish.aerospacescholars.org.

Apply before February 22, 2012.

Virginia State University AgDiscovery summer program

ARE YOU...

• a middle or high school student looking for a unique summer internship with an opportunity to live and study on a college campus?

• a high school student looking to improve your resume for college?

• a teacher looking for opportunities to expand your students’ view of

agriculture?

• a parent looking for learning opportunities for your teen?

Look no further... the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers you an opportunity of a lifetime.

WHAT IS AGDISCOVERY?

AgDiscovery is an outreach program to help teenagers learn about careers in plant and animal science, wildlife management, and agribusiness. The program allows students to live on a college campus and learn about agriculture from university professors, scientists, and administrative profes- sionals who work for the U.S. Government in a variety of fields. They study the life cycles and habits of insects (entomologists); research micro-organ- isms, such as bacteria and viruses (biotechnologists); examine cells and tissues under a microscope to identify diseases (plant pathologists); work to conserve and manage wild animals and their habitats (wildlife biologists); carry out animal health programs (veterinarians); provide education on

the humane care and treatment of animals (veterinarians and animal care inspectors); and manage the business aspects of protecting plants and animals (agribusiness).

This 2- to 4-week summer boarding program for 2012 targets middle and high school students1 who are interested in learning more about plants, animals, and agribusiness. Students chosen to participate in AgDiscov- ery will gain experience through hands-on labs, workshops, and field trips. Students will also participate in character- and team-building activi- ties and a variety of workshops.

VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY

June 24–July 8, 2012

Students gain hands-on experience in the disciplines of veterinary science and food safety under the “farm-to-table” theme. Participants also observe small ruminants and on-farm processing techniques. Students reside on campus in a dormitory and learn field and laboratory research techniques from university professors. Field trips and guest speakers provide en- hanced exposure to agricultural production and research. This program is facilitated by the Virginia State University (VSU) School of Agriculture, with collaboration from USDA partners and industry representatives.

Contact: Antonio McLaren, (804) 524-6872, amclaren@vsu.edu; Paula McCapes, (804) 524-5839, pmccapes@vsu.edu

Founded in 1882 by an act of the State legislature, VSU is the Nation’s first fully State-supported historically black college or university. With a mis- sion emphasizing the integration of academic instruction, research, and public service, VSU welcomes students of any race, religion, or ethnic heritage. VSU also owns and operates a 416-acre farm and agricultural research center. The university embraces diversity and continues to work on internationalizing the campus—particularly through opportunities offered by its Office for International Education to educate tomorrow’s leaders and address global challenges.

Virginia Tech Kids' Tech University Jan. Event

"How Can Mathematics and Computers Help Us Understand Why Cancer Cells Misbehave?"

An interactive session led by Dr. Suzanne Weekes

Associate Professor and Associate Head of Mathematical Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).
Director for the Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics at WPI.
Co-director of the MSRI-UP program in Berkeley, California.

Computers have become faster, better, and stronger over the last few decades. Now, put a mathematician together with these supercomputers and things get even better! In this presentation, we will show what mathematicians do outside the classroom and lecture hall to help us understand how cancers develop, interact, evolve and how we can fight them. We can model tumor development by considering simple models of individual tumor cells that live and interact with each other. Each of our model cells obeys prescribed rules for moving around, dividing in two, and dying. Starting with a group of cells, what happens when we push "play" and let them interact? What happens when we change the rules? Is there a big effect on what we see? Can we simulate what's going on in a full size tumor on our laptop? How do we include chemicals and toxins that influence the decisions that the cells make in our model? We'll see some of the many cool things mathematicians can do to help improve our lives.

Dr. Suzanne L. Weekes is an Associate Professor and Associate Head of Mathematical Sciences at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). In addition, she is the director for the Center for Industrial Mathematics and Statistics at WPI and runs the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program in Industrial Mathematics and Statistics there. Professor Weekes is also a co-director of the MSRI-UP program in Berkeley, California. Her research interests are in numerical methods for differential equations and industrial mathematics.

Pictures from the BGSU KTU program- Jan. 21st

Last weekend Bowling Green State University hosted a Kids' Tech University event! Below are a couple of pictures taken from the event. The kids had a great time attending the Interactive with the Scientist talk with Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher's. Afterword they did hands-on activites using programs on the Virtual Kids' Tech University website!

"There's No New Water" Webinar Training Scheduled for February and March!

By Martin Smith (mhsmith@ucdavis.edu) and Steven Worker (smworker@ucdavis.edu) Webinars presented in sequence and scaffold an introduction to the curriculum.

1. Friday, February 3, 2012, 1:00-2:30pm (EST)

2. Friday, February 17, 2012, 1:00-2:30pm (EST)

3. Thursday, March 1, 2012, 1:00-2:30pm (EST)

Call in using 866-740-1260 using code 7524783#

And join Adobe Connect at http://uc-d.adobeconnect.com/tnnw/

About the Curriculum

"If there was more education and awareness about water issues, if we started to really think about the natural limits, about where humans and ecosystems have to work together to deal with water, if we were to start to think about efficient use of water, we could reduce the severity of the problems enormously.” - Dr. Peter Gleick, interview with Circle of Blue (July 8, 2008).

The There’s No New Water! curriculum is grounded in the principle that water is a finite natural resource whose quantity and quality must be responsibly preserved, protected, used, and reused. The curriculum is framed around effective educational methods – experiential learning and inquiry-based learning. The curriculum has been reviewed by 4-H National Headquarters, evaluated for learner outcomes, and published by the National 4-H Council.

The curriculum focuses on:

1. Exploration of the natural water cycle.

2. Exploration of human interventions that affect water quality and quantity.

3. Examination of the effects of the urban/rural interface on water quality and quantity.

4. Mapping watersheds.

5. Implementation of service learning projects that address local water conservation issues.

6. Culmination with a set of activities for younger youth and families designed to be led by teens as teacher.

More information is available at www.4-h.org/curriculum/water/

If a teacher would like to see the curriculum they can get in contact with their 4-H representative or they can order their own through National 4-H Council at www.4-h.org/curriculum/water/

Bowling Green State University Kids' Tech University Jan. session

“Patterns are Everywhere! How and Why?”

An interactive session led by Dr. Reinhard Laubenbacher

Professor at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and of the Department of Mathematics, Virginia Tech

Did you know that we are surrounded by patterns--everywhere? For example, farmers need to understand weather patterns to plan their harvests. Your parents need to understand traffic patterns to drive you to school safely. Music and dance excite us through patterns of sounds and movement. Some patterns are pretty easy to spot, like the pattern on a seashell, or the pattern on a snowflake. However, other patterns around us aren’t so easy to see, like the patterns on a pine cone, or the patterns of ocean waves. I’ll bet you wouldn’t guess patterns exist in clouds! To discover some of these patterns, we need to be very, very observant. So join me and together we’ll hunt down some patterns in the world around us--and as we investigate how these patterns form and why they’re there, the answers may surprise you!

Dr. Laubenbacher has been a Professor at the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and a Professor in the Department of Mathematics at Virginia Tech since 2001. He is also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Cancer Biology at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem (NC) and Affiliate Faculty in the Virginia Tech Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences. Prior to these appointments Dr. Laubenbacher was Professor of Mathematics at New Mexico State University. He has served as Visiting Faculty at Los Alamos National Laboratories, was a member of the Mathematical Science Research Institute at Berkeley in 1998, and was a Visiting Associate Professor at Cornell University in 1990 and 1993. Current interests in Dr. Laubenbacher’s research group include the development of mathematical algorithms and their application to problems in systems biology, in particular the modeling and simulation of molecular networks. An application area of particular interest is cancer systems biology, especially the role of iron metabolism in breast cancer.

Carpool request

Hi,

If anyone is interested in carpooling with another KTU family from the-

**Scottsville, VA (such as Palmyra or even Charlottesville) area

OR

**Mclean, VA

Please email Kristy Collins at kdivitto@vbi.vt.edu.