Graduate Research Fellows 2015

Danielle Adams

The desert sky we see here in Tucson, Arizona, is the same desert sky that Arabs have observed for millennia. Two Deserts, One Sky is intended to bring the richness and depth of astronomy in ancient Arab cultures to modern awareness. This project for the first time presents ancient Arab astronomical traditions within their own cultural contexts, instead of fragmented within the confines of Greek-oriented modern astronomy. From explaining the meaning and usage of star names in ancient star calendars to examining their continuing impact on modern-day astronomy around the globe, this project is designed to build bridges of understanding and foster greater appreciation for the vast heritage of Arab astronomy. The Star Calendar Blog of Two Deserts, One Sky (http://onesky.arizona.edu) launches on October 1, 2015, with public star talks following throughout the academic year.

Jenna Bergevin

As a 2nd year physics graduate student with a strong background in education, I know first-hand that teaching science is difficult.  The motivation for my outreach project is to make teaching science less daunting for elementary school teachers.  My project consists of creating lesson plans for the Children's Museum Tucson that go along with their outreach programs.  Their Adventures to Go program visits schools and libraries to teach a lesson from a wide range of topics from space exploration to art.  For each one of their outreach programs, I am designing a set of science lesson plans that adhere to the Arizona state academic standards.  These lessons use easily obtainable materials, so any teacher or librarian can use them.  Additionally, they will include detailed instructions for every activity and demonstration, as well as an FAQ sheet formed specifically for the teacher to gain a stronger foundation for the material within the lesson.  A main purpose of these lessons is to engage the students in hands-on experiments, often including a finished project they can take home to share with their parent or guardian and continue using to make observations.  Overall, the goal is to maximize teacher confidence in science as well as student interaction with hands-on experiments, and to enhance the museum's outreach programs.

Fall 2016 Update:

In partnership with the Children's Museum of Tucson, I am creating lesson plans based on their current content as well as analyzing data.  The museum's Adventures to Go program visits schools and libraries to teach a lesson from a wide range of topics from space exploration to art.  For each one of their outreach programs, I am designing a set of science lesson plans that adhere to the Arizona state academic standards (they can be seen here: http://www.childrensmuseumtucson.org/learn/outreach).  A main purpose of these lessons is to engage the students in hands-on experiments, often including a finished project they can take home to share with their parent or guardian and continue using to make observations.  Additionally, the museum keeps data on student attendance by date and program, and funding/Title I status to name a few.  By analyzing the data I am able to determine how to better reach teachers and educators in the community.  Overall, the goal is to maximize teacher confidence in science, interaction with the Tucson community schools, and to enhance the museum's outreach programs.

Christine Bradley

Throughout my years in graduate school in the UA College of Optical Sciences program, I have been an active member of Women in Optics (WiO). WiO is club that focuses on the engagement and support of women in STEM fields that involves professional development and networking opportunities for the students in the college as well as opportunities for community outreach for underrepresented minorities in the Southern Arizona region. Data from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF’s) Science and Engineering Indicators 2014 reveal that as of 2010, women make up 28 percent of science and engineering workers. This percentage has been gradually increasing over the past decade but recent studies have shown that there is a lower retention rate for women in STEM positions than in other professional or managerial roles. The Northeast Scientific Training (NEST) retreat work in 2014 indicates that in order to diversify and maintain a minority presence in the STEM workforce, it is important for participants to learn how to communicate scientific research to a non-science audience and for these persons to have access to mentors early on in their careers. I have partnered with Dr. Jill Williams of UA Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) to build ties with the WISE interns through a series of training workshops to teach them how to present optical science demonstrations at a variety of outreach events throughout the year. The WISE interns are comprised mostly of women undergraduate students, some of which are minority women and first generation college students. The participants of this program will work closely with graduate students in the College of Optical Sciences through training sessions, build workshops to explore new demonstration ideas, and outreach events throughout the year, which will include WISE’s Expanding Your Horizons events and the College of Optical Sciences’ Laser Fun Day. This program will encourage students to learn optics through hands-on learning, communicate technical information to a non-science community, and have the opportunity to build relationships with graduate student mentors.

Christopher Horstman

My current work surrounding the critical nature of human reliance on the Colorado River Basin in the southwestern United States strongly focuses on the need to have the next generation actively engaged in how they view and use the scarce water resources in this arid climate. I aim to implement a statewide water competition to teach students about the nature of their water supply, the role of a water resources engineer, and a wide variety of engineering and physics principles inherent in the coupled natural and human systems that comprise our region’s water supply. To address this learning opportunity a lesson plan has been under development over the past year that allows students to investigate how water is supplied to their communities as well as the opportunity to design a water distribution network themselves. To provide context for introducing students to the water-energy nexus the first portion of the module will consist of having the students take a closer look at the quantity of water they use in their homes as well as how they use it beginning with the simple question: “Where does your tap water come from?”

After the students have been introduced to water resources they will design a simple water distribution network using a model originally developed at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. The model, Aqualibrium, is what we hope will become an international competition appropriate for students in middle school and up to the college level. A favorite among attendees, this competition is conducted at professional water conferences around the world. The winning team is the one that can design the most equitable and efficient water supply network. The competition consists of a reservoir, three buckets that represent demand points, several pipe connectors, and two available pipe sizes. The goal of the activity is to equally distribute 3 liters of water from the reservoir to each of the demand centers. Penalty points are assigned for each mml of water above or below the desired 1 liter amount in each bucket. This competition will be conducted at each of the selected schools and the winning team will be invited to participate in a formal competition hosted at the University of Arizona.

Past teaching experience has shown that students who have completed this water module gain a deeper appreciation for all the different professions that contribute to the simple act of turning on a faucet. In order to address the critical nature of the nation’s growing water crisis, an informed youth is crucial to ensure the security of our water supply in an increasingly uncertain future. This activity presents the opportunity to incorporate many learning objectives pertain to the study of physics and engineering including conservation of mass and energy, sensitivity analysis, an understanding of systems, and the design of test procedures. Beyond the immediate learning objectives embedded within the project the most significant impact of this proposal will be the fact that the students and teachers will possess a stronger understanding of their local water systems. Previous experience has shown that this understanding carries over into the students’ homes and daily habits and will have a lasting impact on how the students interact with local ecosystems.

For this competition to continue beyond the time allotted for this fellowship, involvement by the teachers is crucial. As a result, the formalization of the learning becomes a resource that can be utilized over and over as it is integrated into the curriculum.

Isela Howlett

Isela is working with the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona to bring the world of optics to the different troops in the area. As the outreach coordinator for Women in Optics (WiO), Isela has a passion for introducing people to the study of optics and light. Through the partnership with the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, Isela will work with the College of Optical Science and WiO to showcase the optical science museum and further develop the optical science demo kits.

Fall 2015 Update

Isela Howlett is a 4th year PhD student in the College of Optical Sciences. Her outreach work will reach several K-12 institutions across southern Arizona. Isela will begin a partnership with Girl Power in Science and Engineering at Amphi Middle School and with the newly founded Andrada Polytechnic High School STEM club. Additionally, she will work with Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and Women in Optics (WiO) to provide educational demonstrations to schools that are part of the 21st Century grant program for "at risk" students.

Emma Reed

Biosphere 2 (B2) is a three-acre recreation of Earth’s diverse biomes, and serves as a hub for science education and student research.  Many of its younger visitors have never visited the ocean, and B2 provides their first introduction to marine ecosystems.  I am expanding B2’s K-12 ocean sciences curriculum to include modules on marine pollution and ocean acidification.  Students will engage in hands-on experiences, from tracking plastic debris in the Biosphere ocean to using ROV’s to survey ocean life.  They will explore the broader implications of their activities for the future of ocean ecosystems, and how students can shape that future, whether by simply recycling, or by becoming scientists themselves.  Ultimately, this curriculum will help students connect the distant ocean—the source of Arizona’s rainfall and the driver of the Sonoran Desert’s diversity—with their own lives.