Science Webinars

Aisha Lawrey will share her story and journey into becoming an engineer. She invites students to learn about all the different ways that engineers contribute to society. In addition, she will introduce students to the opportunities that become available to those who choose to study engineering and the steps they can begin now to join an engineering career path.

A look into the accomplishments of the African American medical researcher, Dr. Charles R. Drew and his groundbreaking discoveries about the storage and processing of blood for transfusions. We'll investigate the unique properties of blood and build our own centrifuge device that can be used to separate a liquid.

Geoscience research can involve a lot of adventure and excitement, from going into caves to working with chemicals in a lab. But there are also some particularly tricky barriers for disabled scientists. I'll talk about my physical disability and diagnosis process, how I was able to continue in STEM, and what it means to be proud of being disabled Students will be able to ask questions about caving, living with a physical disability, and going to grad school.

Even though Dana Bolles has experienced difficulties along the way, she has discovered some key take-aways that have helped her navigate through them. She has not let her own personal diversabilities stand in her way. Listen to her tips for success even if you are faced with challenges due to your own diversabilities.

Jacquelyn Graham is, quite literally, STEM walking. She has been a part-time voice actor for most of her life while working in the Real Estate/Mortgage/Financial industries. When continuing health issues impacted her to the point where she was no longer able to work a regular 9-5 job, her transformation into a cyborg made her life-long dream of becoming a professional voice actor come true. Her home studio is her door to an exciting world populated with witches, goddesses, the old, the young, and poetry brought to life. Her life story has inspired people all over the world and she welcomes you to accompany her for a brief tour of her magical padded room.

Dr. Grandin will discuss how object visualizers, visual spatial thinkers and verbal thinkers have different skills.The visual thinkers who think in pictures are good at art and mechanics and the spatial thinkers are often talented in math, music, and computer programming. The verbal thinkers think in words. On many projects the different kinds of thinkers have complimentary skills. One example is the iPhone. Steve jobs was an artist and he designed the easy to use interface, but the math minds had to make it work.

Ingenious inventions that help people with disabilities! This workshop will introduce several new technologies that are currently in development to help people with disabilities. Through demonstrations, active participation and suggested follow up activities, students will explore how today’s technologies are providing new solutions to assist people with disabilities.

The long-awaited Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was just released this past August. The report integrates the most recent research on climate from over 14,000 studies and makes recommendations on humanity’s courses of action. Some of the results are expected — the Earth’s surface temperature is continuing to rise — but some unusual trends and projections are also emerging. Michael Wysession, a professor of geophysics at Washington University in St. Louis, will summarize and explain the latest results, implications, and paths forward for humanity.

Did you know that teachers in the United States rate their lives better than all other occupation groups, trailing only physicians? Did you know mid-career science teacher salaries typically range between $60,000 and $100,000? Did you know you can get a job almost anywhere in the U.S. or abroad as a chemistry, physics, or math teacher? Behind every advance in medicine or technology is a science teacher who left a lasting impression. We'll bust some myths about teaching high school science and show you how to have a rewarding science career inspiring young minds!