CO-AMP NEWS Volume 1, Issue 1 January 2010 CO-AMP Students Travel to Conferences Upward Bound Science Night a Success Students travel to the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women and the American Association of Geographers Eleven CO-AMP students assist in making a fun science discovery night for local high schoolers This fall, two students took advantage of the conference travel grant. In September, Patrick Ortiz traveled with several other earth science students and professor, Jared Beeton to Logan, Utah to attend a regional meeting of the American Association of Geographers. On the evening of Wednesday, October 6, the first (hopefully annual) Upward Bound Science Night was held. This was a two hour event that hosted 90 high school students from the San Luis Valley. Students were able to learn more about jobs in the STEM fields and were given time to do some hands-on activities. There were six stations that the student rotated among. The following is a list of activities with the professors leading them: In a week, Sabrina Gonzales will be traveling with professor, Stephanie Vance and other female math majors to the exotic location of Lincoln Nebraska to attend the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics. There she will have the opportunity to attend talks and meet other females in mathematics. This spring, four chemistry students will be using the CO-AMP travel grant to attend the American Chemical Society national meeting in San Francisco, CA. The students going with COAMP funding are Wendi Marquez, David Gurule, Mario Padilla, and Rachel Raguindin. Wendi and Rachel will both be continued on page 2 INSIDE THIS ISSUE 1 1 2 3 CO-AMP Students Travel to Conferences Skull Identification Kitchen Sink Computing Fun with Chemistry James Bedard Susan Loveland Renee Beeton Christy Miller Mathematics of Card Tricks Stephanie Vance How to be a Control Freak and get Paid Randy Emmons Tour of Ryan Museum Jared Beeton Robert Benson Eleven CO-AMP students assisted with these projects. They were Tyler Christensen, Jeri Chacon, Steven Archuleta, Jennifer Ribar, Rachel Raguindin, Amanda Andrews, Wendi Marquez, David Gurule, Mario Padilla, Emily Sanchez, and Carlos Martinez. The high school students had good things to report back to their schools. They really enjoyed it, so hopefully this will become an annual event. Upward Bound Science Night a Success Many Summer Research Opportunities Upcoming Events Rachel Raguindin assisting students making nylon in the chemistry lab. Newsletter 1 continued from page 1 presenting posters on research that they have been working on in the past year. Wendi’s poster is entitled: Using surface plasmon resonance for an open-inquiry instrumental laboratory. Rachel will be presenting a project that she worked on as a McNair scholar last summer at CSU with Dr. Steven H. Strauss & Dr. Olga V. Boltalina. Her project is entitled: Separation of C60 Derivatives Carrying Perfluoroalkyl Substituents Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Many Summer Research Opportunities Now is the time to start thinking about your summer plans. Regardless of your future career goals, summer research is a very valuable experience. Not only does it help you get a better feel of what work in your major field would be like and get a foot in the door for graduate school and future jobs, it also often pays better than other summer jobs. Why flip burgers this summer when you could be living somewhere different and padding your resume? All of the flyers for these opportunities are on the CO-AMP bulletin board. Please contact me if you would like more information about any of these opportunities. Last summer Rachel Raguindin and Arwen Milroy participated in summer programs at CSU and I know they had a remarkable experience. If anyone else did something this summer, please let me know. Also, I would like to know if you get into any summer programs for this summer! Good luck! US Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships This program places students in paid internships in Science and Engineering at any of several Department of Energy facilities. Many of the participants in the program have decided on a career in science and engineering because of the nature of the experience. Students work with scientists or engineers on projects related to the laboratories' research programs. The different laboratories each offer different research opportunities. The summer programs at the various laboratories will run from late May to mid-August, fall programs run from August through December and spring programs from January through May. The exact start date will depend on the laboratory and will be given to participants who have been accepted at that specific laboratory. Students are required to participate for the full term of the program. Summer Internship at NIST, Boulder You are invited to participate in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s) Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program for students majoring in science, engineering, and mathematics. Students applying to the SURF NIST Boulder program will be matched to opportunities in the Boulder divisions: Optoelectronics Quantum Electrical Metrology Electromagnetics Thermophysical Properties Time and Frequency Quantum Physics Materials Reliability Mathematical and Computational Sciences The student application form allows students to indicate in which opportunities they are most interested. We will have positions for up to 22 students. Top ranked students will be matched to opportunities according to the students preferences and research interests. The SURF NIST Boulder program will run from May 24 through August 6. ORISE Internship – for all fields of study The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) is committed to increasing diversity in science, mathematics, engineering, and other technical fields. We believe that diversity is a strength in any setting, especially in our nation's premier science and technology centers, where ORISE provides educational opportunities for tomorrow's scientists and engineers. Therefore, it is our mission to attract a widely diverse applicant pool for our federal sponsors who offer education and training experiences. To that end, we pledge to reach out to all corners of the academic community, in all geographic locations, to all types of institutions, students, and faculty to make our fellowships, scholarships, internships, and research experiences available to all qualified individuals. Go to the following link for a list of internships: http://see.orau.org/Listing.aspx?By=ProgramName&Type= Undergrad Newsletter 2 continued from page 2 UPCOMING EVENTS US Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships SAN LUIS VALLEY REGIOAL SCIENCE FAIR About the Program Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is a multiprogram science and technology laboratory managed for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) by UT-Battelle, LLC. Scientists and engineers at ORNL conduct basic and applied research and development to create scientific knowledge and technological solutions that strengthen the nation's leadership in key areas of science; increase the availability of clean, abundant energy; restore and protect the environment; and contribute to national security. MARCH 11 (PM) -12 (AM) If you are interested in being a science fair judge, please contact me at rbeeton@adams.edu. Every area of science, mathematics, and engineering needs more judges! Compensation available. MCNAIR VISIT TBA Every year we get a representative from CSU to come and talk about their summer programs. The date has not been set yet. I will send out an e-mail when I get more information. SUMSRI (The Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences Research Institute) SUMSRI (The Summer Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences Research Institute) is looking for a few good undergraduate mathematicians to participate in SUMSRI 2010! SUMSRI is a research experience for undergraduates sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency. SUMSRI offers research seminars as well as short courses in higher mathematics, GRE study, and mathematical writing. If you have talented students thinking about doing graduate work in mathematics or statistics, please ask them to apply! Please share the attached announcement with your colleagues and students. SUMSRI especially searches for, but is not restricted to, women and underrepresented students in the mathematical sciences. Applications are already arriving. SUMSRI accepts applications until March 1, 2010. Amgen Scholars Program at Berkeley UC Berkeley is pleased to announce the 2010 Amgen Scholars Summer Research Program in Science and Biotechnology. This national program provides participants with the opportunity to conduct research with a faculty member, obtain college research units, and receive a stipend, housing, meal plan, and transportation to and from the UC Berkeley campus. Program dates are May 31 - August 6, 2010 and the application deadline is Tuesday, February 2, 2010. Berkeley welcomes applications from your students and appreciates if you would forward this information to your colleagues. ORNL has a long history and interest in providing opportunities for research in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology to undergraduates, graduates, postgraduates, and faculty of the nation's colleges and universities. Over the years, programs have been developed to help realize the Laboratory’s vision for excellence in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education and to implement specially designed and funded programs through the DOE. Higher Education Research Experiences at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (HERE at ORNL) provides research opportunities and associated activities for students at all levels, beginning the term before college entrance through thesis/dissertation research, and higher education faculty. The program is designed to complement academic programs by utilizing the unique resources of Oak Ridge National Laboratory to enhance science, mathematics, engineering, and technology education, encourage careers in science and technology, and improve scientific literacy, while at the same time contributing to the Laboratory mission. Funding Participants in HERE at ORNL will be funded by programmatic funds of the ORNL host research divisions or through funding provided by institutions of higher education. Currently, there are no DOE funds earmarked for education that are available in this program. Benefits General Benefits for Research Participation appointments include: Stipend (determined by category of participant) One round trip between home or school and ORNL Housing allowance (for students whose permanent address is more than 60 miles from Oak Ridge) Newsletter 3 RESOURCES FOR STUDENTS PURSUING DEGREES IN SCIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES: Paid Summer 2010 Undergrad Research Placements!!! Over 400 programs -Undergraduate REU and Other Summer Research Opportunities: See www.PathwaysToScience.org/SummerResearch. asp The Nuclear Engineering Science Laboratory Synthesis (NESLS) program is a cooperative research initiative geared toward students working in physics and nuclear engineering applications. Through one- to threeyear summer internships, NESLS offers engineering students and faculty on-the-job educational and research opportunities at a multidisciplinary national laboratory. Feb. 28 deadline. Native Americans and Pacific Islanders Research Experience 7 June -2 August 2010 Las Cruces, Costa Rica The NAPIRE Program is designed to introduce Native American and Pacific Islander undergraduate students to the biodiversity of the tropics. As part of the program, students will complete a field project, including experimental design, data gathering, and analysis and presentation of results, in collaboration with fellow students and a research mentor. Students will experience the process of applying the scientific method to ecological inquiry and discovery . a Research Mentor who will assist them with their independent project as well as provide support throughout the research experience. Two faculty coordinators and a teaching assistant will lead the program, which will be primarily based at Las Cruces Biological Station, a mid-elevation site located near the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Las Cruces provides excellent opportunities for research in fragmentation biology and restoration ecology. Extending through an elevational range of 1,120 to 1,385 meters, the Las Cruces Station encompasses 235 hectares of premontane rain forest. An onsite GIS laboratory can provide regional geographic data as well as aerial and landsat images over the last 40 years. More information can be obtained at OTS web page www.ots.ac.cr. Newsletter 4 CO-AMP News 5