Using parasitic wasps to fight the fly population might sound like something out of the latest sci-fi film, but entomologists are actually researching this bug battle to find environmentally friendly solutions for pest control.
At the next STEM Café, NIU professor Bethia King and Ph.D. candidate Ted Burgess from NIU’s Department of Biological Sciences will share their research on insects, pesticides and alternative methods of pest control.
This free talk and discussion is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, March 6, at Feed’em Soup, 122 South First St. in DeKalb. Proceeds from the event will benefit Feed’em Soup.
King has been teaching and studying insects at NIU for more than 20 years. Her research focuses on wasps that have a parasitic relationship with pest flies. She is particularly interested in the wasp’s behavior and how wasps help control fly populations. She first became interested in pesticides when Ted Burgess proposed studying the topic.
Burgess is a Sycamore native who worked in King’s lab as an undergraduate. He originally planned to attend medical school, but after taking a summer job at a mosquito control company, he wanted to better understand how pesticides affect insects. The goal of his research is to contribute to the development of environmentally safe and efficient pest management solutions for agriculture.
During the STEM Café discussion, King and Burgess plan to explore green pest control, the effects of pesticides on honeybees and other beneficial insects, and possible alternative solutions to the pest problems facing the agricultural industry. Some of their research focuses on neonicotinoids, a type of insecticide that may contribute to honey-bee colony collapse disorder.
This event is part of NIU STEM Outreach’s series of monthly STEM Cafés, which are free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase from the host restaurant.
The STEM Café series is just one of the many engaging events STEM Outreach hosts throughout the year to increase public awareness of the critical role STEM fields play in our everyday lives.
For more information on STEM Cafés and other STEM events, contact Judith Dymond at (815) 753-4751 or jdymond@niu.edu.
Date posted: February 21, 2014 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on The good, the bad and the buggy
Imagine that while walking through your neighborhood you could remember everything about your house – the address, the color, the reflecting ball in your garden – but you couldn’t remember how to get home.
This neurological impairment is called spatial disorientation, and it’s the reason that people with Alzheimer’s disease frequently get lost in their own homes and neighborhoods.
At the next STEM Café, Doug Wallace will share his research into the spatial disorientation observed in Alzheimer’s patients and discuss new therapies and early interventions that could improve the lives of those who are newly diagnosed.
This free talk and discussion with the audience will take place from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 15, at Eduardo’s Restaurant, 214 E. Lincoln Hwy. in DeKalb.
Wallace, an associate professor of psychology at NIU, says that patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) frequently get lost in familiar environments, which can lead to episodes of wandering.
Doug Wallace
“While spatial disorientation continues to be a critical issue in the management of individuals suffering from AD, limited research has been conducted to examine the neural basis of this symptom,” Wallace says. “My research on spatial disorientation investigates the relationship between neural systems and navigational strategy.”
This event is part of NIU STEM Outreach’s series of monthly STEM Cafés. The events are free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase from the host restaurant.
The STEM Café series is just one of STEM Outreach’s many engaging events to increase public awareness of the critical role that STEM fields play in today’s rapidly changing world.
For more information, contact Judith Dymond at (815) 753-4751 or jdymond@niu.edu.
Date posted: January 10, 2014 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on Saving the brain
Green Lens is seeking volunteers to judge entries for best narrative short, documentary short and student film.
To participate in the judging process, send an application inquiry and a short biography to niugreenlens@gmail.com. Community members, students and NIU faculty and staff with an interest in film or the environment are welcome to apply.
Judges will be selected by Wednesday, Dec. 18, and must complete screenings and evaluations for all of the films in their categories by Friday, Jan. 24.
Green Lens will host free public screenings of the official selections and winning films at NIU and downtown DeKalb during the 2014 festival, which runs from Feb. 24 through Feb. 27. In addition to the film screenings, organizers are planning to host environmental art exhibits, an upcycling fashion show, green craft events and children’s story times during the festival.
“Green Lens is a great way for people to learn more about the environment,” festival director Melissa Burlingame said, “and to find ideas for the big and small changes they can make to have a positive impact on our community and our world.”
All are welcome to attend these fun, educational workshops at Tapa La Luna, 226 E. Lincoln Hwy., to participate in make-and-take craft activities.
Organizers say the workshops will show people how to save money this holiday season by reusing and repurposing everyday items to make great gifts and keepsakes.
Green Lens will host the following sessions at Tapa La Luna from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 19: Boxes to Brooches. Transform unwanted clothing into wearable art. Attendees can make brooches, barrettes, bracelets, and more.
Tuesday, Dec. 3: Keeping the T in Christmas. Those faded T-shirts taking up space in your drawers can be turned into yarn, scarves, blankets, and even new outfits. Attendees will participate in T-shirt revitalization. Bring your old shirts!
Tuesday, Dec. 10: Ornamentation Celebration. Make new ornaments out of old books and photos and give new life to your used holiday trimmings. Bring copies of photos!
Organizers will have tools and supplies on hand, but they encourage attendees to bring additional materials to add a personal touch to their crafts.
This brooch is one example of the wearable art attendees will be able to create. The brooch was made with fabric from old dresses.
“I’m excited to see what everyone makes out of their old household items,” Green Lens intern Chelsey Fulbright said. “This is going to be a great way to show people that they don’t always have to throw things away. With a little creativity and some hot glue, you can give new life to second-hand items.”
“Tapa La Luna is the perfect spot for community members to get their upcycling juices flowing! The atmosphere and food are terrific and the owners are focused on green community initiatives,” says Gillian King-Cargile, co-director of Green Lens. “Tapa La Luna employs a variety of energy-saving measures, incorporates upcycled materials into their décor, and has electronic versions of their drink menus on iPads so that they don’t have to reprint menus every time their selections change.”
The cost to attend an upcycling craft party is $10 a person. Food, beverages and green-themed drink specials will be available for purchase from Tapa La Luna. Donations for each session will support the Green Lens Environmental Film Festival, a community festival that hosts film screenings and events to show people the small changes they can make to help the environment.
Green Lens 2014 will be held from Feb. 24 through Feb. 27 at NIU and in downtown DeKalb.
Sessions range in cost from $5 to $39. A discount is available for those who register for the entire series. Registration is available online.
Luanne Mayorga, an NIU Outreach associate focusing on business and workforce development, says that these webinars couldn’t come at a better time. “It is critical for small business owners to understand the real online threats facing their companies and the steps they need to take to safeguard data for themselves and their customers.”
A recent survey of small business owners by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Symantec found that “73 percent of SMBs (Small Medium Businesses) say a safe and trusted Internet is critical to their success, and 77 percent say a strong cyber security and online safety posture is good for their company’s brand.” Yet 83 percent of the small business owners surveyed had no formal cyber security plan.
In a recent article on StaySafeOnline.org, Brian Burch, Symantec’s vice president of Americas Marketing for SMB, says that “almost 40 percent of the over 1 billion cyber attacks Symantec prevented in the first three months of 2012 targeted companies with less than 500 employees. And for the small, poorly protected companies that suffer an attack, it’s often fatal to their business.”
Raimund Ege
Organizers of NIU’s Cyber Security webinars hope to prevent such losses to northern Illinois businesses by providing what Luanne Mayorga calls “relevant, actionable information that owners and managers can apply to their businesses right away.”
The webinars will be hosted by Raimund K. Ege, an associate professor in the NIU Department of Computer Science. Ege, who has more than 25 years of experience working with businesses and universities on information security solutions, is the creator of the Cyber Security graduate certificate program at NIU.
Part 1 – Friday, Oct. 25, 8 a.m. – Cyber Threats and Your Bottom Line: An Overview of Cyber Security
Part 2 – Friday, Nov. 8, 8 a.m. – Defense Strategies Against Cyber Threats
Part 3 – Friday, Nov. 22, 8 a.m. – Beyond the Firewall: Tools to Protect Your Business
Part 4 – Friday, Dec. 7, 8 a.m. – Policies and Procedures to Keep Your Business Safe
Mayorga says these early morning webinars were designed with the small business owner in mind. “We wanted to provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs to get the information they needed without taking too much time away from their business responsibilities. Owners and managers can attend these 8 a.m. sessions from the office or even at home over breakfast.”
The Cyber Security Webinar Series is just one of the many ways that NIU is strengthening ties with the business community. NIU Outreach recently launched Springboard, an online portal through which local enterprises can access business resources from the university and its partners.
Springboard includes a directory to all the opportunities provided by NIU’s colleges and faculty experts and will help businesses connect with NIU’s students for internships and career opportunities. News of important events and links to government and local agencies providing critical services to businesses will be posted as well.
The first cyber security webinar is at a special invitational price of only $5 so that attendees can learn more about the critical issues that can impact their enterprises. Attendees who register for the entire series will receive a discounted rate.
For more information, call (815) 753-6927 or email lmayorga@niu.edu.
Date posted: October 18, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on Webinar teaches small business cyber security
STEMfest will wow spectators at the NIU Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19.
This annual festival introduces learners of all ages to cutting-edge technologies and intriguing science phenomena that will amaze students, parents and educators alike. The event is open to the public. Parking and admission are free.
Hosted by NIU STEM Outreach, the event aims to educate and inspire students to pursue careers in STEM fields.
More than 200 hands-on exhibits at STEMfest 2013 will include favorites such as robotics challenges, Laser Lab, the Haunted Physics Lab, cow eyeball dissections, the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology’s student-made vehicles, and the Midwest Museum of Natural History’s bone and fossil collection and creepy petting zoo.
This year, more than 400 NIU students, faculty and staff volunteers will be on-hand to help with these demonstrations, explain amazing phenomena and assist visitors in their explorations.
STEM Outreach along with community and university partners are also preparing new exhibits and activities from the U.S. Navy, Rockford’s Nicholas Conservatory & Garden, ComEd, NASA Ambassadors, and more.
Organizers are especially excited to welcome the creators of MashPlant, an online workspace that makes social media and virtual collaboration safe and accessible for students and teachers. MashPlant is co-sponsoring this year’s Explain It Video Competition. Entries for the competition must be received by Monday, Oct. 14.
Visitors to the MashPlant booth can watch video submissions and vote for the Audience Choice award.
Also at the MashPlant booth, visitors can see the Mobile DJ Unit from Redmoon Theater Company, a Chicago-based performance group that blends puppetry, pageantry, and gadgetry into their robust physical performances. MashPlant and Redmoon will also appear on the STEMfest Stage at 2:30 p.m.
“We’re going to have them on the stage talking about some of their creations, and we’ll have one on site,” says Jeremy Benson, STEM outreach and engagement associate. “They’re going to be bringing their mobile DJ cart, which is a Segue that has been retrofitted with a sound system and a bubble blower. They will be cruising around the track on their mobile DJ cart, supplying some tunes and some bubbles for us.”
Additionally, STEMfest’s Book Fair will host award-winning science fiction author Kat Falls.
At 1 p.m. on the STEMfest Stage, Falls will discuss her books “Dark Life,” “Rip Tide” and “Inhuman,” and participate in a Q&A. She will also be available for book signings throughout the day. Falls’ novels earned the designation ofSTEM Teen Read official selections for October. Her books and other fiction and non-fiction titles, including a large selection of books from Usborne, will be available for purchase in the Book Fair area. A portion of the proceeds will support STEM Outreach’s year-round community programs.
Also at the STEMfest Stage, visitors who want to chill out can watch STEM Outreach’s queen of cool Pettee Guerrero. Guerrero will present “Fun with Liquid Nitrogen” demonstrations throughout the day.
Visitors can also watch robots from F.I.R.S.T. Robotics fling Frisbees and climb a variety of obstacles in the STEMfest Robo Arena. The full schedule of stage presentations and robotics challenges is posted at niu.edu/stemfest.
STEM Outreach will also present awards and prizes to the STEMfest 2013 winners of the Science Fiction Writing Contest and the Explain It! Video Competition. If you haven’t entered yet, get your stories and videos ready. Entries are due Monday, Oct. 14.
Today’s headlines are filled with hot-button issues – social media marketing, Illinois’ concealed carry law, changes to employment law – that will affect businesses, their employees and their consumers.
To help regional business owners tackle these complex topics, Northern Illinois University has partnered with Crain’s Small Business Week to present three days of seminars and workshops at NIU Naperville.
Scheduled from Tuesday, Oct. 1, through Thursday, Oct. 3, the Crain’s Small Business Week at NIU Naperville sessions are geared toward business owners, managers and human resources professionals. Throughout the three days, attendees will engage with leading business experts and learn more about marketing trends, business growth, keeping talented workers, human resources, employment law, country of origin and other issues affecting businesses.
On Wednesday evening, attendees will also have the opportunity to talk one-on-one with consultants, experts, and potential business partners during the Hot-Topic Networking session. This “business after hours” event will be hosted by NIU and the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce.
Luanne Mayorga, an NIU Outreach associate focusing on business and workforce development, is coordinating Crain’s Small Business Week at NIU Naperville. She sees the events as a great way to connect local businesses with the resources and support they need.
“We crafted the sessions with the entrepreneur in mind as we know first-hand how busy their schedules are and how overwhelming it can be to try to filter credible information from the multitude of online sources available today,” Mayorga says.
Mayorga stresses that the sessions will contain relevant, actionable information that owners and managers can apply to their businesses right away.
“Topics we are addressing are hot-button items that local businesses are facing on a daily basis,” she says. “These sessions will be informational and interactive allowing the business owner to meet face-to-face with professionals in the field and get pertinent questions answered right then and there.”
Meryl Sussman, director of Outreach Programming for Adults, helped bring the event to NIU. She says that it just makes sense for NIU Outreach to partner with local businesses.
“NIU is a large, vibrant and complex community of scholars and students, of task forces and advisory groups, of facilities and laboratories that have been actively engaged with the businesses of northern Illinois for years,” Sussman says.
Crain’s Small Business Week at NIU Naperville is just one of the many ways that NIU will strengthen ties with the business community, she adds. NIU Outreach is also launching Springboard, an online portal through which local enterprises can access business resources from the university and its partners.
Springboard will include a directory to all the opportunities provided by NIU’s colleges and faculty experts and a way to connect with NIU’s students.
“We are seeking to bring important news and support to the region’s businesses by working closely with internal and external partners and by promoting their services to those who can use them,” Sussman says.
Sussman calls Springboard a door into a network of possibilities. “We will post links to the many agencies and organizations that serve businesses throughout the region and alert businesses when important seminars are being presented in the region. Our goal is not to replicate any service provided already by university or external experts.”
The Crain’s Small Business Week at NIU Naperville sessions range in price from $29 to $89. Attendees can register for all events to save 10 percent. More information about the sessions, speakers and registration is available online.
Date posted: September 9, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on NIU to host Crain’s Small Business Week events
Macular degeneration, a common eye disease that affects the retina, is the leading cause of blindness in Americans older than 50.
Scientists at NIU are at the forefront of research on the human retina and are seeking new treatment to protect and preserve vision.
At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, NIU STEM Outreach invites community members to meet one of these scientists and learn more about eye health at STEM Café’s latest event, “For Your Eyes Only: Part 2 – The Retina.”
This free event will take place at Eduardo’s Restaurant, 214 E. Lincoln Hwy. in DeKalb. Food and drinks are available for purchase from Eduardo’s.
Elizabeth Gaillard
Elizabeth Gaillard, professor in the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Biological Sciences, will discuss the latest scientific perspectives on macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. She also will explain some of the newest developments in vision restoration like retinal implants and stem cell technology.
This event is one of NIU’s monthly STEM Cafés where community members can hear a brief, informal talk on cutting-edge research in science, technology, engineering and math, and then get their questions answered by STEM experts.
STEM Cafés are just one of the many ways people can rub elbows with scientists this fall.
STEM Outreach is also making plans for their annual celebration of science, technology, engineering and math, STEMfest. STEMfest 2013 takes place from 10 to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, at the NIU Convocation Center. More than 50 NIU departments and more than 400 students will join regional corporations, museums, educators and national labs to present hundreds of fun, hands-on activities and competitions to interest learners of all ages.
For more information on upcoming STEM Cafés and other events from NIU STEM Outreach, visit www.niu.edu/stem or contact Judith Dymond at (815) 753-4751 or jdymond@niu.edu.
Date posted: September 6, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on September STEM Café explores blindness
NIU’s new student club, the Game Developer Club, will offer everyone from master game designers to coding noobs the chance to play, explore, and create video games.
Students are welcome to attend the club’s inaugural meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, in the Digital Convergence Lab, Founders Memorial Library, Room 338.
These monthly meetings will offer students the chance to work collaboratively on game projects and discuss current topics in the game development community with professional game designers and other experts.
The Digital Convergence Lab empowers students, faculty, staff and community members by bringing people together in the exploration of new media, experiential learning, and interdisciplinary research.
DCL game designers created Surviving the Ash for NIU’s STEM Teen Read.
They have created several interactive virtual experiences including Surviving the Ash, an immersive 3D game inspired by Mike Mullin’s teen novel “Ashfall;” and Picodroid and Bunnies in Space, video games that use Microsoft’s XBox 360 Kinect interface technology to engage students in physics and reading respectively.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Eamon Newman and Eric Russell , two of DCL’s game developers, will unveil minecraft.niu.edu and coordinate the development of a virtual NIU campus in Minecraft. They also plan to introduce new game-building tools and tutorials.
Snacks and drinks will be provided at the meeting. Parking is free on campus starting at 7 p.m.
Attendees can view the Perseid Meteor Shower, which occurs every August when Earth passes through the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet. Image courtesy of NASA.
Dean Martin had it right when he crooned “That’s Amore” – wine, stars and Italian food are a magical combination.
“Star Gazing at the Winery” will take place from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, at Acquaviva (Route 38 in Maple Park). Speakers include Joel Knapper, NASA ambassador; Paul Stoddard, associate professor of plate tectonics, geodynamics, planetary geology at NIU; and Matthew Wiesner, physicist and manager of NIU’s Observatory.
Throughout the evening, attendees should also be able to view the Perseid Meteor Shower. These fast, bright meteors radiate from the Perseus constellation and appear every August. Depending on weather conditions, the meteors should be visible with the naked eye.
The speakers are planning a fun, casual talk about the latest in astronomy news. Knapper will discuss the Cassini-Huygens, a robotic spacecraft that was launched in 1997 and has been orbiting Saturn since 2004. Cassini recently made headlines by capturing breath-taking images of Earth, the Moon, and the rings of Saturn.
Paul Stoddard
Stoddard plans to talk about the Perseid Meteors, the difference between meteors and meteorites, and the possibility of the United States being hit by a large meteor such as the one that recently crashed in Russia.
Wiesner will bring telescopes and help attendees identify features in the night sky.
Attendees are also welcome to bring their own telescopes and stake out a spot to star gaze on one of Acquaviva’s patios. Organizers say that the winery is located in an area with less ambient light so it should be ideal for star-gazing.
The event is free and open to the public. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from Acquaviva Winery. STEM Outreach plans to uncork Acquaviva’s wines and discuss the stars whether the night is clear or cloudy.
For additional information on STEM Outreach events and upcoming STEM Cafés, visit www.niu.edu/stem or contact Judith Dymond at jdymond@niu.edu.
Date posted: July 31, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on When the stars make you drool
The next time you grab a frosty mug of your favorite brew, consider this: the beer that you drink is created in labs, viewed under microscopes, analyzed and inspected to ensure the correct oxygen levels and alcohol content. All that science goes into every sip, every pint, every keg, so that your favorite beer looks, smells and tastes like your favorite beer every single time you drink it.
The program is free and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase from Two Brothers.
Two Brothers Brewing Company is the largest independently owned and operated craft brewer in Chicagoland. Brothers Jim and Jason Ebel founded the brewery in 1997 and have dedicated themselves to creating artisan beers from their headquarters in Warrenville and their new location at the historic Roundhouse in Aurora.
Jeremy Bogan has been involved in hand-crafting Two Brothers beers for more than ten years. His Aug. 6 talk will focus on the science involved in brewing.
Two Brothers head brewer and brewhouse manager Jeremy Bogan will host the STEM Café. He plans to lead a tour of the new Two Brothers Brewhouse and discuss the processes of choosing ingredients, milling, mashing, wort production, filtration and centrifuging.
Jeremy Bogan began his brewing career at the bottom. He was working for a local liquor distributer and brewing as a hobby when he saw an entry-level opening at Two Brothers. “I started out washing kegs and worked my way up to head brewer by doing every job I could and learning as much as possible about beer.”
Bogan says that most people would be surprised about how much science is involved in brewing. “We have two full-time lab technicians who focus on everything from quality control and analytics to the growth of microorganisms in our fermentation processes.”
Bogan is excited to share his passion for brewing and his extensive knowledge of the beer-making process with the public. “My only complaint about being a brewer is that I need to find a new hobby,” Bogan jokes. “When you brew for a living, you just don’t feel like home-brewing on the weekends.”
Visitors to the Aug 6 STEM Café will get a behind-the-scenes look at beer technology, including Two Brothers’ state-of-the-art bottling line.
Two Brothers will offer complimentary beer samples to attendees who are 21 and over. Visitors to the STEM Café are encouraged to taste outside of their comfort zone during the event. “We have a great, well-balanced line of beers,” says Rachel Sosnoski, Two Brothers marketing manager. “But it will be fun for people to try some of our more extreme brews like the Hop Centric Double IPA or our sour beer.”
According to Bogan, sour beer is one of the most complicated beers to brew, one of the most science-intensive. Sour beers are fermented using bacteria rather than yeast. The process takes around 18 months (compared to the one to three weeks for yeast fermentation). During that time, the bacteria cultures must be monitored and nurtured to produce just the right levels of tang and sweetness that make sour beers so unique.
Jeremy Bogan and organizers from NIU STEM Outreach hope that facts like this will help attendees come away with a greater appreciation of the science in their everyday lives—one of the goals of the monthly STEM Café programs.
“Science, technology, engineering, and math are all around us,” says Judith Dymond, NIU’s STEM Café coordinator. “We think these cafés are perfect for raising awareness of STEM and sharing the latest cutting-edge discoveries in a fun, casual way.”
For more information on upcoming STEM Cafés and other events from NIU STEM Outreach, visit www.niu.edu/stem or contact Judith Dymond at jdymond@niu.edu or (815) 753-4751.
By Gillian King-Cargile
Date posted: July 10, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on Explore the Science of Beer with STEM Café, Two Brothers Brewing Company Aug. 6
Ross Powell and fellow NIU geologist Reed Scherer recovered sediment from a subglacial Antarctic lake bed.
You can check an app on your phone to see what the weather is going to be like tomorrow, but what about 10 or even 100 years from now?
To predict climate change, geologists are drilling into the heart of Antarctic ice and studying the effects of millions of years of weather.
Chill out with NIU STEM Outreach at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 9, when its popular STEM Café series presents “WISSARDs of the Antarctic” at Claddagh Irish Pub, 1702 Commons Drive in Geneva.
The program will focus on the National Science Foundation-supported WISSARDproject (Whillans Ice Stream Subglacial Access Research Drilling), which is using a hot water drill to explore the environment beneath the Antarctic ice sheet.
Based on the popularity of May’s STEM Café, WISSARD’s co-leader, Ross Powell, will speak again this July.
Powell is a Distinguished Research Professor in Northern Illinois University’s Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences. He says that the work he and his team are doing in Antarctica will give scientists clues about Earth’s warming and cooling cycles and the effects of climate change.
Ross Powell
“We are gathering data on the water system under the ice to better understand how it all works so we can make more solid predictions on how the ice sheet may behave in the future and consequently, how fast sea levels may continue to rise,” Powell says.
Powell will also discuss the drilling process, which required the team to bore through 800 meters of ice using a hot-water drill fitted with a filtration and germicidal system. The drill was specially designed to prevent contamination of the subglacial environment and to recover clean samples for microbial analyses. The WISSARD team spent more than three months in Antarctica last year and will return again soon to continue its research.
NIU STEM Outreach hosts STEM Cafés every month. The events are free and open to the public and food and drinks are available for purchase from the host restaurant.
On Tuesday, Aug. 6, the program will head to Two Brothers Brewing Company in Aurora for a discussion on the Science of Beer. On Sunday, Aug. 11, the Café will be at Acquaviva Winery in Maple Park for an evening of stargazing.
For more information on upcoming STEM Cafés and other events from STEM Outreach, visit http://www.niu.edu/stem or contact Judith Dymond at jdymond@niu.edu or (815) 753-4751.
Date posted: June 24, 2013 | Author: Gillian King-Cargile | Comments Off on STEM Café to offer July 9 encore presentation of ‘WISSARDs of the Antarctic’ at Geneva pub
