REYES STEM

Here is our REYES sessions lineup for Wednesday, July 26:

11 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. UTC
Stephen Barry will moderate an admissions information session for Old Dominion University.

12 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. UTC
Deborah Waller, associate professor of Biological Sciences at Old Dominion University, will present "Mosquitoes!"--a valuable species in ecosystems that also vector diseases.

To access these free sessions, visit:

https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

Passcode: 371766

On Monday, July 24 at 11 a.m. ET / 3 PM UTC Milo Buitrago-Casas, a postdoctoral associate at the Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley will present "How is it to live with a star?"

There is no doubt our star is the most important stellar object for humankind. For astronomers, studying the Sun in-depth and understanding its dynamics is crucial for broadening and consolidating our understanding of other stars. For our technologically dependent civilization, the Sun represents a potential "hazard" given its potential effects on our satellite communications and electrical grids. In this talk, Dr. Buitrago-Casas will briefly review the newest ways we currently have to explore solar dynamics, recent findings, and challenges to come in the next few years.

Join us at: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

Passcode: 371766

We are excited to welcome back Andrew Dotson to REYES on Friday, July 21 at 12 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. UTC. Hear about his unorthodox experience communicating about science on his physics YouTube channel, where he has amassed 235K followers!

"Tensors and Memes: An Unorthodox Approach to Science Communication"

Everyone likes to know what to expect when committing to a long term goal. Through YouTube, Andrew Dotson has been communicating his experiences pursuing a PhD in physics to an audience of future physicists, to provide an accurate representation of what studying physics entails. What started out as a means of documenting his life as an undergraduate physics major eventually continued into grad school. In this talk, he will share a few of these experiences and further discuss why he created a physics YouTube channel. He will also discuss the importance of others sharing their perspectives, and how they can get started.

Join us at: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

Passcode: 371766

On Wednesday, July 19 at 11 AM EDT / 3 PM UTC, Dr. Norou Diawara from Old Dominion University, presents: "Applications of Statistics in Social Sciences." Statistics is a critical component of many areas of research and education.

In this talk, Dr. Diawara will address model building and validation, from the design to the reliability. Models and algorithms for parameter estimations for real data fitting, capturing dependence and enhancing the estimation techniques with less restrictive assumptions will be shown. Such techniques are applied in disease modeling in evaluating brain function and analyzing the network of the neurons via the optodes and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Another big data application we will share is related to seat belt use in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where we propose site locations for sampling and report the seat belt use rate.

Join us at: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09
Passcode: 371766

Cristabelle De Souza, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, will discuss "Targeting the Immune System to Treat Cancer" on Wednesday, July 12 at noon ET. Join us!

Login info: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09
Passcode: 371766

On Wednesday, July 12 at 11 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. UTC ODU University Professor and Eminent Scholar Larry Weinstein will discuss "Guesstimation: Solving the World's Problems on the Back of a Cocktail Napkin."

If you've ever wondered the following, this session is for you!

Why don't we all drive electric cars? Does it really matter if you don't recycle that plastic water bottle? If the Sun were made of gerbils, would the Earth be incinerated? How can we answer these questions without relying on experts? This talk will cover the principles of estimating, introduce the "Goldilocks" categories of answers, and then look at some of the big (and small) questions of our time, including: Paper or plastic? Gasoline or electric cars? Should we p*e before flying?

Join us at: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09
Passcode: 371766

On Monday, July 10 at 1 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. UTC, Helen Crompton, professor of Instructional Technology at Old Dominion University, will present "Meet Chat GPT, Your AI Learning Buddy!"

ChatGPT can be an amazing learning buddy. This presentation will explain what ChatGPT is and strategies for how you can use it to help you learn.

Log-in information: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09
Passcode: 371766

Join us on Thursday, July 6 at 11 a.m. ET / 3 p.m. UTC as Dr. Sherwood Richers, assistant professor, University of Tennessee Knoxville, discusses "How to Explode a Star."

Some stars are just too big. The bigger and brighter a star is, the quicker it burns through its fuel, and if the star is big enough it ends its life collapsing under its own weight in a violent and catastrophic explosion. Trying to understand how the collapse of a star leads to its explosion will bring us through relativity, quantum mechanics, particle physics, and chaos. Despite decades of research, scientists still have a poor understanding of these stellar explosions, which means they will remain a goldmine of discoveries for the next generation of astrophysicists.

Log in info: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

Passcode: 371766

On Thursday, June 29 at 12 PM ET / 4 PM UTC, Felipe Ortega-Gama, from the College of William & Mary, will lead the Python4STEM course. Come learn the basics of programming!

Join this free course at https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

On Wednesday, June 28 at 10 a.m. ET join Eric Swanson for a talk on "The Particle Explosion." At 11:30 a.m. ET, Phiala Shanahan will present "From Quarks to Nuclei: The Building Blocks of the Universe." Don't miss these talks!

Join our free REYES webinars at: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09

Passcode: 371766

The start of REYES' 4th summer program is finally here! Join us on Monday, June 26 at 12 PM ET / 4 PM UTC for the "Unraveling the Dark Universe" keynote by Satya Gontcho A. Gontcho, Project Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. All REYES sessions are free and open to the public.

Log-in Information: https://odu.zoom.us/j/98103827893?pwd=YlZzUzl5amdVOGNEaTd1MGFsdVJDUT09
Passcode: 371766

Wishing Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who was a REYES guest speaker and answered participants' questions live, a happy birthday!

Happy 65th birthday to astronaut Ellen Ochoa, who became the first Latina woman in the world to go to space during a mission aboard the space shuttle Discovery in 1993. An electrical engineer with a PhD from Stanford University, Ochoa is now the veteran of four space flights and has logged nearly 1,000 hours in space. During her inaugural flight, Ochoa, who is also a classical musician, played her flute in space as part of an educational event for children. In 2013, she made history once again by becoming the first Hispanic and second female director of NASA's Johnson Space Center. Ochoa has also joined the elite group of astronauts who have been inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

To introduce this trailblazer to children, we recommend the inspiring picture book, "The Astronaut With A Song For The Stars," for ages 5 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-astronaut-with-a-song-for-the-stars

Ellen Ochoa is among the role models featured in the new picture book "She Persisted in Science" for ages 5 to 9 at https://www.amightygirl.com/she-persisted-in-science

She is also one of the extraordinary women featured the excellent book "Women In Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures," for teens and adults, ages 12 and up, at https://www.amightygirl.com/women-in-space

To inspire your kids with true stories about more pioneering women of science, check out our blog post, "60 Books to Inspire Science-Loving Mighty Girls," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=13914

And, if you'd like to encourage your children's interest in science, you can find many girl-empowering science toys and kits in our blog post, "Top 60 Science Toys for Mighty Girls" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10528