Seen our website yet? Go check it out: http://www.ubclts.com ______________________________________________________ UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program E-Newsletter Volume 11, Issue 2 October 2007 ______________________________________________________ In this issue: Welcome (back) to UBC LTS-PP! - Orientation/Training sessions - Registered on the national portal yet? - 2006/2007 Annual Report - UBC LTS-PP’s National Rank Volunteer of the Month Volunteers Needed - Sustainability and Energy (October 19th) - Elementary teachers workshop (October 19th) - National Technology and Science Week (October 19th) - Lord Byng High School Science and Career Day (October 23rd and 24th) - Revealing ReGenesis (November 20th) - Science writing competition at terry and scientific writing for LTS-PP Upcoming events - LTS social - Rural visit email list Recently completed events - Pro-D session on Science Leadership - Rural visit to Terrace - CEDAR Playland field trip - UBC Sustainability Fair: October 03 - Grad Student Fair at the SUB: October 03-04 LTS in the Media - YouTube - David Suzuki and Al Gore in Vancouver Alumni Network Office hours Science Joke of the Month ____________________________________________________ Welcome (back) to UBC LTS-PP! To all new volunteers: welcome to the largest national initiative dedicated to promoting science literacy! In addition to our own website (www.ubclts.com), also check out www.letstalkscience.ca to see what the national office has to say! To all returning volunteers: thank you for saying Yes to another year with LTS! With everyone’s help, we are destined to have another stellar year of science outreach!!! Orientation/Training sessions Just a reminder that our upcoming training sessions are: *** NOTE END-TIME CHANGES *** 1) 6-7:30pm on Wednesday October 10th at BC Cancer Research Centre, ground floor Lecture Theatre 2) 5:30-7pm on Tuesday October 16th at UBC (room TBA) Attendance at ONE session is mandatory for new volunteers. So if you haven’t done so, please RSVP and tell us which session you want to attend. Thank you!!! (Oh right, there will be FREE PIZZA.) Registered on the national portal yet? Effective now, we want all volunteers to register at the national portal. Please see the Excel attachment to check whether or not you got registered last year. We created many of the accounts by brute force, meaning that we dutifully typed in all your information by hand for more than 200 students!! In that case, please go to http://www.letstalkscience.ca/login/user.php#lost, enter your email address, and they’ll send you your account information. If that doesn't work just re-register yourself. =) For all new volunteers, please go to http://www.letstalkscience.ca/login/register.php and create an account using this as your registration code: ujcu39. All your valuable efforts will save us mammothly massive times, and gives you the chance to check out the national office portal in the process! 2006/2007 Annual Report Our 2006-2007 Annual Report is now complete. A pdf copy is available for in our archives: http://ubclts.com/files/AnnRep0607.pdf. Have a look at all of last year’s amazing accomplishments by our outstanding volunteers! UBC LTS’s National Rank Thanks to all your great efforts our site ranked #1 out of the 24 sites across Canada that run LTS programs in the total number of volunteers and total number of students reached! We also ranked the highest in terms of the diversity of our activities, rural and remote outreach, inner city school work and Aboriginal outreach! So thank you and congratulations for all those involved! And may this coming year be just as successful or even more so! ____________________________________________________ Volunteer of the Month Congratulations to Erin Kennah for being our Volunteer of the Month! Erin was instrumental in making our Terrace rural visit a blast for all involved (see below for details). As always, our VOTM get a $20 to the UBC Bookstore. Enjoy Erin! ____________________________________________________ Volunteers Needed Sustainability and Energy teacher Professional Development session (October 19th) On October 19th, the BC Science Teachers' Association (BCSTA) has invited Lars Rose to give a presentation on Physics and Environmental Issues, as well as giving ready-to-go/teach sustainability demos. The event is at Kwantlen university college, Surrey Campus, Room G1205, 12666 72nd Avenue, Surrey, BC V3W 2M8. If anyone has other sustainability activity ideas or would simply like to join Lars on this activity, please email and let us know! Elementary teacher Professional Development session (October 19th) Also on October 19th, the UBC Faculty of Applied Science, Engineering, is inviting elementary school teachers (grades 5 through 7)  to a free, one-day workshop on campus (lunch included). The aim is to promote science awareness in the classroom. The teachers will be separated into six groups. If you want to become an instructor for one of these groups for the day, i.e. if you want to share how you teach your science outreach, and want to transfer that knowledge, email us, we’ll get you organized. National Technology and Science Week (October 19th) Also on October 19, Natural Resources Canada will host a "Science and Technology Party in the Promenade" at (*note the new location*) Brighouse Public Library (map: http://www.yourlibrary.ca/map_bhb.html. Being Richmond’s central library, it is ideally situated behind Richmond City Hall and Richmond Shopping Centre. Nearby, there are parks, sports arenas, an art gallery, and an aquatic centre -- a perfect draw for families and youths on a Pro-D day. They are asking Let's Talk Science volunteers to hold a booth to present some research posters as well as some fun, hands-on demos. So we are looking for volunteers to do one (or both) of the following: 1) Present a poster about your research in science or technology, or 2) Perform some fun and interesting (hands-on) demonstrations. We will also co-host two booths: one with the National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation and the Department of Materials Engineering (fuel cell demos), the other with Genome BC (CSI-style mystery using fingerprinting and genetics to determine who did it!). Other sustainability and genetic/genomic activities are welcome. Beyond that, for the LTS booth, ANYthing goes – whatever science you want to present to the public is great. And there is guaranteed huge potential for exposure of your activities. Email us at lts@ubclts.com if you are interested! For more information please visit: www.nrcan-rncan.gc.ca/com/nstwsnst/index-eng.php Lord Byng High School Science and Career Days (October 23rd & 24th) In conjunction with Genome BC, UBC LTS-PP is looking for volunteers to go to Lord Byng High School to talk any science/technology topics and related career opportunities. Some hands-on demo would be super ideal. There are spots available for presenters on both the 23rd and 24th at 9:00, 10:30, 12:30 and 1:45. If interested, please contact Lisa McDonnell at lts.rsvp@gmail.com. As usual, we can help you develop an activity or get supplies for it. Revealing ReGenesis (November 20th) A unique opportunity for LTS volunteers! Participate in an exciting public forum using ReGenesis, the highly acclaimed Canadian dramatic TV series as a jumping point to engage with panelists that include actor Peter Outerbridge and geneticist Dr. Aled Edwards (moderated by Jay Ingram!), in an effort to increase our understanding of what is really happening in gene science. For more information (Date, time, venue, contacts) see the attached document. Science writing competition at Terry Always wanted to write popular science articles but never found a good place to publish your words? Here’s your perfect chance: Terry, an interdisciplinary effort aimed at unifying science, arts, and humanities, is now looking for some fresh brain juice. Check them out (you’d be glad you did, especially the second link …$$$…): http://www.terry.ubc.ca/index.php/about http://www.terry.ubc.ca/index.php/2007/09/18/the-terry-writing-challenge-season-three/#more-333 Terry now commenced its third year of operation with a release party earlier in September, attended by many LTS-PP volunteers. You will hear more from the events surrounding the Global Citizenship Seminar Series during the course of the year. Scientific writing for UBC LTS-PP, Science Creative Quarterly, Terry On that note, we are also gathering interest to continue with our successful creative science writing group of LTS'ers ( http://www.ubclts.com/writing ). Write us if you are interested in and committed to writing a short (~2000 words) piece and edit your peers work until the end of December 2007. We will be peer-reviewing the group’s entries and submit them to wither the Science Creative Quarterly, or Terry. See your alternative science pieces published online, and your writing career taking off… ____________________________________________________ Upcoming Events LTS social Come out and meet your fellow LTSers on October 24th at 6pm at the Frog & Firkin on Broadway! (http://www.yellowpages.ca/bus/British-Columbia/Vancouver/Frog-Firkin/655697.html) Come to the back room which will be reserved for LTS. First drinks and munchies on us. This is a great opportunity for the new comers (and old geezers =P) to check out the LTS crowd. Please RSVP! Rural visit email list Want to be on a rural trip-specific email list? Our tentative trips for this year are: Dawson Creek – November, Prince George – December, Vancouver Island – February (reading week), Castlegar/Nelson – March or April, Okanagan – May. There is chance that there will be other smaller trips throughout the year as well. If you are especially keen on going on these trips, please email Lisa McDonnell at lts.rsvp@gmail.com with the subject line “rural visit email list”. Thanks! ____________________________________________________ Recently Completed Activities LTS-PP Pro-D session: Management And Leadership Of Research Scientists And Engineers: Why Are We Mismanaging A Strategic Human Resource? Presented by Thomas E. Clarke from Stargate Consultants Limited at ifci. This presentation addressed the following themes: what is different about an R&D work environment; what are the prime motivators (satisfiers) of scientific staff; what are the actions of an effective leader of scientific staff; and what are the reasons why so many organizations fail to effectively manage their scientific staff. This will hopefully help our volunteers in their future lives as leaders in the international community. Rural visit to Terrace Erin Kennah traveled to Terrace to do genetics workshops for various classes. It was a blast! We visited several classes, and the students were great. Thank you to all the volunteers who showed interest in this trip! And a huge thank you to Erin for being a wonderful volunteer and super role model to all the students! The Terrace visit was a little small compared to other visits, and in future w hope to bring multiple volunteers. Coming up this term is Dawson Creek in November and Prince George in December. Keep in touch if you want to go, or keep reading these newsletters for more information as it becomes available! CEDAR Playland field trip Britt Corriveau, Nadia Pietravalle, and Winnie Tam gave an interactive physics workshop at Playland on 30th Sept for participating Aboriginal Youths. They were helped by Rachel Moll, who coordinated a large physics event at Playland just earlier this year. Although it was a very rainy morning, many kids showed up for the event. Everyone had a great time on the rides and learned a bit more about how roller coasters work. Thanks to Theresa Liao and Ryanne James for the organization. UBC Sustainability Fair: October 03 The UBC LTS-PP sustainability group headed by Justin LeBlanc presented its outreach capabilities at the UBC sustainability fair. Even though it was massively pouring briefly, the UBC sustainability fair, and especially the LTS-PP booth was very well visited. We talked to several hundred passer-by over the course of the day, and propagated both sustainability issues and programs ranging from Justin’s worm farm to Lars’ fuel cells, and everything in between. Thanks for helping to Justin LeBlanc, Lars Rose, and Claire Stilwell. Especial thanks to Liska from the UBC sustainability office for the great organization of the UBC sustainability fair. UBC Career Fair at the SUB: October 03-04 All current and prospective UBC students were able to check out potential job offers, and various departments from most major Canadian universities and colleges during the UBC career fair. LTS volunteers presented some of their departments with interactive displays Thanks to Michael, Riley, Geoffrey, Patricia, Lars, Leo, Babak, Sujay, David, Bryan, Nathan, and Patrick for helping out with the fair. _____________ LTS in the Media YouTube Since YouTube has practically replaced cable TV, it’s only right that LTS get YouTube-y too. If you have a cool experiment, use a digicam (or your video-capable mobile phone) and take a shot of what you did, so others can (we hope) easily reproduce it. Check it out: http://youtube.com/user/UBCLTScom David Suzuki and Al Gore in Vancouver Also, UBC LTS-PP was honored by the UBC Students Development office to attend Al Gore's & David Suzuki's presentations at the Westin Bayshore on September 29th. The leadership students that attended have formed a group of like-minded individuals that will meet in the future, trying to formulate ideas and possibilities for the UBC community and beyond with regard to sustainability options. Follow-up meetings started on Friday, October 5th. Thanks to UBC Student Development Officer Kim Davidson for organizing the presence of UBC students at the conference and for planting the seed of sustainable change at UBC. ____________________________________________________ Alumni network Graduating from grad school or from LTS? If you will not be returning as a volunteer this year, join the Let's Talk Science Alumni Network! It is a great and easy way to stay in touch with LTS, fellow volunteers, and meet other registered alumni. Go http://ubclts.com/alumni to for more details. ____________________________________________________ Office Hours Starting in November 2007 we will have an undergraduate coordinator as a part of our team. She or he will be helping us out with office hours starting at that time, but for now please be patient with us as we all work off campus. With that said, we will gladly meet you on or off campus when needed. Just email us at lts@ubclts.com to set up a time. _____________________________________________________ Science Joke of the Month There were three engineers in a car; an electrical engineer, a chemical engineer, and a Microsoft engineer. Suddenly, the car stops running and they pull off to the side of the road wondering what could be wrong. The electrical engineer suggests stripping down the electronics of the car and trying to trace where a fault may have occurred. The chemical engineer, not knowing much about cars, suggests maybe the fuel is becoming emulsified and getting blocked somewhere. The Microsoft engineer, not knowing much about anything, came up with a suggestion. "Why don't we close all the windows, get out, get back in, and open all the windows and see if it works?" ___________________________________________________ Lars Rose, Sam Lee, & Agatha Jassem Coordinators, UBC Let's Talk Science Partnership Program University of British Columbia 2357B-1874 East Mall Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1 Phone: (604) 822-9166 Fax: (604) 822-5945 Email: lts@ubclts.com Web: http://www.ubclts.com