Newsletter: January 2023

NISE Network logo in full color - horizontal landscape

JANUARY 2023     

NETWORK NEWS

Year 2022 spelled out with Sparklers credit Kenta Kikuchi on Unsplash
Credit: Kenta Kikuchi on Unsplash

NISE Network Year in Review 2022
When reflecting on this past year, we are filled with gratitude to be able to collaborate with all of you! This past year we continued to increase our capacity as professionals and organizations to engage the public in STEM topics throughout the United States. Our strength as a Network comes from our collaboration as dedicated professionals, and our impact comes from the work we all do to engage our local communities.
Thank you to everyone who participates in our community! Here are some of our favorite Network moments of 2022.
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What’s next? Upcoming Opportunities in 2023
We are looking forward to collaborating with NISE Network partners across the United States in 2023! We have compiled a list of opportunities and upcoming projects that we are looking forward to over the next few years. 
Read more

 

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Online Workshops
The NISE Network hosts free online workshops as professional development opportunities for our partners to share with and learn from each other. Online workshops take place on select Tuesdays at 2pm-3pm Eastern. View upcoming online workshops at nisenet.org/events

• Tuesday, January 17, 2023,
   2-3pm Eastern
STEM Identity, STEM Career Interest, and Participation in Out-of-School Time Activities 
Learn about how children's and teenagers' participation in out-of-school time activities and hobbies can influence STEM identity and career interest as young adults. Research findings of a recent NSF-funded study include comparisons by gender as well as barriers to participation in out-of-school time activities. 
Learn more and register

• Tuesday, February 14, 2023
   2-3pm Eastern
Asteroids, Meteorites, NASA Missions & more! 
Join us as we learn about asteroids, meteorites, NASA missions to asteroids (i.e. Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), OSIRIS-REx), and more! NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) experts will share background and resources, including Astromaterials 3D, that you can use to engage public audiences. 
Learn more and register

• Tuesday, March 14, 2023
   2-3pm Eastern
Changing Brains - New Tools for Brain Awareness Week & Beyond 
Join us during international Brain Awareness Week to learn about the new public engagement resources available through the "Changing Brains" NISE Network project. Explore ways to engage with the societal and ethical issues inherent in neuroscience research and hear from colleagues who have led successful brain-related programs for Brain Awareness Week and beyond. 
Learn more and register 

CoCreation Participants in Durham, North Carolina housing discussions talking around a table
Co-Creation participants in Durham, North Carolina housing discussions  
Photo credit: Museum of Life and Science

PARTNER HIGHLIGHTS

Congratulations to our Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Stipend Recipients!

In recent years, many informal science education institutions have worked to employ co-creation as a strategy for including and sustaining community priorities and perspectives throughout Public Engagement with Science (PES) activities, with a particular emphasis on responding to the “problems that communities view as worth solving”; that is, asking communities what issues they would like to see us as ISE institutions address in our programming and working with civic and community partners to address these topics. As the culminating phase of the NSF-funded Building Capacity For Co-Created Public Engagement with Science these partners from around the country will adapt the co-creation model from the project and work with civic and community partners to create and host Public Engagement with Science activities together this spring. We congratulate these NISE Network partner stipend recipients and look forward to their work! 
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FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE

    Recorded NISE Network online workshops
    View the recordings and resources from past NISE Net online workshops:

    Looking for an easy way to discover resources on the nisenet.org website?
    Check out our “Browse by Themes and Topics,” featuring curated collections of hands-on activities and resources by themes and STEM topics: nisenet.org/browse-topic

     

    COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

    CAISE is transitioning to the new Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Equity Resource Center - subscribe to stay in the know
    The Center for Advancement of Informal Science Education (CAISE) is sunsetting and assisting with a transition to the new Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) Equity Resource Center. If you participated with CAISE and wish to continue to participate in the AISL and larger informal STEM education community, you can subscribe to communications from the new center

     

    howtosmile logo

    Looking for more STEM activities?
    Visit Howtosmile.org
    Search over 4,000 of the very best STEM activities on the web—along with a new collection focused on at-home learners. Howtosmile has also recently upgraded its backend systems towards improved sustainability and resource link stability. Find handpicked activities from your favorite science museums, public television stations, universities, and other educational organizations. All activities are available to anyone, free of charge. Start searching now and filter by age, material costs, and learning time to find exactly what you need for your educational program, class, or family.
    https://www.howtosmile.org/

     

     

    National Science Teachers Association NSTA logo

    Connected Science Learning
    Read NSTA's journal highlighting STEM education experiences that bridge the gap between in-school and out-of-school settings.

     

     

     

    SCIENCE IN THE NEWS

    TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY NEWS
    Every year, Popular Science has highlighted the innovations that make living on Earth even a tiny bit better. And this past year has been no exception with the James Webb Space Telescope honored as the Innovation of the Year. The article features 100 technological accomplishments for 2022. 
    Read more

    NISE Network resources: 

    • James Webb Space Telescope resources

    • Societal Aspects of STEM

    CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
    Climate change is causing the weather around the world to get more extreme, and scientists are increasingly able to pinpoint exactly how the weather is changing as the Earth heats up. The annual report from the American Meteorological Society (AMS) compiles the leading science about the role of climate change in extreme weather. Read more

    NISE Network resources: 

    • Exploring Earth: Rising Sea activity

    • Climate Resiliency forms including flooding

    • Climate Change resources

    • Water resources

    GENETICS NEWS

    When the man known as "father of genetics" turns 200, how do you celebrate? By digging up his body and sequencing his DNA, of course! That's what a team of scientists in the Czech Republic did this year to celebrate Gregor Mendel, whose experiments in the mid-1800s laid the groundwork for modern genetics.
    Read more

    Learn more about the 200th anniversary and watch videos of Mendel’s life and work.

    NISE Network resources: 

    • Genetics resources

    SPACE NEWS
    NASA’s Mars insight lander shut down after more than four years of collecting data on Mars. Dust accumulating on the lander’s solar panels gradually reduced its energy over recent months.
    Read more

    NISE Network resources: 

    • Mars resources

    CHEMISTRY NEWS
    Say hello to the toughest material on Earth! A new study reveals the profound properties of a metallic alloy made of chromium, cobalt, and nickel (CrCoNi). Not only is the metal highly malleable and impressively strong, these both improve as it gets colder. This runs counter to most other materials in existence.
    Read more

    NISE Network resources: 

    • Explore Science: Let’s do Chemistry kit

    STEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

    Discover activity ideas for incorporating current science, engineering, and technology content into events, special programming, holidays, and seasonal activities by visiting: nisenet.org/seasons

       

      WINTER

      JANUARY

       

      FEBRUARY

       

      NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES​​​

      • Association of Children's Museums InterActivity, April 26-28, 2023, New Orleans, LA 
        Learn more

      • STEM Learning Ecosystems Community of Practice, May 1-3 2023, Jacksonville, FL
        Learn more

      • Visitor Studies Association Conference, July 11-13 2023, Virtual
        Learn more

      • ASTC Conference, October 7-10 2023, Charlotte, NC
        Learn more

      • CAISE InformalScience.org conference calendar
        Learn more

      • National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences

        Learn more