March 2025
NETWORK NEWS
Navigating Change
As many of us are adapting and responding to rapid changes and uncertainty related to the change in federal administration, you may find the the following resources helpful:
Webinars:
- March 24 - American Alliance of Museums (AAM): The Legal Implications of DEI Executive Orders on Museums
- March 24 - National Girls Collaborative Project The Future of Support for Girls and Women in STEM
- April 23 - The STEM Talk: A monthly pulse check on STEM education
- Recording - State of STEM Ecosystems 2025: A Panel Discussion About the Future of STEM
General advice about rapid change and uncertainty:
News from trusted sources:
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAS)
- National Council of Nonprofits
- Nonprofit Quarterly
- The Chronicle of Higher Education
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
• Creating Relevant and Meaningful STEM Experiences
Tuesday, April 15, 2025
2-3pm Eastern
Join us as we explore the importance of relevance in STEM learning experiences. We will start with an introduction to the principles of relevance, sharing strategies found to be successful during a study of place-based learning in the NISE Network's STEM Learning Ecosystems project. We will talk about the process of how to approach your community and find out what is truly relevant to your audiences. We will also hear from NISE Network partners already co-creating with their communities to engage audiences more meaningfully in STEM. Whether you are already involved in a STEM ecosystem, looking for ways to get more involved, or simply want to create stronger partnerships within your community, don't miss this opportunity to learn how to take the first steps towards creating more relevant and meaningful STEM experiences.
Learn more and register
FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE
Online Workshop Recordings:
• Museum Experiences Participating in STEM Learning Ecosystems (recorded on 3-4-25)
Learn more
• Introduction to STEM Learning Ecosystems - Principles and Practices for Community-wide Partnerships
(recorded on 2-11-25)
Learn more
• STEM Identity & Career Interest for Students Traditionally Underrepresented in STEM
(recorded on 1-14-25)
Learn more
• Co-creation & You - Inspiring Partner Stories from Participants of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Project
(recorded on 12-3-24)
Learn more
• More online workshop recordings
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
PARTNER HIGHLIGHT
Partner Highlight: Celebrating the Cerebellum (and other lobes) - Brain Awareness Week March 10-16, 2025 Events
Brain Awareness Week was March 10-16, 2025, with Brain Awareness Day falling on Saturday, March 15, 2025. If you are not familiar, Brain Awareness Week/Day is a global campaign initiated by the Dana Foundation to foster public enthusiasm and support for brain science. A variety of organizations such as museums, research institutes, colleges and universities, hospitals, K-12 schools, and many more host events in their communities to celebrate the wonders of the brain and raise awareness to the impact brain science has on our everyday lives. It’s an opportunity to empower communities to have a voice in decisions that will need to be made around new brain technologies, and inspire the next generation of neuroscientists.
Learn more
COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
NNOCCI Crash Course
The National Network for Ocean and Climate Change Interpretation (NNOCCI) is excited to announce registration for the Spring 2025 Crash Course! This is a 7-week, 25-hour, online course for those interested in gaining strategic framing skills.
Learn more
Apply for an EZIE-Mag Magnetometer Citizen Science Kit
EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) is a NASA mission to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. EZIE-Mag is a NASA-funded citizen science magnetometer program that will enable learners to capture science data similar to that obtained by the EZIE mission. Apply to participate and receive a free kit and magnetometer.
Learn more
New Report: Communicating Basic Science
Basic science, also known as fundamental, curiosity-driven, and discovery science, is
seldom the focus of the science communication universe. A new report from the Science Public Engagement Partnership (SciPEP) between The Kavli Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy shares insights on communicating basic science.
Learn more
New Report: Building Resilient communities
The STAR Library Network and its partners have just released a new report focused on ways public libraries and community-based organizations can address local environmental and public health impacts.
Learn more
National Rural STEM Learning Summit
Session proposals for the National Rural STEM Learning Summit, August 26-29 in Fort McDowell, AZ are due March 21, 2025.
Learn more
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS
New neuroscience research is focusing on how dancing is helping patients with Parkinson’s disease regain movement abilities and make new and stronger brain connections.
NISE Network resources:
• Brain and neuroscience resources
GENETICS & HEALTH NEWS
On the 50 year anniversary of a landmark conference on the dangers and benefits of genetic engineering, a group of scientists, ethicists, and other experts met to discuss the risks of genetic engineering in a gathering dubbed the Spirit of Asilomar and the Future of Biotechnology.
NISE Network resources:
SPACE NEWS
A total lunar eclipse was visible March 13-14 to the unaided eye throughout America wherever skies were clear. See some of thw beautiful images captured by photographers.
NISE Network resources:
WEATHER NEWS
More than 40 people died after a series of storms unleashed tornadoes and high winds leaving behind uprooted trees and flattening hundreds of homes across eight U.S. states in the South and Midwest.
Learn more
NISE Network resources:
• Climate and weather resources
SUSTAINABILITY NEWS
Scientists are developing new plant-based, fungal-based, fermentation-based and cell-based foods in an effort to create more sustainable food systems.
NISE Network resources:
• Building with Biology: Bio Bistro activity
NANOSCALE NEWS
An artist who creates tiny sculptural works of art, just made a lego brick sculpture too small to be seen with the human eye that is about the size of a white blood cell.
Learn more
NISE Network resources:
• NISE Network Size, Scale, & Measurement resources
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
Year-long 2025
- International Year of Quantum Science and Technology (IYQ)
- National Science Foundation's 75th anniversary on May 10, 2025
- Planetarium Centennial (Fall 2023 to May 2025)
March
- What’s Up Skywatching Tips from NASA
- Women's History Month (March)
- International Women's Day (March 8)
- Severe Weather Awareness Weeks (March, dates vary by state)
- Severe weather may include flood, fire, lightning, hurricane, tornados, tsunami, earthquake, heat, and cold
- Please note that dates of awareness weeks vary by state
- Climate resiliency and extreme weather forum programs about heat waves, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and drought
- NISE Network climate change and weather resources
- Earth Hour (March 22, 2025)
- Spring Equinox (March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere)
- Solstices and equinoxes provide opportunities for planning quarterly programs related to the Earth, Sun, and Moon (astronomical seasons) or your local environment (meteorological seasons)
- NASA Space Place seasons resources
- NISE Network Moon resources
- World Water Day (March 22)
- World Meteorology Day (March 23)
- National STEM Week 2025 (March 14-23, 2025)
- National AI Literacy Day (March 28, 2025)
- NanoDays (March 29-April 6 2025)
April
- Citizen Science Month (April)
- National Kite Month (April)
- National Poetry Month (April)
- Citizen Science Month (April)
- Global Astronomy Month (April)
- Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month (April)
- National Arab American Heritage Month (April)
- Star Trek First Contact Day (April 5)
- In the Star Trek Universe humans make first contact with an alien species on April 5, 2063.
- NISE Network Science Fiction, Star Wars, Star Trek, and Superheroes resources
- National Robotics Week / RoboWeek (April 7-13-2025)
- National Public Health Week (Aril 7-13, 2025) / World Health Day (April 7)
- Worldwide Climate Justice Education Week (April 7-13-2025)
- Yuri's Night (April 12)
- World Quantum Day (April 14)
- World Art Day (April 15)
- International Dark Sky Week (April 21 - 28, 2025)
- Earth Day (April 22) & National Environmental Education Week
- DNA Day (April 25)
NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
- ASTC List of Conferences in the Community
Learn more - Informalscience.org List of Events
Learn more - Association of Children's Museums (ACM) InterActivity, May 14-16, 2025, Albuquerque, NM
Learn more - 2025 Science Events Summit, June 8-10, 2025, Philadelphia, PA
Learn more - National Rural STEM Learning Summit, August 26-29, 2025,
Fort McDowell, AZ
Learn more - ASTC Conference, September 5-8, 2025, San Francisco, CA
Learn more National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences