Protecting and Perserving the Wonderful Planet Called Earth

This weekend, I started a much needed vacation and one of the things I love to do on vacation is connect with nature. This weekend, I took a scenic drive with a friend up the San Francisco Bay Area, from the South Bay to the East Bay. During this drive, we saw all the wonderful scenery from mountains to beaches, rivers and bays and vegetation such as plants, fruit and vegetables. But was so awesome was the sense of peace and tranquility that we got from taking that drive. It was more fun that I had in awhile and didn't cost too much money, but the $3.50 a gallon gas in Northern California, but the scenary was priceless.

Currently, I am in Australia in the tropical Rain Forrest in a rental house, that is powered by solar energy and gets most of its water from rainwater. In this Rainforest, you can here the creators in the natural habitat from birds to insects. In addition, you see the calming water of the sea which is about a 10 minute walk away.

As I am enjoying this time in nature, I think about who will be the next generation of scientists and engineers to ensure that the beautiful scene that I am currently enjoying are still here for generations to come to enjoy. Who will the next environmental scientists, environmental biologists, geologists, botanists, entomologists and other scientists that make sure that we preserve and protect our planet? In a culture where most of us live, work and play in urban jungles, how do we expose our children let alone get them interested in these disciplines. But we can start by exposing our children to more of this wonderful planet. If they can see it, they can learn to appreciate it and possibly want to pursue a career preserving and protecting our planet.

Celebrating Chemisty: National Chemistry Week

As a chemical engineer and a person who gets very excited about chemistry, I'm very excited that this week is National Chemistry Week. This week which is sponsored by the American Chemical Society celebrate the contributions that the field of chemistry and chemical professionals have contributed to society. It also gets kids excited and exposed to chemistry; for more information you can visit the American Chemistry's website at www.acs.org.

Chemistry has an impact on our everyday lives more than we realize. It encompasses such field as food science, which creates ways for us to produce and preserve our food. It encompasses biochemistry which is responsible for many of our advances in medicine and medical research. It encompasses material science which allows us to know which materials are best for us to make durable goods that we consume daily. It contains atmospheric and environmental chemistry which allows us to know more about our learn if we are being good stewards of our planet and if not, how do we correct the damage that we made.

Chemistry is the science of life because it connects all of the sciences and engineering disciplines. So celebrate this chemistry week and how the field of chemistry has improved your quality of life.

Math and Science Fair Project Season is Here

Whoo hoo, math and science fair project season is here. I know that most schools math and science fairs aren't until late November/early December, but if you want to produce a quality project the time has come for you to begin the work. You must start weeks in advance because it takes a lot of time to produce a quality math and science fair projects; therefore you don't want to wait until the last minute and neglect your homework the weeks right before the math or science fair.

Completing a project for the math or science fair is a wonderful opportunity for students to explore their interest in math or science and learn skills that are transferable to other subject areas. It is one of the rare opportunities that a student will have to chose the topic they want to learn more about. A quality math or science fair project involves the student utilizing the scientific method to answer a question in their area of interest i.e. Does anti-bacterial soap kills germs? During the process the student should develop their science literacy, data collection and analysis and oral and written presentation skills. In becoming an expert on their topic they will learn how to conduct scholarly research, set up an experiment, collect data and utilize experimental results and background data to form conclusions. When math and science fair arrives they will have become an expert on their topic and will wow their peers and teachers with their quality work as well as get an A on their project.


So I encourage those of you that have children by blood or those who have claimed you as a another mother or father, encourage them to not wait to get started on their math or science fair project. For more tips on math and science fair projects, download our "Experimental Design Handbook at the http://www.semsuccess.org/semlinkincexperimentaldesignhandbook.pdf

Current and Future Noble Prize Winners in Physiology and Medicine

This morning, I came across the following article through Facebook on CNN
http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/, that three U.S. researchers were awarded the Noble Prize for their work on how chromosome are protected against degradation. I was excited for two major reasons, one it is very excited to see that the United States is being innovative and be recognized for their research. Due to lack of support for research, we have been lagging behind Europe for many years.It gives me hope again that the United States will be able to compete globally in research and other scientific innovation. Secondly, two of the three researchers were women; so it is a great example to our girls that want to pursue research careers. Yes, you can be a scientist or engineer and do well enough to be recognize for your work with prestigious awards if you work hard and become an expert in your field.

News like this is exciting to me and I am always encouraged to share it with children the impact that science, engineering and mathematics has on our society. The Nobel Prize is a 1.4 million dollar award; which means that these scientists work has huge impacts on our society. So many children can't connect science, engineering and mathematics to every day life. They just see it as boring or hard subjects that they have to do in class. But science and technology improves our quality of life and solves the various problems in society. Secondly, by highlighting scientists and engineers that are rewarded and recognized for their work, it teaches students that you don't have to be an entertainer or a business person to be recognized or famous. You pursuit of a STEM career and doing well, will allow you many opportunities to be recognized by your peers and society. There are world famous scientists and engineers such as these Nobel Prize winners and others who have made improvements in our society through their work.

Improving the Science Education Infastructure Nationwide

Over the past few weeks, I have been really thinking about the bigger picture concerning science education. Although SEM Link has done great work over the years in science education and impacting Metro Atlanta youth, we have to think about how can we increase our impact beyond the kids that we can physically touch.

I have been conducting research and having conversations with educators and parents across the country. What I've found is that there are many school districts, even in large Metropolitan areas, don't have the infrastructure to provide quality science education for its students, especially in elementary school where students get their fundamentals in all subject areas. How can our students achieve academically in science or even pursue those careers if there is not quality instruction going on? They won't be adequately prepared for post-secondary education to major in the science, engineering and mathematics field, let alone garner enough interest to pursue those fields.

We can't place all the blame on the school districts, for it can't be the responsibility of the school system alone to educate our children. I realized that schools work best when they have community partners that provide additional resources to the schools to help them educate their students. It is especially critical now, when many school districts are seeing their budgets drastically reduced due to many of our states having extreme budget deficits due to the recession. There are even districts that have to lay off teachers, so you know they are in bad shape if that have to do that.

There are many community organizations that are getting funding for various educational resources to help teachers. However, although they are developing them somehow not all of the resources are getting to the teachers. I'm not quite sure what the reason for disconnect, but these resources need to get to the teachers. In addition, many organization have grant funding available for teachers to obtain resources but what good teacher has time to write a grant. What teachers are available to attend professional conferences.

We have to do something about the science infrastructure for the survival of our society; for this problem is bigger than test scores. It is the current K-12 students that are our future workforce. What I have noticed about the recession is that we are transitioning from a economy that is heavy on skilled labor to one that requires an educated workforce. Therefore it is important for our children to be educated for their survival as individuals and our survival as a society. It is important for us to have the future science, engineering and mathematics in our society because those fields are what create innovation for improvement of society as a whole. Who will be available to solve the issues that we have with climate change? Who will create the next generation of technological innovations that help improve the quality of our lives? Who will be available to be the next generation of public health professionals and biomedical researchers to cure and treat the disease that plague our society?

Who Can Help and How We Can Help the Generation Behind Us

Over the past few weeks, I've been meaning to blog, but no subject would come to me when I was in a time and a space to blog. Maybe if I can figure out how to blog on my cell phone or get one of those netbook laptops that can fit into my pocket, I can stop and blog at the grocery store, in the doctor's office or when I am sitting in rush hour traffic. These past few days, I have been in conversation with many students at various educational levels as well as researching non profits in various Metropolitan areas around the nation. The conversations I have had with students this week were teachable moments for both me and them because events occurred in their lives, that made them reach out to me or forced me to reach out to them to get them back on the right path. As I was researching non profits, mostly those who serve "inner city" or "at risk" youth, I realized the lack of diversity in their staff. The question that came to my mind was who is most qualified to help the next generation and what is the best way to help them.

One of the things that I loved about growing up in Miami was the diversity. I grew up with classmates, teachers, neighbors and friends that were from various parts of the country and the world. That experience made me who I am today, because being exposed to the various cultures and people who were different from my background allowed me to be the person I am today and be so willing and open to try new things and meet new people. Although, I know that several of my teachers had an impact on my educational experiences, I realize that the two teachers that shaped the decision of choosing my major in college, chemical engineering, because in high school two teachers who allowed me to see the possibilities in me to achieve in math and science as a female student. Mrs. Shy, my 10th grade chemistry teacher an African American woman and Mrs. Schpiliberg, my 11th and 12th grade teacher an Columbian-American Women. These women not only provided a environment for me to develop my academic skills in these subjects, but gave me the confidence and encouragement to know that girls can do science and math and I did it so well by receiving no less than a B in both their classes.

As I look at these non profits that are doing great work to help our youth, I wonder how can they truly help these kids learn more, do more and accomplish more if they never see enough people that look like them accomplishing more. I believe that it takes a village to raise a child and that village has to be diverse,it can't exclude people of your own tribe. In order for us to accomplish what we think we can in life, we have to see people who look like us to help us achieve more. When in school, although I had a lot of great mentors, it wasn't until I meet an African American female chemical engineer, that allowed me to explore all the challenges and rewards of being a chemical engineer.

Tomorrow, we start our work with the Cool Girls after-school program and it isn't any coincidence that I am sending volunteers to work with these girls that look like them to engage them in hands on activities in math and science. Although, I will also send people of difference races and nationalities because children who needs to be exposed to people with different backgrounds, religions and cultures than themselves.

So let me rephrase that old African proverb to say" It takes a diverse village to raise a child" and how can we help them be open to share who we are with them and where we have been. But most importantly provide them with the confidence and skills set to be able to not only make all their dreams come true, but be able to be a part of a child's village that comes behind them.

What labor are you willing to do to make a difference in your community

As we celebrate this labor day holiday, we as a society individuals think about what we will do to take advantage of our three day weekend. We make plans to hang out, get some rest, catch up on some projects around the house and eat some good food. Then after we go back to work, get back in the hustle and bustle of our lives; focusing on what we need or want to do for ourselves and our immediate network.

As I look at the number of donors and volunteers the organization has, the level of engagement of SEM Link's board and the number of sponsors, i do a lot of reflection and inspection. So many people are supposedly too "busy" or "broke" to make an consistent adjustment in their schedules to make a difference in their community. I believe that is why most people love to volunteer for adopt a road programs and Hosea Feed the Hungry or Habitat, because it requires a one time commitment instead of a long term investment in the organization.

So what would make you willing to make a long term investment in a non profit organization? What will cause you to decide, I'm going to make a decision based on the economic principle of opportunity costs because I realize that we all have to make choices based on our limited resources and time to give some of your time and/or money to a non profit organization. Will you say that I make a commitment to make a monthly or annual contribution to an non profit organization. Instead of eating that $10 daily lunch, you will take your lunch or by a $5 lunch and donate your savings to our "Donate Your Lunch Money". Would you go into work a little earlier or go to the gym before work, so you can still get your work out on, but volunteer for our after-school programs. Would you be willing to talk and encourage people in your network to make the same choices that you make to devote their time and talent to a non profit.