STEM – Australian Science

Interview with Joanne Manaster – a multipassionate scientist

Danica Radovanovic — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 16:58:20 +0000

Joanne Manaster is a cell and molecular biology lecturer at the University of Illinois. She currently works as an online course developer and lecturer of science courses for the School of Integrative Biology. Prior to this current position, Joanne has taught histology, cell biology, and tissue engineering laboratories to biology and bioengineering students for nearly 20 years. Beside her academic career, she is a science writer and communicator, science video host, and STEM advocate. Joanne has run a girls’ bioengineering camp, and helped with the iGEM synthetic biology team and other outreach activities. She also makes video reviews of popular science books as well as whimsical science experiments with cats, cookies, gummy bears and make-up.

Joanne writes about science at her website, Joanne Loves Science and also at Scientific American blogs. She has been named by Mashable as having one of the 25 Twitter Accounts That Will Make You Smarter. You can find her on Twitter as ScienceGoddess.

Welcome to Australian Science! Would you, please, tell our readers a little bit more about yourself? What is your scientific background, and your professional scope?

Thank you for asking me to join you!

I am a faculty lecturer at the University of Illinois. I initially started my college studies with plans to head to medical school but through my course of studies I found I really clicked with cell and molecular biology and was very adept at lab work. Through various opportunities, I also discovered I had a knack for explaining scientific concepts so eventually changed my path to teach at the university level. I studied muscle development at the microscopic level in grad school and eventually transitioned to teaching cell biology and histology.

How did you initially get interested in science? When did you start to express your curiosity for science?

I always loved nature and had a fascination with human health. I spent a lot of time in nature and did a lot of reading on science topics. I didn’t know any scientists. I knew they existed from reading textbooks, but the whole field seemed shrouded in mystery. However, I understood what doctors did and thought that becoming a physician would be a valid way to pursue my passion for science. As I mentioned above, it wasn’t until college that I realized how scientists did their work, and could then consider that as a career path.

It is interesting to mention that you are a former international model, back in the days of your adolescence. Did you find something scientific in the world of modeling and fashion?

As far as modeling goes, I was discovered while I was in high school. Initially, I wasn’t enthusiastic about it but realized it would be a great way to earn money for medical school. While I was modeling, I wasn’t thinking about it in any scientific manner as I was learning to interact with a very new and somewhat foreign world. It wasn’t until I completed my science training in college did I really start to see how science explained just about everything. In my course of teaching students, I also began to see the value in piquing their interest by talking about things they could relate to in terms of science, and that extends to my online outreach!

Would you tell us more about your role within executing online courses for current and future science teachers?

After many years of giving lectures and running laboratory classes which overlapped with my online outreach, I realized that I could apply my ability to communicate online to my instructing position so I transitioned to teaching cutting edge biology through my online program for middle school and high school teachers who want to obtain their Master of Science Teaching. I have designed and executed three courses for this program so far: The Human Genome and Bioinformatics, Evolution and Medicine and Emerging Infectious Diseases. I enjoy mixing primary scientific literature with popular science communication to both train the teachers and to give them resources for their classrooms. Teachers make the best students!

You have a very unique approach for science book reviews using video as a format for presentation, encouraging everyone to read. Other videos are an interesting and whimsical introduction to the world of science disguised in everyday items. How did you get inspired to make such videos?

Book reviews are a natural for me. I love to read and I love science! The gummi bear videos began from a question asked by one of my college students. He asked if a gummy bear could be liquefied through the process of sonication (using high frequency sound waves). I then considered how I could subject the gummy bears to other lab techniques!

One of my favorite videos is Cats In Sinks, which was inspired by a fun website that showed numerous cats in sinks and it made me think I could talk about theoretical vs. experimental science by trying to figure out how many cats could fit in my large lab sink.

I also really enjoyed using cookies as my models of blood cells to create a series about those cells called “Blood Cell Bakery

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The Highlights of 2013

Danica Radovanovic — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 10:04:12 +0000

This year our writers churned out a host of fantastic articles, including a series of posts dedicated to women in space, written by Sharon Harnett. One of the most notable of the series was all about Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman astronaut. This year was the 50th anniversary of her historic spaceflight. We also had a few great interviews, including one with Henry Reich, creator of the YouTube series Minute Physics. We’ve managed a number of achievements. We’ve helped several science writers gain exposure and reputation world wide, we’ve appeared on ABC’s Newsline, and we’ve been listed in TED’s top 10 science and technology websites.

So, in no particular order, here are ten of our favourite articles from 2013. We hope you’ll enjoy these stories. Stay curious and scientifically passionate!

A Tale of Two STEM Women by Buddhini Samarasinghe

When I first read this story, I was struck by how often we focus on happy stories like Marie Curie’s, and how the story of someone like Clara Immerwahr remains largely forgotten. She had a tremendous amount of potential, as evidenced by her being the first female to receive a Ph.D at the University of Breslau, an endeavor that is certainly not for the faint-hearted even now. One can only wonder at the ‘might-have-beens’ if she had had the same support and encouragement that Marie Curie did, if she had not married Haber, or if Haber had been a different kind of person. These examples highlight that talent alone is not enough; we need to encourage that talent by promoting equality and recognizing our own biases when it comes to women in STEM. Read more>>

Sometimes it’s hard to be a woman (in science) by Amy Reichelt

Obtaining a senior academic position for any aspiring young academic is one of those uphill struggles with roads lined with self doubt, setbacks and sacrifice. Some call it the way to tenure-track, in my mind it’s one of those ill-defined paths through a potentially haunted forest inhabited with monsters, gigantic poisonous spiders and creepy people who communicate by screaming. It can be harder still to even reach that point, particularly for young women. While the number of women professors in Europe, N. America and Australia has increased over the last decade, universities still have a disproportionately small number of women in senior professorial positions. Read more>>

Spiders on Mars? No, An Australian Radio Telescope! by Elizabeth Howell

The MWA is a powerful telescope in its own right, but what is even more exciting is it will form part of a larger project in the coming years. The Square Kilometre Array will link radio telescopes on two continents — Australia and Africa — to get a fine look at the sky in radio wavelengths. MWA is just one part of this array. There will also be dish receptors in eight countries in Africa, with the core and some mid-frequency aperture arrays in South Africa’s Karoo desert. Read more>>

Hopeful results in latest HIV vaccine trial, but many hurdles to overcome yet by David Borradale

A HIV vaccine, known as SAV001-H has shown promising results in an early clinical trial, with no adverse effects reported and importantly, a significant increase reported in HIV specific antibodies in participants who received the vaccine. In this trial, 33 HIV positive participants were randomly allocated to one of two groups: half into a treatment group receiving the vaccine and half into a placebo group who did not receive the vaccine. The participants were followed up at regular periods, testing safety of the vaccine and antibody response over a one year period. Read more>>

Are Australians Really Getting Dumber? by Magdeline Lum

The Australian Academy of Science has found that when it comes to science Australians are getting dumber in its latest report on science literacy. Compared to three years ago, less people in Australia know that the Earth’s orbit of the sun takes one year. Among 18-24 year olds 62% surveyed knew the correct answer, a fall from 74% three years ago. Other results would also send scientists into a tail spin of despair, with 27% of respondents saying that the earliest humans lived at the same time as dinosaurs, though an improvement from 30% of respondents in 2010 who thought this. What does this all say? If you take the face value of the press release and the ensuing media coverage, Australians are getting dumber. Read more>>

From fables to Facebook: Why do we tell stories? by Lauren Fuge

Storytelling is one of our most fundamental communication methods, for an obvious reason: narrative helps us cognise information. Telling intelligible, coherent stories to both ourselves and others helps our brains to organise data about our lives and our world. But when we askwhy stories are so effective at helping us cognise information, the answers are surprising: it seems that somewhere in the otherwise ruthless process of natural selection, evolution has wired our brains to prefer storytelling over other forms of communication. Read more>>

Plastic’s Reach by Kelly Burnes

Plastic. Seems it has extended its reach into the farthest corners of the universe. An earliest post described how plastic has changed our lives, for better…and for worse. ADD link to earlier post. That post largely reflected on the growing problem of plastic in the oceans and the effect on plant and animal life. Now, it seems that plastic threatens our freshwater lakes now too. Read more>>

Postcard from Spitzer: weather on 2M2228 is hot and cloudy by Kevin Orrman-Rossiter

Long distance weather reports are now a commonality. The report for 2MASSJ22282889-431026 is somewhat unusual. It forecasts wind-driven, planet-sized clouds, with the light varying in time, brightening and dimming about every 90 minutes. The clouds on 2MASSJ22282889-431026 are composed of hot grains of sand, liquid drops of iron, and other exotic compounds. Definitely not the first place to spend a summer holiday. Not that 2MASSJ22282889-431026 (or 2M2228 as it is known in The Astrophysical Journal Letters) will appear on a travel itinerary anytime soon. For 2M2228 is a brown dwarf, 39.1 light years from earth. Read more>>

The bacteria that live inside hurricanes by Charles Ebikeme

Seven miles above the Earth’s surface, where the weather is born, lies the troposphere – the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere. Up there, where the clouds dance around, are bacteria that can make it rain, and are important for the formation of clouds. The atmospheric microbiome is a concept and field of study that is gaining importance. As we come to grips with a changing climate and environment, understanding more and more our Earth ecosystem remains vital. With hurricane damage in the US and elsewhere seemingly on an exponential increase in recent decades, it is important to mitigate for the worst. Read more>>

Quantum computing: Australian researchers store data on a single atom! by Markus Hammonds

Computing is also an incredibly fast moving field of technology, and research is finally taking us towards the exciting world of quantum computing! Quantum computers will work using quantum bits, or qubits for short, which are analogous to the digital bits used in computers like the one which you’re using to read this article. Recently, a team of engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has successfully demonstrated, for the first time ever, how a single atom can be act as a qubit, effectively showing the first step in building an ultra fast quantum computer. And they might just have created the best qubit ever made. Read more>>

Happy 2014 from Markus, Charles, Kevin, Kelly, and Danica!

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Weekly Science Picks

Kelly Burnes — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 00:17:20 +0000

Google celebrated International Women’s Day with a Doodle
Source: Google

Women. This is the theme of this edition of Weekly Science Picks. Yesterday, in case you missed it, was International Women’s Day. And it is important to note the achievements of women in careers such as teaching, neuroscience and engineering because women are still in a tightly contested race with the male counterpart. But who doesn’t enjoy a little competition?

The articles selected this week touch on another issue that is being hotly debated in the U.S. as of late – the question of if women can have it all. Many of you have perhaps heard that Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, has started down a path of empowering women with her new book released this week, “Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead”, accompanied by the creation of Lean In Circles, a social networking group to help women express issues of dealing with work and family. I’m not going to get into a debate about this right now, except to encourage some discussion of this topic among our readers, female or male, and think how it applies to life in the sciences.

This first pick deals with exactly this topic. It is a selection of women in science from around the globe, tackling incredible and exciting challenges in the lab, and outside of it with families.

From the frontline: 30 something science, What’s being female got to do with anything, ask the scientists who are starting labs and having kids by Heidi Ledford, Anna Petherick, Alison Abbott & Linda Nordling

“I never thought that my life had to be limited to anything, and I want to set that example for my daughter.

Cite this article:
Burnes K (2013-03-10 00:17:20). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 06, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-22/
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Science Expo: Enrich, Empower, Explore

Jessie — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:03:21 +0000

Students interact with enrichment exhibitors at Science Expo 2013: Derive and Integrate.

The Science Expo Youth Empowerment Group (SEYEG) is a student run, non-profit organization which aims to connect youth to innovators and enrichment opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). SEYEG was founded by five students who met at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in 2009. In 2010, the first Science Expo, a 2-hour conference held in Guelph, Ontario, brought together over 200 students, teachers and parents. Today, SEYEG includes a student and teacher outreach program, an alumni mentorship program (EXPOtential) and a creative competition (meriSTEM) in addition to an annual conference.
Science Expo 2013: Derive and Integrate, Science Expo’s fourth annual conference, took place this past Saturday at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, Canada. The conference brought together over one hundred high-achieving students from across the province interested in pursuing STEM enrichment opportunities. With guest speakers, networking workshops and STEM challenges, the day was a huge success and the delegates returned home with a renewed passion for discovery.
The morning began with a delightful science magic show, where Mr. Chamberlain and Mr. Oslinger showed off their impressive comedic and chemistry skills. A literal ice breaker followed, in which delegates were challenged to melt a bag of ice as fast as they could without using body heat. Students were even seen holding ice to light bulbs in the ceiling!
During lunch, delegates were given the chance to interact with exhibitors from various STEM programs. Youth Science Canada, Shad Valley, the University Ontario Institute of Technology, Engineers Without Borders and Australian Science are a few of the organizations with which students could get involved.
Guest speakers this year included:
• Dr. Steve Mann, the father of wearable computing
• Dr. Brad Brass, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
• Paul Nazareth, business advisor
• Laura Suen, Canada’s Smartest Person, runner-up
Each presentation was inspirational and insightful, demonstrating important life lessons to attendees. Dr. Mann touched on the importance of thinking outside of the box when approaching a scientific concept, while Paul Nazareth and Dr. Bass illustrated the power of networking. Laura Suen mentioned the concept of happy accidents through the presentation of her past successes.

Delegates at Science Expo 2013 play with the Hydraulophone, a liquid instrument invented by Dr. Steve Mann.

The day also included presentations from the finalists of the meriSTEM competition. In its foundational year, meriSTEM is a competition that allows participants to create anything which captures an interesting aspect of STEM. Five finalists presented these creative projects, with the winner receiving a $500 scholarship.
For more information on Science Expo’s initiatives and how you can get involved, please send an e-mail to info@science-expo.org or check out their website at www.science-expo.org .

Cite this article:
MacAlpine J (2013-03-04 00:03:21). Science Expo: Enrich, Empower, Explore. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 06, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/science-expo-enrich-empower-explore/

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Weekly Science Picks

Kelly Burnes — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 18:52:46 +0000

I’ve just returned from a fantastic holiday in Australia (sad I had to leave). The great thing about travel is that it opens your mind and exposes your senses – elevates it to a higher level of thinking, thinking that is clear and uninterrupted. The not so great thing about travelling to far away places is the resulting jet lag…that can lead to not so clear and uninterrupted bouts of thinking at 3AM. What follows is a hodgepodge of the collection of science stories I encountered over the past week.

This first article opens up a much-needed debate on the policy of biodiversity and species preservation. Whether it is rhinos, right whales, snow leopards, I think it’s time we had a conversation on how present day society moves forward with species interaction.

Rhino poaching in South Africa reaches record levels by Matt McGrath

“Rhinos are being illegally killed, their horns hacked off and the animals left to bleed to death,” says Traffic’s director of advocacy Sabri Zain, “all for the frivolous use of their horns as a hangover cure.”

While in Brisbane, I had the great pleasure to meet with the director of Australian Science, Dan Petrovic. We had an hour-long conversation about artificial intelligence. I’m not sure how much interaction I want with my search engine in the future, but the beauty of his story is in the intricate details and the possibilities that may soon be reality. This story technically wasn’t from last week, but that is when I read it. So if you haven’t given it a read, sit yourself down with a cup of coffee or tea and do so. We would love to host a Google+ hangout and get some reader feedback on this topic.

Conversations with Google by Dan Petrovic

This article explores the future of human-computer interaction and proposes how search engines will learn and interact with their users in the future.

I love science. How did I not know about io9? No idea. But thank goodness I have added it to my weekly reading list. (Thanks Dan!) This next story is about humour more than anything. And in science, a sense of humour is an important character trait to have. The U.S. may not be building a Death Star, but kudos to them for the response and taking the opportunity to highlight STEM. My nieces in Ohio are hard at work on building the Lego Death Star they received from Santa. So in a way, the U.S. is getting a Death Star and two aspiring scientists. Maybe thousands!

The White House will not build a Death Star, tells us in hilariously geeky fashion by Lauren Davis

If you do pursue a career in a science, technology, engineering or math-related field, the Force will be with us! Remember, the Death Star’s power to destroy a planet, or even a whole star system, is insignificant next to the power of the Force. – Response from Paul Shawcross, Chief of the Science and Space Branch at the White House Office of Management and Budget

Apparently Shell experienced an incident with its Arctic drilling on New Year’s Eve, with no catastrophic consequences. Arctic drilling seems like a horror movie. You’re sitting on the couch watching TV, the music is loudening, suspense is growing, you know something bad is about to happen at any second…

An energy analyst from the Brookings Institution mentions in the article that oil and gas companies don’t have a choice when it comes to Arctic exploration and drilling. In order to remain competitive, they have to go up there.

In Kulluk’s Wake, Deeper Debate Roils on Arctic Drilling by Traci Watson

Fortunately for the energy industry, the Arctic has become more hospitable to drilling just as other locations have become more hostile. The Arctic sea ice melted away to a record low in 2012, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spelling easier access for drill ships, though melting ice also brings new problems.

Fortunate. Back to the drawing board. So many plans and policies, so little time.

As always, stay thirsty for knowledge.

Cite this article:
Burnes K (2013-01-13 18:52:46). Weekly Science Picks. Australian Science. Retrieved: May 06, 2024, from http://australianscience.com.au/news/weekly-science-picks-16/

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Weekly Science Picks

Magdeline.L — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 00:15:18 +0000

The midlife crisis is more complicated than first thought. It might be time to stop blaming troubled marriages and feeling obsolete in a sea of younger colleagues. A study published in the Proceedings of the Natural Academy of Sciences has revealed that chimpanzees and orangutans also experience a midlife crisis.

Having a midlife crisis may not just be the result of a troubled marriage or the thought that life may be halfway over. It might be part of primate biology. That’s right, hardwired into us.

Economist Andrew Oswald told ABC Science that it might be beneficial.

“Maybe discontent lights a fire under people, causing them to achieve more for themselves and their family.”

A shiny new red sports car might just indeed lead to better things.

Danielle Spencer runs a science club at Mitchelton State School in Queensland and explored where gender stereotypes in science began. Where does the perception that men do the “hard” sciences and women do the “soft” sciences come from? A group of 45 primary school students were surveyed and it was found that a majority of students thought that science was accessible to both genders.

When asked why there are more men than women in engineering roles, the students responded with gender based answers like “Girls like dancing and other jobs.” and “Women are more suited to caring and developing jobs like childcare and nursing.”. There was no response that challenging this observation. This was despite 75% of the group thinking that science was accessible to them. It is disheartening to hear.

Students were asked whether their science club should be split into a boys only and girls only science club, there was overwhelming support for a combined science club. There was an appreciation and acknowledgement that irrespective of gender, everyone had a valuable contribution. At the moment this cohort of students believe that science is something that everyone can do. The question remains though, how do we get adults to believe this?

As this week drew to a close, attention focused on NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. A story broke at NPR reporting that the Curiosity Rover may have found some exciting news. Project Scientist at the Mars Science Laboratory, John Grotzinger was quoted to saying:

“We’re getting data from SAM as we sit here and speak, and the data looks really interesting.”

SAM, the Sample Analysis at Mars is a miniaturised chemistry lab. On board is a Gas Chromatograph, Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer, Tunable Laser Spectrometer as well as sample processing systems that allow heating and chemically treating samples. Normally these instruments would fill the space in a laboratory but on Curiosity it’s around the size of a microwave. SAM is being used to collect information about the past and present chemistry of Mars. As well as this SAM is also identifying organic and inorganic chemical molecules known to be important to life on Earth.

So what has SAM found? Nothing has been confirmed but it does sound like there is something especially when Grotzinger says:

“This data is gonna be one for the history books.”

We will have to wait at least several weeks before NASA makes an announcement.

New Zealand’s volcano, Mount Tongariro made it into this week’s news with an eruption on Wednesday. Luckily there have been no reports of damage or injuries. However, a group of travellers and journalists hiking at the time witnessed and filmed the eruption.

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The Gender Myth and Science. Our Response at SC@M

Danielle Spencer — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 01:09:05 +0000

Girls are just not as good at science as boys. Men do hard sciences, women do soft sciences. Gender stereotypes have existed long-term throughout the spectrum of sciences. Most people have witnessed it first-hand. Patients question expert female doctors, yet implicitly trust their male counterparts. Laboratories are full of female scientists with male leads. Why do we trust the judgement of men in science before females? Just where do these gender stereotypes come from and when do children start believing in them?

SC@M (Science Club at Mitchelton State School) began mid-2012, attracting 45 students from Grades 4-7. Of the applicants, 21 were girls, 24 were boys with their ages ranging from 9-12 years. Included in the SC@M application process, students were asked a series of gender and science related questions to elicit their current opinions. Not surprisingly, some of our SC@M applicants did indeed hold some gender stereotypical views, which were compelling to examine. Unexpectedly, it was a minority of applicants that held these views.

Question 1: Boys understand science easier than girls. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

*Agree n = 15*	*Disagree n =30*
*Boys like it moreBoys listen more, girls talk too muchAll the famous scientists seem to be maleMost scientists on TV are male***	Boys and girls learn the sameGirls listen better so they understand moreBoth girls and boys can be good at scienceYou just have to work hard

Question 2: Men are better at science jobs than women. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?

Agree n = 12

Disagree n = 33

Women are not as good at maths Most scientists are men Men are braver Men think it’s more fun

Men can deal with more energy correlations and stuff

Boys do technology stuff

They are equal, we have equal rights It just depends on how hard you push yourself Men may be stronger but science doesn’t require strength I have only ever been taught science by ladies

Notably, of the children who agreed with these statements, several described the dominance of male scientists portrayed by the media. Doesn’t every Australian know of Dr. Karl? He hosts radio talk-back science shows and Sleek Geeks on ABC TV, is the science-guru guest on numerous morning shows and the author of over 30 books. Many would consider Dr Karl as the face of Australian science. This misrepresentation of science and gender subtly endorses the view that boys are simply better at science.

It was pleasing to note that the majority of our applicants disagreed with these statements and most suggested that science was accessible to both genders. Given current research suggests girl’s interest in science diminishes towards late high school, it would be worthwhile to re-examine this same cohort of children at a later stage to determine any change.

Question 3: Currently there are more men in some science jobs (like engineering) than women. Why do you think this is so?

Typical responses

Men like it more. Women don’t want to get dirty.Men are stronger.Boys just like building things.

Women have a family.

It’s too hard for girls.

Girls like dancing and other jobs.

Women are more suited to caring and developing jobs like childcare and nursing.

There has always been more men in engineering.

Although 75% of applicants thought that science was accessible for them, the majority of children responded with gender-biased statements when responding to Question 3. Sadly, none of the applicants provided an opposing side. Women are under-represented in engineering fields and other physical sciences. We need strategies to encourage girls to enter these fields, not allow them to simply accept that “it is just too hard for girls

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