National Youth Science Camp 2018 Program
                                   With All Expenses Paid Including Travel
                               For Two Graduating NM High School Seniors
                                  Application Deadline is February 28, 2018

Two New Mexico high school seniors interested in science will receive an all-expenses-paid, month-long stay at the prestigious National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) from June 27 – July 21, 2018. The NYSC program pays all expenses for the students including airfare.
Apply on the web at http://apply.nysc.org/ and for links for Facebook, Twitter and LinkEd. The website http://www.nysc.org has frequently asked questions. Also, you may phone or email:
E-mail NYSC Director John Giroir: (john.gifroir@nysf.com) Phone NYSC: (304) 205-9724
The New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS) selects two candidates and alternates for the camp based upon an applicant’s academic achievement, leadership in school and community activities, and genuine interest in the sciences. In 2017, Yoni Xiong of Carlsbad HS and Vesan Cabardo of Centennial HS in Las Cruces attended NYSC and Carter Fietek of Del Norte HS was selected as an alternate.
West Virginia Governor Jim Justice extends a personal invitation by letter to New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez to participate in NYSC. NMAS (www.nmas.org) selects candidate in New Mexico. The NMAS coordinator is Dr. Richard E. Nygren (Sandia National Laboratories, renygre@sandia.gov).
Where is the camp held? NYSC is held in the eastern mountains of West Virginia’s Potomac Highlands. Delegates can visit the nearby National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank, hike in the unique wilderness areas of the Monongahela National Forest and visit other notable West Virginia landmarks.
What happens on a typical day at the National Youth Science Camp? A typical day begins with a morning lecture from a guest scientist. Then some groups go on outdoor trips, and the rest participate in hands-on, small group science seminars facilitated by guest scientists or NYSC staff members. In the afternoon are seminars, athletic and recreational activities, art, and music. An evening science lecture follows dinner. All activities challenge delegates to approach problems with creativity.

From the Editor:

The New Mexico Journal of Science is a publication of the New Mexico Academy of Science. Each issue of the Journal, which has been published since 1906, contains research papers and articles deemed of interest to the scientists, educators, and citizens of New Mexico. Some volumes address scienti c topics of social or economic interest to the state, while others emphasize scienti c research in areas where New Mexico is particularly active.

The Academy oversees a New Mexico Junior Academy of Science program that sponsors an annual statewide scienti c paper competition for students in New Mexico’s high schools. is volume of the Journal contains a selection of research papers from that competition.
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The New Mexico Academy of Science Research Symposium was held in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 5, 2016. Oral and poster presentations at the Symposium described scienti c research being conducted by undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty at New Mexico’s colleges and universities, and the abstracts of those presentations are once again included in this year’s Journal. e New Mexico Academy of Science also presented its annual Outstanding Science Teacher Awards at the meeting. We wish to acknowledge the organizations which co-sponsored the 2016 Research Symposium: the New Mexico Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR), and the University of New Mexico’s Center for Water and the Environment. 

Please have a look at our 2016 NM Journal of Science.

Special Free Lecture - at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (Albuquerque)

What: Waiting in the Wings: Emergence of Zika and Other Mosquito-Borne Viruses
Who: Kathryn Hanley, Ph.D., Biology Department, NMSU
When: 7:00pm, Friday, September 23, 2016
Where: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science (map)

Mosquito-borne viruses in the Americas have undergone a cataclysmic shift over the past decade.  Rates of dengue fever have surged across North and South America including Florida, Hawaii, and regions of the U.S.- Mexico border.  Chikungunya virus invaded the Americas in 2013 ushering in an epidemic of disabling joint pain. Finally Zika virus appeared in the Americas in 2015, triggering a public health emergency because of its ability to cause microcephaly in the developing fetus. This presentation will describe the ancestral cycles of dengue, chikungunya and Zika and the ecological factors that promote human transmission.  Dr. Hanley will offer her thoughts on what the future may hold and whether new methods of mosquito control will be sufficient to contain whatever may be "waiting in the wings."

Dr. Kathryn A. Hanley conducts cutting-edge research on the emergence and control of mosquito-borne viruses, including Zika, dengue and chikungunya. She participated in the development of a dengue virus vaccine, currently in clinical trials, during research at the National Institutes of Health. At NMSU she investigates the ecology and molecular biology of mosquito-borne viruses in the laboratory and the field, and works on the development of new drugs to treat dengue and Zika virus.  She has authored or co-authored more than 50 research papers and co-edited the book Frontiers in Dengue Virus Research.  Dr. Hanley has a B.S. in biology (Amherst College) and Ph.D. in biology (University of California, San Diego). She is currently the Chair of the American Committee on Arthropod-borne Viruses.

This special lecture is sponsored by the New Mexico Academy of Science in partnership with the NM Museum of Natural History & Science.
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Cosmologist Lawrence Krauss will be speaking at UNM Anthropology Maxwell Museum lecture hall on June 25, 1:30 p.m., sponsored by CESE and NMSR (see below).   The talk is free and open to the public. 
http://www.cese.org/lawrence-krauss-to-speak-at-cese-annual-meeting/

The NMAS recommends adoption and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) by the New Mexico Public Education Department. For more information about NMAS' position and NGSS, visit our new  webpage on the topic.

Marshall Berman died on October 25, 2015 after being in a short-term coma caused a series of declines in his health.  He moved from Albuquerque to Colorado to be with his children where he could be cared for a few years ago.  But his heart was still in Albuquerque among his many friends and associates.  Marshall was very active throughout his life in the process of learning for both the old and young.  He founded and was the President of the Coalition for Excellence in Science and Math Education, The Friendly Philosophers, and helped start the New Mexicans for Science and Reason, and he was also a Past President of the New Mexico Academy of Science.

Dr. Berman was a friend of education and communication. In 1998, Marshall successfully ran for the State Board of Education.  His intent was to help increase the effectiveness of education in the state and to try and block the effects of pseudo-scientists who had taken over the Board and were driving educational standards with some very ill-conceived science requirements and lack, thereof.  He was successful in the latter and set the stage for the former by instilling the concept of using data to drive reform rather than silver bullets. Marshall did not believe in the current changes that began in 2011, but by then, there was no more Board of Education and he was growing quite ill with a variety of health problems. 

Marshall was retired from Sandia Laboratories, and had a PhD in nuclear physics.  He is survived by 3 children and 3 grandchildren with another on the way.  Marshall touched many lives and drove many events in New Mexico.  He will be missed very badly.  There will be a memorial in celebration of his life in Albuquerque on the weekend of December 12 and 13th.  As soon as the details are worked out, the specifics will be published and sent out to the many people he influenced over the years.

The New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS) and its partners, the New Mexico Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (NM EPSCoR) and the University of New Mexico Center for Research Excellence in Science and Technology (UNM CREST), invite you to the 2015 Research Symposium!

Visit the official NMAS Symposium site for more information and to register.

National Youth Science Camp 2015 Program
With All Expenses Paid Including Travel
For Two Graduating NM High School Seniors

Application Deadline is March 1, 2015

Two New Mexico high school seniors who are interested in science will be selected for an all-expenses-paid, month-long stay at the National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) in West Virginia's Potomac Highlands from June 17 – July 11, 2015.  Applications are now being accepted for this prestigious program.  Each year in the summer following graduation, two New Mexico high school seniors attend an intense month-long camp for young scientists.  The NYSC program pays all expenses for the students including airfare.   New Mexico’s participation is established through a request from the Governor of West Virginia, Earl Ray Tomblin, to New Mexico’s Governor Susana Martinez. 

Applicants must be candidates for high school graduation between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015 and must be able to attend the entire NYSC program.  Application forms and other information are available from the National Youth Science Foundation on the web athttp://www.nysf.com/w/programs/nysc/.  You may also inquire about the NYSC in the following ways:

Phone: (304) 205-9724, direct voicemail extension 90   Fax: (866) 833-0875

E-mail: office@nysf.com   Facebook: National Youth Science Foundation   Twitter: NYSCdotORG

Applications are done through the website http://apply.nysc.org.  The deadline is March 1, 2015

The New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS, www.nmas.org) administers the National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) program in New Mexico.   Judges from NMAS will select two New Mexico high school seniors to attend the science camp this summer based upon their academic achievement, leadership in school and community activities, and a genuine interest in the sciences.  The NMAS Coordinator for NYSC is Dr. Richard E. Nygren (Sandia National Laboratories, renygre@sandia.gov).   

Last year’s attendees were Dennis Huang  from La Cueva High School in Albuquerque and Anjik Ghosh from Albuquerque Academy, and Rana Chan from La Cueva High School was the alternate.   In 2013 the attendees were Maria Morrow from El Dorado High School in Albuquerque and Evan Liu of Albuquerque Academy, and Stephen Jenkins of Onate High School in Las Cruces was the alternate.  

Students from around the country attend the NYSC in the wilderness of the Monongahela National Forest in the eastern mountains of West Virginia's Potomac Highlands. Visiting scientists are invited to the camp based on their reputation as leaders in their field(s) and on their ability to share up-to-date research with the students.  Their exciting lectures and the hands-on experiences expose delegates to current work across the spectrum of scientific disciplines.  Students have many opportunities to increase their appreciation for the great outdoors and push themselves physically in an extensive outdoor program.  Many students establish friendships that last a lifetime.