Blog Posts

Future City & Science Fair Judges Needed

1/5/2015

Annunciation Catholic School is in need of judges to share their enthusiasm about science with our students. We are looking for friendly professionals with experience in biology, medicine, physics, engineering, agriculture, or city planning to judge Science Fair or Future City models, research papers, and presentations. Please volunteer to judge the Middle School competition on Friday January 16th from 8:00-12:30. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. The address is 2610 Utah, NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110. Major cross streets are Wyoming and Menaul.

Please contact Colleen Ruiz at cruiz@acsabq.org or 505-228-8185 if interested.

Public Lecture by Dr. Mark Boslough on "The 2013 Chelyabinsk (Russian) Meteorite and Other Stories of Destructive Impacts and Airbursts on Earth"

12/31/2014

The 2013 Chelyabinsk (Russian) Meteorite and Other Stories of Destructive Impacts and Airbursts on Earth
Mark Boslough, Ph.D., Sandia National Laboratories

Friday, January 9, 2015, 7:00 - 8:30 PM. Doors open at 6:15 PM.
Free admission, no registration required

Sponsor
New Mexico Academy of Science

Host & Lecture Location
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
Dynatheater
1801 Mountain Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87104 • (505) 841-2800

Shortly after dawn on February 15, 2013, an asteroid descended at about 19 kilometers per second (42,500 mph) exploding at high altitude in a momentary flash brighter than the sun and generating a shock wave that injured over a thousand people. This type of event is not as unusual on Earth as one might think. Hear the story and related research from New Mexico expert Dr. Mark Boslough on planetary impacts and global catastrophes. Dr. Boslough’s research on airbursts challenged the conventional view of asteroid collision risk and is now widely accepted by the scientific community. In 2011 he stated, “It is virtually certain (probability more than 99%) that the next destructive NEO (Near Earth Object) event will be an airburst."

Dr. Boslough’s work has been profiled on PBS NOVA, the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and the BBC. The asteroid 73520 Boslough (2003 MB1) is named after him. He is currently a Principal Member of the technical staff at Sandia Laboratories.He earned his B.S. in Physics (Colorado State University) and M.S. and Ph.D.in Applied Physics (Caltech) where his research focused on geophysics.

NMAS announces Outstanding Science Teachers of 2014

10/30/2014

Outstanding Science Teacher Lindsay Henson, Public Academy for Performing Arts, Albuquerque, NM

Outstanding Science Teacher Colleen Ruiz, Annunciation Catholic School, Albuquerque, NM

It is our great pleasure to announce this year's NMAS Outstanding Science Teachers:
Lindsay Henson and Colleen Ruiz.

Lindsay Henson grew up in Indianola, Iowa, with a dream of attending Iowa State University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering, and becoming a Pediatric Oncologist. As a high school senior her goal started to change shape and would continue to morph into something she least expected, a high school science teacher. In 1998, Lindsay moved 1100 miles away to Socorro, New Mexico to attend the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (New Mexico Tech) and pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and emphasis in pre-med. When not studying, she worked at the campus daycare center with children ranging in ages from two to twelve and volunteered as the assistant cheerleading coach at the local high school. After graduating from New Mexico Tech, Lindsay moved to Albuquerque to pursue a career in outpatient physical therapy. In 2005, she graduated from PIMA Medical Institute as a certified Physical Therapy Technician. After three years, she started the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Western Governor’s University to become a high school science teacher. Lindsay completed her MAT degree in the summer of 2011 and started teaching at the Public Academy for Performing Arts (PAPA) that fall. Encouraging students to do their best, to venture outside of their comfort zone, and try things they “don’t like” is Lindsay’s daily motivation. It is this motivation that gives her students the opportunity to engage in:

National Honor Society: Program did not exist at PAPA until Lindsay started it in 2012.
NASA WISH Program (Women in STEM High School Scholars Program).
ExploraVision National Science Competition sponsored by Toshiba and NSTA.
UNM Combined BA/MD Degree Program
Designing, building, and executing their own laboratory experiments to test linear motion, projectile motion, torque, center of gravity, Newton’s Laws, and Momentum.
Career Fair: Students research a career of their own choosing, relate it to their current science class, and then hold their own career fair

Colleen Ruiz earned her bachelor’s degree in science for Civil Engineering from New Mexico State University in 1997. Over the next ten years she gained career experience with natural gas pipe lines, nuclear energy, forest management, as well as commercial, residential, and campus design. In 2008, Colleen went back to school to earn a teaching license with a science endorsement. She works for Annunciation School in Albuquerque. She developed and conducts hands-on, weekly labs for 200, 3rd – 6th grade students. Students engage in dissections, mineral testing, erosion labs, hot air balloon design, wind turbine design, LEGO simple machines, chemistry experiments, build model electrically wired houses, and build solar powered cars among other adventures. Colleen’s sixth grade students participate in:

Future City: Solve potential future problems including transportation and agriculture. Last year her students placed 2nd and 3rd at the state competition and won the best essay award.
Science Fair: Learn how to conduct scientific research, define variables, plan and conduct an experiment, analyze results, and draw conclusions.
NM Electric Car Challenge: Design, build, and compete with a battery operated vehicle.
Destination ImagiNation: Competition that emphasize creativity and teamwork.

Colleen has been treasurer of the New Mexico Science Teachers Association (NMSTA) for several years and helps coordinate the annual conference. In 2013, she was awarded the New Mexico Science Teacher of the Year and the Excellence in Teaching Award. She was also nominated for the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science Teaching. She regularly has field experts in the classroom such as meteorologist Mark Ronchetti, Sandia Engineers, ER doctors, and scientist parents who help lead investigations and share career advice. Colleen’s students participate in field trips to the Aquarium, Zoo, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Rio Grande Nature Center, and Explora! These experiences make learning exciting, real, and meaningful to these students.

"Rain in New Mexico: Past, Present, and Future" - A Presentation by Tom Schmugge

10/3/2014

The New Mexico Academy of Science is pleased to present a talk by renowned expert in satellite remote sensing, Dr. Thomas Schmugge.

Title: Rain in New Mexico: Past, Present & Future

Time, Date, and Location: 5:30 PM, Wednesday, October 8th, at the Museum of Nature and Science, Las Cruces. Parking and entrance is on the Downtown Mall, at 450 North Water Street. (click here for map)

By: Dr. Tom Schmugge, NASA, USDA, and NMSU, retired.

Tom now works part-time at the New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, on a project funded by the National Science Foundation to quantify all the water inputs and outputs of the state, the water budget

Abstract:

In the state water budget the biggest components are precipitation and evapotranspiration (ET), which are very difficult to assess on a statewide basis, particularly for our sparsely populated New Mexico. For ET this is especially true because of the difficulty in measuring it on the ground. There are several approaches using remotely sensed data to augment the ground net work of rain gauges and to estimate ET. I discuss these approaches and their results. One startling result is that these observations of precipitation have shown a decrease of about 1.25 million acre-feet / year since 1990, from a level of about 110 million ac-ft. Previous climatology would indicate that this trend should reverse as it did after the drought of the 50s. However, the complication of climate change suggests that this might not happen. Recent results of studies on climate change portend that the future probably won't be wetter.

Brief biography of Dr. Schmugge:

Dr. Thomas Schmugge spent 34 years as a research physical scientist in NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (1970-86) and the USDA Hydrology Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland (1986-2004). He has been a truly peerless intellectual leader in improving both the theory and the application of microwave and infrared radiative transfer for the remote sensing of the land surface, especially soil moisture, surface temperature, and emissivity. Without exaggeration, he has been a trailblazer and is now unquestionably one of the few world experts on remote sensing in hydrology.

Dr. Schmugge was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (1998) and a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2001). In 2006, Tom received the Robert E. Horton Medal of the American Geophysical Union. The medal is awarded for “outstanding contributions to the geophysical aspects of hydrology.” His accomplishments perfectly embody this ideal. His research has dealt with soil moisture and radiation, the main drivers of the Earth’s energy and water budgets.

Dr. Schmugge was appointed the Gerald Thomas Chair for Sustainable Agriculture at New Mexico State University in 2005, a position he held to 2008. His expertise is being put to use at the New Mexico Water Resource Research Institute, for the task of generating a water budget for the state of New Mexico. This project is funded by the EPSCoR program of the National Science Foundation.

NMAS 2014 Research Symposium

9/30/2014

The NMAS, NM EPSCoR, NM AMP, and NMPMSE are proud to host this year's Research Symposium! Come out and join us!

November 1, 2014. Albuquerque Hyatt Regency.
October 24. Registration deadline.
September 30. Abstract submission deadline.

NMAS Newsletter

7/8/2014

The latest issue of the NMAS Newsletter is now available here. Check it out!

2014 National Youth Science Camp

2/25/2014

The National Youth Science Camp (NYSC) 2014 Program of the New Mexico Academy of Science (NMAS) is once again sponsoring (all expenses paid!) two graduating New Mexico high school seniors to attend a prestigious 3-week-long camp in West Virginia (June 27 - July 20, 2014).

Please help us get the word out about this wonderful opportunity and generous program by distributing the attached program description to schools and teachers.

If you have any questions about the program, please contact Richard Nygren (renygre@sandia.gov), NMAS coordinator for the NYSC.

Cactus Adoption and Native Plant Day at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park

2/17/2014

The Asombro Institute for Science Education is sponsoring a "Cactus Adoption and Native Plant Day" at the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Park in Las Cruces on 1 March 2014. Anyone is welcome to participate. See the flyer for additional information.

Judges Needed for Central New Mexico Science and Engineering Research Challenge

1/28/2014

Judges are needed for the Central New Mexico Science and Engineering Research Challenge on 21 March 2014. The fair will be held in the Johnson Center on the University of New Mexico Campus in Albuquerque, NM. Click here to register as a judge.

Judges Needed for Southwestern New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair

1/27/2014

Judges are needed for the Southwestern New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair on 8 March 2014. The fair will be held in the Corbett Center on the New Mexico State University Campus in Las Cruces, NM. Click here to register as a judge.