Spring Creek Water Project

On Tuesday Sept. 27, 2016 Spring Creek Elementary 3rd and 4th graders went to LaPrele Park to study human impacts on water and the water cycle. 

Prior to their field trip, the class had studied the water cycle, aquifers, and the effects humans have on water.

Wyoming EPSCoR was able to help teachers bring place-based education where students could preform tests and observe water close to home. Science and Math Teaching Center graduate student, Claire Ratcliffe and EOD coordinator Emily Vercoe went out with the class to help with class discussions and testing. 

Before they started testing, the class learned what an aquifer is and how features like a spring form in an aquifer. An example used was the Casper Aquifer. The Casper Aquifer accounts of 60-100% of Laramie's drinking water. Students were able to make personal connections to the science of water by studying it in the context of their local environment. 

Students tested water quality in Huck Finn Pond, a spring fed fishing pond. They were also able to test along Spring Creek. This creek is also spring fed, but comes from a different source further east. These two different testing areas offered the opportunity to compare and contrast moving and still water. 

The class conducted a variety of tests including; pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. Based on the information collected, students could make predictions on the health of the stream and pond. 

While testing, students had time to observe macro-invertebrates. Macro-invertebrates commonly found in the water of Huck Finn Pond and Spring Creek are stoneflies, mayflies, or sowbugs. Most students went hunting for crawdads, by far the most coveted catch of the macro-invertebrates. 

There was also playful creativity incorporated into the field trip. The students played "Macro Mayhem", a version of the game sharks and minnows. Students were asked to mimic a stream, helping them to see how sensitive macro-invertebrates quickly die off if stream quality is damaged.

To conclude their day of scientific explorations the class walked back to school along Spring Creek Road, making observations along the way. 

The class can look forward to another day out in the field on Oct. 10 when they return to the water cycle, with a focus on watersheds. 

Snowy Science: "End of Snow" Film Premiere

The world premiere of "End of Snow" will be shown on Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016 at the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, CO. "End of Snow" is a film that was produced by Day's Edge Production with support from Wyoming EPSCoR, University of Wyoming, and WyCEHG. 

Dr. Jane Zelikova, producer and talent in the film, has grown to be passionate about snow and the role it plays in our lives. She was inspired to document and explore the effects of climate change on snow in the Rocky Mountain regions. 

"I wanted to help make a film about science and the people and unexpected places where innovation can come from," Dr. Zelikova said. 

Dr. Zelikova talking with Bryan Schumanan, a geology professor at the University of Wyoming.

Dr. Zelikova became involved with the Wyoming EPSCoR program as a part of a collaborative research team that is characterizing the factors that influence snowpack dynamics in the Snowy Range Mountains.

After receiving a Wyoming EPSCoR grant in spring of 2015, the crew began filming in August.

Morgan Heim, "Mo", was the director of the film and was involved in the filming and editing process. Although she may be a terrible skier, she has been in love with snow from an early age. Growing up on the Virginia coast she rarely saw snow, and began to find herself craving it. When Dr. Zelikova asked her to help with the project, she did not hesitate.

"I would get to work with a dear friend on a climate change issue tailored to the environment and communities that I call home. This seemed like a way I could contribute," Heim said. 

Billy Bar, a resident of Gothic, CO, who has kept a 40 year record of snow in the area. 

Heim has affectionately called the film "her baby", but she was sure to mention how the project would not have been possible without the help of her team. 

"Jane was an inspiration throughout, and a great talent in front of the camera and with planning. Neil Losin, Nathan Dappen and Aly Nicklas all lent their considerable talents behind the camera. The whole team gave invaluable editing input. Kori Price, our production manager and assistant saved our butts and sanity more than once," Heim said. 

A still shot from the third chapter of "End of Snow" filmed near Big Piney, Wy.

Dr. Zelikova plans to continue her career in filmmaking and this past summer worked on a film about SRAP the summer research program for high schoolers funded by EPSCoR.

"I hope people walk away from the film with a better understanding of how climate change is influencing snowpack in the West. But even more importantly, I hope the viewers are inspired to do science because science is really just curiosity about how the world works and can come from unexpected people and unexpected places. In the end, I hope we show that breaking down barriers that silo us into "scientist", "rancher", "skier", or whatever, can really expand our potential and bring innovation to address the impacts of climate change," Dr. Zelikova said. 

For more information on the "End of Snow" and future screenings click here. 

Own It! Celebrating UW Women in STEM

To highlight the achievements of women scientists on campus, Wyoming EPSCoR developed the Own It! Awards, a celebration of women researchers in STEM fields at the University of Wyoming. Last night, recipients were honored at a ceremony on campus. This event underlines the importance of visibility in STEM fields for women, highlighting disparities that increase as women complete their studies and enter the job market.

Young scientists in Wyoming were the first to receive Own It! Awards: a group of Girl Scouts in Laramie who participated in a year-long citizen science project with the Biodiversity Institute, collecting data about ecological conditions on the Laramie River.

Girl Scout hydrology researchers receiving their Own It! Award.

Next, audience members saw a multimedia presentation on the Bearded Lady Project by Dr. Ellen Currano, who used false beards to draw attention to a very real gender disparity in paleontology. You can learn more about her project at thebeardedladyproject.com; a documentary created by Ellen Currano and her creative partners will premiere later this year.

Dr. Cynthia Weinig presented an Undergraduate Own It! Award to Jazzlyn Hall, a double major in anthropology and geography. One of the graduate supervisors who nominated Jazzlyn said of her: “Within less than a year, she has proven herself by leading two research projects in our lab while continuing two other research projects in geography and anthropology departments. She has presented her research at internationally recognized conferences, including the 2015 American Geophysical Conference in San Francisco.” Jazzlyn has also been awarded an NSF award for graduate research when she begins grad school at Columbia next Fall.

Dr. Indy Burke presented the Graduate Own It! Award to Karagh Murphy, who has published in a broad range of techniques including hormone manipulations, brain imaging, and behavior. She is currently the lead investigator for two projects seeking to understand the role of mirror neurons in vocal learning. Karagh has presented research at the international Society for Neuroscience conference, and is currently organizing Wyoming’s first Brain Awareness Week.

Student Own It! Award recipients Karagh Murphy (left) and Jazlynn Hall (right)

Dr. Shawna McBride presented a Staff Own It! Award to Dr. Susan Swapp, a Senior Research Scientist and the Manager of the Materials Characterization Laboratories in the Department of Geology and Geophysics. As Dr. McBride said, “For over 20 years, Dr. Swapp has built one of the best material characteristics labs in the West.” Dr. McBride also highlighted Dr. Swapp’s exceptional mentoring of younger students, so that they can increase their confidence and expertise in using instruments in their research.

Arts & Sciences Dean Paula Lutz presented two Faculty Own It! Awards. The Early Career Own It! Award went to Dr. Melanie Murphy, a faculty member in the College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences in the department of Ecosystem Science and Management. Professor Murphy’s nominees described her as “a terrific scientist” and an “outstanding mentor.”

Dr. Cynthia Weinig won this year’s Own It! Award for Tenured Faculty for her work in the Departments of Botany and Molecular Biology. Dr. Weinig is also a member of the leadership team for the UW Science Initiative, part of the team developing the National Science Foundation ADVANCE grant, and is now helping to lead an effort to develop a large institutional grant to better understand Wyoming’s microbiomes. 

Own It! Awards Presentation by Dr. Ellen Currano

All of the presenters acknowledged a spectacular field of nominees, making it difficult to choose just one deserving winner in each category. Presenters also spoke about the value of mentorship in their own careers, and how inspiring it was to see such a vibrant community of women in STEM fields at the University of Wyoming.

Finally, Megan Candelaria of WYSTEM presented an Own It! Lifetime Achievement Award to Dr. Dolores Cardona, who has worked for decades to improve the UW community by bringing awareness to issues related to race and gender. Dr. Cardona created the Summer Research Apprentice Program (SRAP) thirty years ago, still going strong as a part of EPSCoR’s education and outreach efforts. Dr. Cardona also spearheaded the Women in Math Science Engineering group (WIMSE), a vital professional development resource for young women on campus.

In her closing remarks, Liz Nysson expressed her hope that the Own It! Awards would become a UW tradition: “Wyoming EPSCoR hopes that the Own It! Awards will continue on an annual basis, so that the achievements of UW women researchers in STEM can be celebrated.”

Posted to the UW EPSCoR Blog by Jess White

Critical Hydrology Research in the Critical Zone

Bryan with the undergraduate research team about to depart for Pennsylvania
(Photo courtesy of Bryan Shuman)

With support from EPSCoR, Paleohydrology Professor Bryan Shuman took four UW undergrads to Pennsylvania this past summer to study the long history of drought in the area. With a study area of hundreds of square miles and timeframe of thousands of years, the team sought to answer questions about the hydrological past and illuminate the future.

Ground-penetrating radar allowed the team to see the ancient shorelines of these lakes, establishing a water record dating back millennia. The team pushed plastic tubing into the lake bed to collect sediment core samples. This technique allows researchers to grab a cross-section of silt layers. 

Undergraduate researchers hard at work collecting samples on the lake
(Photo courtesy of Bryan Shuman)

  As Bryan explains, “Because this is a history of drought in natural reservoirs – when water levels were high, when they were low – we can learn about hydrology and climate change over several timescales.” Lake sediment can also be used to plot forest fires, since researchers can measure fossil charcoal deposits from burned trees. “Everything washes into these lakes over time. They’re like time capsules, big memory cells that record environmental change.”

Why Pennsylvania? Ocean temperatures in the Atlantic influence conditions throughout North America. The Atlantic coastline also boasts several Critical Zone Observatories, which study the interactions between life on the earth’s surface, microbes underground, and water flowing through the ground. These complex processes generate soil, contribute to erosion, and determine what plants grow and which animals survive. The “critical zone” is the zone where this vital interaction between geology, hydrology, and biology takes place.

The EPSCoR grant offers Bryan’s team access to these Critical Zone Observatories, and two of these sites are in Pennsylvania. The team is interested in the role water plays in these interactions, especially as it changes over time. “It’s great to take students out in the field and have them see these things for the first time. Being out in the field is such a different experience from sitting in the classroom. Learning is so much more tangible when you can pull samples out of the ground.” 

Undergraduate research team with core samples
(Photo courtesy of Bryan Shuman)

The team found evidence of drastic rises in Pennsylvania water levels. “The magnitude of that change is kind of equivalent to going from the amount of rain we have on the Great Plans to the amount of water we have on the North Coast right now. Not making it a desert, but in terms of ecosystems and plants, that would be a pretty big shift. If you were to make Pennsylvania like Illinois, that would have a big impact on the water resources that people depend on and the plants they grow.”

So far, the results seem to indicate a large increase of water in the North Atlantic region, a pattern Bryan says is similar to most of the places in the US that he has studied. The pattern extends to Wyoming, which you might be surprised to learn is much soggier than it was a few thousand years ago. “There’s definitely precedent for Wyoming being drier than it is now.” The team confirmed an overall pattern of water increase, but also found evidence of droughts lasting not just a year or two but centuries.

Bryan believes that hydrological history in the state is crucial to awareness of water conditions now and in the future. “Water’s important. We need water, and we don’t know how constant our water supply is. Looking at the past gives us a chance to see how much it can change, and what that means for the land around us.”

Posted to Wyoming EPSCoR by Jess White

"Drawn to Biodiversity" Workshop Combines Observation with Creativity

Bethann sketching in the great outdoors
(Image courtesy of Bethann Garramon Merkle, (c) 2016)

Long before iPhones and waterproof cameras, scientists would often sketch their observations of nature. Last Saturday, the UW Biodiversity Institute held a workshop called “Drawn to Biodiversity” in which students received a short course on the use of visual notetaking and observational drawing.

Wyoming EPSCoR was a sponsor of the Drawn to Biodiversity workshop. According to Liz Nysson, Wyoming EPSCoR Coordinator, “It is important to merge art with traditional scientific fields. It allows researchers to observe the world differently, and communicate their discoveries in unique and compelling ways.”

Bethann Garramon Merkle, a graduate student in UW's MFA program, taught the course, which drew on her own experience as a science writer and illustrator. Her writing and illustrations appear in a syndicated column, Drawn to the West, in the Laramie Boomerang, as well as in American Scientist, Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph, and EdibleMISSOULA.

Rosehips from Bethann's sketchbook

(Image courtesy of Bethann Garramon Merkle, (c) 2016

Bethann is experienced at helping others see the beauty of nature through art. On her website, CommNatural, she offers clients expert assistance with creating and publishing arresting visual and textual material. Her original artwork combines vibrant watercolor with agile pen-and-ink line drawing, a technique that captures the spontaneity and intricacy of the natural world.

Bethann designed the Drawn to Biodiversity workshop to cater to every skill level, since she believes that anyone can draw. “Drawing as we think of it today is based on a set of techniques developed during the Renaissance. These techniques absolutely can be learned, practiced, and improved - by anyone.”

As a sophomore at the University of Montana, Bethann was accepted into the Wilderness and Civilization program, a one-year multidisciplinary minor program where students learn about conservation issues. “Before this program, I was almost entirely unaware of ecology, conservation concerns, and food system issues.” Field journal practice was a major component of the program. “I had taken every science and every art class offered in my small rural high school, but the W&C Program was where I first learned these two disciplines could be complementary.”

Amphibian lore from Bethann's sketchbook

(Image courtesy of Bethann Garramon Merkle, (c) 2016)

Bethann’s science illustration relates directly to her science writing. “In a pragmatic sense, drawing compels me to look very closely at a given subject - much more closely than if I only describe that subject in writing. I also have to problem-solve visually, which involves capturing color in a visceral way, drawing and re-drawing a form until I have accurately captured the shape.”

The workshop on Saturday provided students a “toolkit” of basic skills that they could use whenever they had an opportunity to draw from life. Bethann relishes “guiding a scientist” through the creative process of drawing, and giving them the tools to solve problems and see the world in a new way.

In addition to the hands-on workshop, Bethann gave a seminar talk for the UW Department of Zoology and Physiology, “Drawn to Science: Exploring the Historical and Contemporary Synergies between Drawing, Creativity, and Science.” You can listen to a Wyocast recording of the talk here. She is currently working on a project on ecological concepts in Caldecott-Medal-winning children’s books, as well as an adaptation of “The Tortoise and the Hare” with naturalistic illustrations. 

For Bethann herself, art is a meditative experience: “Making art, particularly when I am outside, causes time to warp in a fascinating way…It’s as if there isn’t such a thing as time at all.”

If you are interested in learning how to draw from nature, you can download a field drawing basics guide from her website here.

Drawing Workshop for the Biodiversity Institute in August
(Image courtesy of Bethann Garramon Merkle, (c) 2016)

STEM Summer Programs at UW

Energy Summer Institute students learn about temperature testing
on Prexy's Pasture

The UW campus isn’t just for college students during the summer. From May to July 2016, an estimated 600 middle- and high-school students will come to the University of Wyoming’s Laramie campus from all 23 counties across the state. Summer programs include the Healthcare Careers Summer Camp, Engineering Summer Program, Energy Summer Institute, Summer Research Apprentice Program, Women in Science, Summer High School Institute, Wyoming Energy Camp, and Upward Bound Math & Science. Most programs are offered at little or no cost to participants and serve students entering grades 6-12. 

Activity at a camp in conjunction
with the Teton Science School

Megan Candelaria coordinates a number of STEM programs for Wyoming students at UW through the new WYSTEM program. Megan grew up in Sundance, Wyoming. She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degree in Math from UW, and is currently finishing a Ph.D. in Math Education here.

As the WYSTEM coordinator, Megan works to bring together groups on campus and throughout the state who do K-12 outreach, making sure students, parents, and teachers can take advantage of STEM learning opportunities. “Since last year, we’ve generated a list of the summer programs provided by UW. I also work directly with students, and I’m currently working with the Wyoming State Science Fair to provide opportunities for STEM education to all students. We also bring six to eight groups of middle- and high-school students to campus each semester to do STEM activities.”

Students visiting campus for a STEM activity event

A summer program alum herself, Megan describes a thrilling experience: “I attended one of the camps on this list. It’s probably one of the reasons I ended up coming to UW. I was part of the Weather class, and we actually got to go up in the flight research plane for the Atmospheric Sciences Department. We got to sit up front with the pilot and put our hands on the controls. The most excitingly terrifying thing ever!”

These programs are designed to capture student interest in STEM fields, and Megan underlines that this is vital to Wyoming’s future. “Building a STEM pipeline is really important to workforce development. We want to give our students the information and the motivation to continue to learn about STEM careers and hopefully go on to make Wyoming a better place.”

Activity at a camp in conjunction with the Teton Science School

Read on for a list of the diverse programs available at UW this summer:

Program Date		Program
5-Mar	:	State Math Counts
17-May	:	Women in Science
July 10-15	:	Health Careers Summer Camp - 10th/11th grade
July 17-22	:	Health Careers Summer Camp - 8th/9thth grade
July 24-29		Field Based Environmental Science at Spear-O-Wigwam Mountain Campus
June 12 - 17	:	Wyoming Energy Camp
June 12 - July 22	:	WY EPSCoR Summer Research Apprentice Program
June 13-July 21	:	Upward Bound
June 19 –June 24	:	Energy Summer Institute
June 19-25	:	Engineering Summer Program
June 21-23	:	Wyoming 4-H Showcase Showdown
June 5-25	:	High School Summer Institute
March 6-8	:	Wyoming State Science Fair
TBD	:	TACoS

Student Researcher Makes Great Strides with WyCEHG

Student Researchers Annette Hein and Nadia Fantello

When Annette Hein was still at Casper College, she won a ten-thousand-dollar prize for her essay on “the origin of complexity in the universe.” Using a honeybee as an example, Annette described the manifold layers of analysis that might go into a complete description of one tiny animal. Nowas an undergraduate at the University of Wyoming, working with Dr. Andy Parsekian in UW’s Geology and Geophysics lab, Annette’s success in science has continued to grow . Last December, Annette gave a presentation on her own research at the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting in San Francisco. “It’s an experience not a lot of students get, so I feel very lucky!” 

Dr. Parsekian’s research interest is climate change in arctic climates, and he is currently studying water flow in the Snowy Range. Geophysics research here in Wyoming is helping researchers understand hydrology in cold places. Most people are familiar with medical imaging technology – EKGs, MRIs, ultrasounds and X-rays – that use different kinds of energy to “see under the surface.” Geophysicists can use these same technologies to create images of the earth, but Dr. Parsekian’s team takes pictures of much bigger areas: “We flew a helicopter with a camera attached to it across the Snowy Range to detect water levels.” 

Annette delivering her talk at AGU

Annette was able to look at data collected by graduate students on the geological makeup of the Snowies. “The bedrock there has all these little cracks and fractures in it. Groundwater can be found in those fractures, and sometimes it travels from place to place.” Annette explains that as water moves underground there are a lot of questions about where it might go. “If there’s a lake, it might be sinking into the ground slowly, or getting recharged. I was trying to map out where the groundwater was concentrated and where it wasn’t, so I could see how the groundwater connects to water we can see on the surface.”

Annette was working with resistivity data, which measures the way electricity flows through the ground and uses that information to analyze properties like density and chemical composition. “The basic idea I started with was, ‘If rock is wetter, it ought to be more conductive.’” Soon, Annette found out that interpreting her data would be much more complicated than she thought. “I was surprised by how many different factors you had to think about. You couldn’t just start with the approach of, ‘Oh, this is conductive, it must be wet!’”

Student Researchers Annette Hein, Nadia Fantello,
and Drew Thayer in the field with NMR equipment

Annette was able to use nuclear magnetic resonance sounding (NMR), which can detect groundwater, to check some of her interpretations. “The two sets of data disagreed a lot more than I liked. I felt like I had to be very careful to make sure that any statements I was making actually could be backed up. I learned a lot about making sense of complex datasets, which is kind of the definition of a lot of geophysics. I love figuring things out and bringing things together to make a picture that isn’t obvious when you start out.”

Dr. Parsekian also talked about the importance of Annette’s research to Wyoming. “Seventy percent of our water falls on ten percent of our landscape, and that’s in the form of snow falling on mountaintops. This research is critical to understanding where our water comes from, especially in a headwater state like Wyoming that provides water to so much of the rest of the country. Annette came upon a project that is totally self-directed, which is certainly not typical for undergrads. This is an example of participating in knowledge production very early on.”   

Annette was placed in the lab by Wyoming EPSCoR’s Community College to UW Transition Program, which paid her a stipend. She’s currently working on another paper about a technical issue related to NMR. “Unfortunately, if you try to do the measurements near power lines or generators or anything that produces electromagnetic fields, the instrument picks that up and it will drown out the signal you’re really trying to get. I learned that there are ways to remove the noise from the measurement and get the signal you’re interested in.” This spring, Annette will travel to Denmark to talk to professors at Aarhus University who are also researching these signals.

Dr. Andy Parsekian

Annette’s next step is grad school. “I want to work on water resource issues. I feel like that’s only going to be a bigger issue in the next couple of decades, so hopefully I can make a contribution. It’s great to help give people a more positive attitude towards science and get interested in science. I have friends who say, ‘I could never do that!’ And they’re very smart people, but they just have this view of science as something that they could never be part of. Even if people don’t want to get into the nitty gritty, I hope they feel like science is awesome and exciting and positive.”