The Connecticut Science Center and the Connecticut State University System (CSUS) have partnered to bring science applications developed by university faculty at Central, Eastern, Southern and Western Connecticut State Universities to Connecticut Science Center visitors.
The new “i4 Initiative” will showcase science research and applications underway at the four universities, and highlight career paths for young people pursuing scientific fields. Initial applications to be featured include geology, genetics, navigation and technological simulations.
Science faculty from a range of academic disciplines will be included on a rotating basis each year. Leaders of both organizations say the i4 initiative, as the collaboration is called, will help to ignite a fresh look at science by students and citizens across the state.
The universities will provide three new application demonstrations each year, beginning this summer, culled from proposals developed by university faculty and connected with the Connecticut Science Center’s diverse exhibit galleries. The partnership will include university graduate and undergraduate students in a range of capacities, including working directly with student visitors in hands-on science.
The i4 initiative has been in development for more than a year. Faculty proposals are reviewed by a peer committee and presented to CSC education staff. Selected faculty projects receive the support of the universities and the CSC for their completion.
The initial programs developed through the i4 initiative are:
- Life’s Common Thread - Genetics will provide a basic understanding of genetics, techniques for analyzing DNA, and research applications that illustrate how genetics is used to understand health and in tracking ancestry. It builds off the research of a team of Connecticut high school students who helped identify the genetic marker for a mutation that results in curly hair. Visitors to the Science Center will have the opportunity to analyze DNA and explore research applications that illustrate how genetics are being used to understand health and physical traits. The research program is led by Patricia Szczys in the Department of Biology at Eastern, Thomas King in the Department of Biomolecular Sciences at CCSU, and Denise Mathews, who teaches at Eastern in the Communications Department.
- The Dynamic Earth - Geology will provide a basic understanding of geology, promote increased knowledge of erosion, explain how scientists examine historical data to interpret land changes, and provide a unique artistic look at the topic. Professor William Jones, in the art department at Eastern, has developed an artistic application to scientific study of changes in the landscape and geological processes. He is joined by Cynthia Coron in the Earth Sciences Department and SCSU and James Hyatt in Eastern’s Department of Environmental Earth Science. Science Center visitors will get an overview of Connecticut’s unique geology and then examine historical data sets to assess weathering, erosion, plate tectonics and the human-influenced changes on the land.
- Finding Our Way - Navigation and Remote Sensing will present a historical perspective of multicultural navigation, as WCSU’s Theodora Pinou and SCSU’s Scott Graves have developed a unique a wii-based tracking devise that will help visitors explore navigation and how past cultures have solved the problem of understanding where they were, how to get to someplace else, and return again. Within the Science Center, visitors will use the device to experience remote sensing. Research on satellite tracking of marine turtles around the globe, for example, present real-world applications to remote sensing technology and how it is increasing our understanding of earth systems.
- Simulating the Human Body will demonstrate how a sophisticated, computer- controlled machine can simulate the human body’s responses and create experiences close to human patients. SCSU Department of Nursing Professor Barbara Glynn is an expert in utilizing state-of-the-art simulators to allow students to put theory into practice through hands-on realistic experiences. Connecticut Science Center visitors will be able to interact with the simulator as well as observe and understand the work of nurses in health care settings.
We plan to include videocasts and podcasts in addition to on-site demonstrations by faculty from CSUS, which is Connecticut’s largest university system with nearly 36,000 students. Students from the four universities working towards education degrees may also participate in the initiative, collaborating with science educators in working with students visiting the Science Center.