WEBINAR
Only
FREE
for Members
Webinar: Lyceum Society June 2022 Meeting
Monday, June 6, 2022
Webinar
Social Chat and Announcements: 11:30 am to 11:45 am
Preliminary Presentation: 11:45 am to 12:30 pm
Speaker: Meghan Groome, PhD
Topic: The Changing Landscape of STEM Education and the Role of Scientific Societies
The STEM education landscape is dynamic and changes with the political winds, future workforce needs and education research but it remains one of the most in demand subjects from parents and students alike. In this talk, Dr. Groome will discuss how the pandemic has impacted STEM education, the increasing need to focus on a connected and diverse global workforce and how the Academy is well positioned in this time of change. In addition to describing the education portfolio of the Academy, she will touch upon the larger role that scientific organizations can play in increasing access to high quality STEM education.
CV: Dr. Meghan Groome is the Senior Vice President of Education at the Academy. She started the education programs at NYAS in 2010 and left in 2017 to lead the School of the New York Times and serve as the Vice President of Programs at NYC FIRST. She rejoined the Academy in November 2021. She did her undergraduate degree in biology at Colorado College and PhD in Educational Research at Teachers College Columbia University. She has served as a PI or Co-I on numerous National Science Foundation grants publishing in a range of areas that highlight the strengths of the Academy - complex partnership management, scaling high quality programs and how scientists can directly improve STEM education through service learning. Dr. Groome lives in Brooklyn with her two children, 2nd grader James who wants to be a marine biologist or video game designer and three- year-old Katherine who has been obsessed with dinosaurs since she was a baby. Dr. Groome is a certified science teacher and the Co-President of the PS39 Parents Association.
Main Presentation: 12:30 pm to 2:15 pm
Speaker: Stuart Kurtz
Topic: The 1980 Titan ll Nuclear Missile Accident and the Lessons Learned
A little known nuclear missile accident, that nearly led to the explosion of the most massive warhead in the US arsenal in Arkansas, is a story of how complex systems are subject to failure despite all of the best protocols. Yet the rarity of such events indicates that often the probability of disasters might be less than we fear, though they still need to be addressed. Understanding this accident and other such failures is an opportunity to decrease their future probability. This talk is based on both a PBS documentary and a book, Command and Control, by Eric Schlosser.
CV: Stuart Kurtz graduated from MIT with an SB in Chemical Engineering and from Princeton with an MS degree in Polymer Engineering and an MA and PhD. in Chemical Engineering. He taught at RPI and in Brazil as Professor Titular in Materials Engineering. This was followed by a research career in industry accumulating around 30 patents and publishing at least a few good papers. He now focuses on Philosophy of Science and Physics and climbing mountains because they are there. He has spoken to the Lyceum Society many times; most recently in January, 2018 he spoke on the topic: Lessons from Science Lysenko, Velikovsky and the Demarcation Problem; In February, 2018 he spoke on Geoengineering for Climate Change Mitigation. In April, 2019 he spoke on Does Time Flow? In February, 2020 he spoke on Cold Fusion; in February and March, 2021 he gave a 2 part presentation on the scientific accomplishments and biography of Fritz Haber. And in in February 2022 he spoke on the Murmuration of Starlings: Emergence and Patterns.