On Friday, December 6th, the Roadshow partnered with the UW Lab School to offer a hands-on STEM Day for 62 K-3rd grade students. The students rotated through a variety of stations including learning about DNA, chromatography, topography, static electricity, tree leaves, science of music and the gut microbiome. The students enjoyed all their hands-on activities! This event partnered with the SAE AWIM AmeriCorps program who offered the science of making music station.
Roadshow Team:
Elizabeth Lungren (Undergraduate Student in Molecular Biology)
Garrett Nichols (Undergraduate Student in Chemical Engineering)
Charlie Nuncio (Graduate Student in Geology and Geophysics)
Lena Schwebs (Graduate Student in Geology and Geophysics)
Josie Walton (Undergraduate Student in Microbiology)
Ali Ceretto (Graduate Student in Botany)
Shelby Gibson (Undergrade Student in Plant Science)
On Thursday, November 15th the Roadshow traveled to Pavillion, WY for our 1st STEM Day at Wind River Elementary School, which included the students from Crowheart Elementary! Our team implemented stations to teach 152 PreK-5th grade students including chemistry, WY natural resources, energy, plant science, human anatomy, topography, water pollution, rocket engineering, big horn sheep, and robots. The Roadshow partnered with internal and external partners to pull of this huge event including Wind River Conservation District, UW School of Energy Resources, UW Innovation Wyrkshop, and the National Bighorn Sheep Center.
Roadshow Team:
Macei Engelke (Undergraduate student in Kinesiology)
Lilian Jones (Undergraduate student in Secondary Education and Special Education)
Phoebe Futcher (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Shelby Gibson (Undergraduate student in Environment and Natural Resources)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Wednesday, November 6th the Roadshow traveled to Farson, WY for our 1st STEM Day at Farson–Eden K-12 School! Our team designed many new STEM stations to teach 139 K-12th grade students. At this STEM Day, students were able to experience stations including engineering, big horn sheep, rockets, migration, archaeology, energy, chemistry, for the K-5 students, and physics, archaeology, squid dissections, animal biology, circuits, and mineral ID for the 6-12 students. The Roadshow partnered with internal and external partners to pull of this huge event including the Kemmerer Ranger District, Wyoming Wildlife Foundation, WY Big Horn Sheep Center, UW School of Energy Resources, UW College of Engineering STEM Outreach Program, UW Innovation Wyrkshop, and the UW Physics and Astronomy Department.
Roadshow Team:
Charlie Nuncio (Graduate Student in Geology and Geophysics)
Rachel Harris (Graduate Student in Geology and Geophysics)
Alyssa Baldwin (Graduate Student in Ecosystems Science Management)
Garrett Nichols (Undergraduate Student in Chemical Engineering)
Madison Ruhmann (Graduate Student Program in Neuroscience)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
On October 28th and 29th, the Roadshow stayed local and performed one of their many sustained classroom visits with the Laramie Middle School 8th grade students. In this classroom visit, 127 8th grade students spent two days performing the Roadshow’s recycling design challenge where they learned about both the engineering design process and contact forces. Students reviewed the concepts of the engineering design process and then went into using recycled materials to build, design, test, and re-build a car, tower, or bridge in groups. They had to work together to create their design, build the prototype out of various recycled materials and then put their build through 3 different tests of forces. They then had to use the results of their test scores to calculate an overall score! The Roadshow comes to the middle school each year to perform this hands-on activity at the end of the 8th grade unit on contact forces.
Roadshow Team:
Alessandra Ceretto (Graduate student in Botany)
Alyssa Baldwin (Graduate student in Ecosystem Science and Management)
Shelby Gibson (Undergraduate student in Ecosystems Science)
Elizabeth Lungren (Undergraduate student in Molecular Biology)
Lena Schwebs (Graduate student in Geology and Geophysics)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Friday, October 25th , the Roadshow drove over the summit to Freedom Elementary School in Cheyenne to work with 38, 4th grade students on body systems! The students had been learning about the different organ systems in the body and how they all work together. To help in their understanding, the Roadshow created lessons on the cardiovascular system, nervous system, and a general anatomy activity to help supplement the students’ learning. In these lessons the students used stethoscopes to measure heart beats before and after exercise, graphing how their cardiovascular system responds to exercise. The students then learned more about the nervous system by getting to compare and contrast 9 different real animal brains and learn how different brain areas can be “larger” for specific behavioral functions. The students then used play doh to sculpt the brain of an imaginary animal of their choosing. In the Human Anatomy lesson, students got to place all the different organs of the human body, review what they do for us, and then got to see cow kidneys, heart, and eyeball. Finally, students also were able to learn some plant science to help with another core standard they were planning on covering next, allowing the Roadshow to supplement their current learning, and help them prepare for what is to come in their next unit. Students were split into 4 different groups for this outreach event and rotated to each of these stations for 20 minutes each over the course of a 2 hour STEM visit at Freedom Elementary School.
Roadshow Team
Alyssa Baldwin (Graduate student in Ecosystems Science Management)
Shelby Gibson (Undergraduate student in Environment Sciences and Natural Resources)
Garrett Nichols (Undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering)
Vaishnavi Bhavsar (Undergraduate student in Molecular Biology)
Beatrice Bugos (Graduate student in Geology and Geophysics)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Thursday, October 17th the Roadshow traveled to Cody, WY for our 3rd STEM Day at Livingston Elementary School! Our team designed many brand-new STEM stations to teach 275 K-5th grade students. At this STEM Day, students were able to experience stations including fossils, soil geology (critical zones), DNA, chemistry, sensory biology, energy, and insects, plant science, physics, geologic time, engineering, anatomy, wildfires, migration, and trout ID. The Roadshow partnered with internal and external partners to pull of this huge event including Game and Fish, Cody Conservation District, UW School of Energy Resources, UW Engineering Ambassadors, Trout Unlimited, and Northwestern Community College.
Roadshow Team:
Nancy Weinheimer (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Elizabeth Lundgren (Undergraduate in student Molecular Biology
Lena Schwebs (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Macei Engelke (Undergraduate student in Kinesiology)
Lilian Jones (Undergraduate student in Secondary Education and Special Education)
Sara McCullough (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Shelby Gibson (Undergraduate student in Environment and Natural Resources)
Sabrina White (Graduate student in Zoology and Physiology)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Thursday, October 17th, three of the Roadshow’s Neuroscience Graduate Students traveled to Douglas High School to visit with 113 9-12th graders in various Biology and Psychology classes. The graduate students taught the students about the brain by having them compare and contrast 9 different animal brains, trick their sense of taste with miracle berries, and learn about their sense of vision with prism goggles and optical illusions. After that introduction, the high school students were then able to learn more about the graduate students’ research in the neuroscience of sleep by doing an interactive sleep workshop that taught them about the importance of sleep for brain health and current research on why sleep is critical to health.
Roadshow Team:
Quiana Jeffs (Graduate Student Program in Neuroscience)
Erik Gwaltney (Graduate Student Program in Neuroscience)
Madison Ruhmann (Graduate Student Program in Neuroscience)
On Tuesday, October 8th the Roadshow drove out to Urie Elementary School in Lyman, WY to bring a variety of STEM stations to 250 K-4th grade students. At this STEM Day, students were able to experience stations covering bees, robotics, human anatomy, wildlife ID, energy, bees, engineering, agriculture, WY pollinators, macroinvertebrates and fly tying, rockets, archaeology and chemistry. The Roadshow partnered with internal and external partners to pull of this huge event including Game and Fish, Uinta County Conservation District, UW School of Energy Resources, and UW Engineering Outreach Program, UW Mobile Makerspace, Trout Unlimited, Uinta County Farm Bureau, Bear River State Park, and the Kemmerer Ranger District.
Roadshow Team:
Elizabeth Lungren (Undergraduate Student in Molecular Biology)
Sabrina White (Graduate student in Zoology and Physiology)
Lilian Jones (Undergraduate student in Secondary Education and Special Education)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Saturday October 5th, the Science Initiative Roadshow offered a geology themed workshop offered to 60 9-12th grade young women from all over Wyoming at the University of Wyoming. The Wyoming Latina Youth Conference provides wonderful and empowering experiences for Latinas and Latinx gender-expansive youth at the University of Wyoming. The Roadshow ran an interactive hands-on station in the geology building, allowing students to learn at both the museum and with current graduate students in geology. The theme focused on both how fossils are made, minerals and their properties where students learned how to test for each property and use common tools to identify common minerals. Their knowledge was reinforced at the geology museum where they saw top quality gem and mineral displays. They were able to choose a favorite mineral at the end of their workshop and bring it home as a necklace.
Roadshow Team:
Andrew Miller (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Charlie Nuncio (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Rachel Harris (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Julian Diepenbrock (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Sara McCullough (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Macei Engelke (Undergraduate student in Exercise Physiology)
Elizabeth Lungren (Undergraduate Student in Molecular Biology)
Alyssa Baldwin (Graduate student in Ecosystem Sciences Management)
Kailynn Johnson (Undergraduate student in Biology and Secondary Science Education)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Wednesday, October 2nd, the Roadshow traveled up to the Happy Jack Trailhead just east of Laramie to visit with 50 4th and 5th grade students from the University of Wyoming Lab School. During this event, the Roadshow did their infamous Beaver Engineering station for the students. The students reviewed/learned about the steps of the Engineering Design Process and then applied those steps as if they were a small group of beavers! They had to work in their small group to collect supplies to build and test a beaver dam to withhold flowing water in a paint tray. The students had a wonderful time and enjoyed getting to be outside, think like beavers, and craft relevant projects related to the area.
Roadshow Team:
Alyssa Baldwin (Graduate student in Ecosystems Science Management)
Lena Schwebs (Graduate student in Geology and Geophysics)
Shelby Gibson (Undergraduate student in Environmental Sciences)
Rachael Harris (Graduate student in Geology and Geophysics)
On Thursday, September 26th, Madison Ruhmann, Erik Gwaltney, Andrew Miller, Lena Schwebs, Macei Engelke, and Erin Klauk from the Science Initiative Roadshow participated in the Cheyenne Discovery Day in Laramie County, engaging over 1,400 students from grades 7-12 in interactive, hands-on science activities. Attendees explored exciting topics like neurology, anatomy, fossils, and seismology. This marked the fourth annual outdoor Discovery Day event in Cheyenne, sponsored by the Wyoming Air National Guard. We had an incredible time and are already looking forward to returning next year!
Roadshow Team:
Andrew Miller (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Lena Schwebs (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Macei Engelke (Undergraduate student in Exercise Physiology)
Madison Ruhmann (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Erik Gwaltney (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Wednesday, September 25th Sabrina White, a top graduate student of the Roadshow, traveled to Rock Springs High School where she worked with 80 high school students across two Biology and Environmental Science classrooms and talked about her research. The students learned about how to preserve biodiversity, what biodiversity means, and what people can do to promote biodiversity. Sabrina visited with four, 90-minute high school classes during which she started with a fun game of “Bee or Not a Bee” where students looked at photos of different insects and had to determine if it was a bee or not. They also learned about bee life cycles and how they are similar and different across species. Students spent time then learning about why bees are particularly important to pollination and played a game where they matched bee pollinators to the food in which they pollinate. Finally, the students broke into groups and were given different Wyoming-relevant scenarios that were harmful to pollinators. They had to work as a team to solve the problem and think about what would happen to pollinators and food if nothing was done to address this issue.
Roadshow Team:
Sabrina White (Graduate student in Zoology and Physiology)
The Roadshow went up to the mountains at Curt Gowdy State Park to meet the Spring Creek Elementary 4th grade students for their outdoor day of science sponsored and organized by the Laramie based Common Outdoor Ground group. At this event, we worked with 40 students across 3 different outdoor STEM stations where they learned about beaver engineering, weathering and erosion of rocks, and how animals use their senses to survive outdoors. Graduate student, Ashleigh Pilkerton, of the Wildlife and Cooperative Unit at UW lead the students through an activity where they did the engineering design process as a beaver, building and testing their hand-built beaver dam creations. Andrew Miller of the Geology and Geophysics department had students working with rocks and sand to understand the concepts of weathering and erosion of rocks. Finally, Madison Ruhman, graduate student in neuroscience, taught the students about the different senses of the brain and how animals use them for survival through an outdoor moth catcher activity.
Roadshow Team:
Ashleigh Pilkerton (Graduate student in Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Cooperative Unit)
Madison Ruhman (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Andrew Miller (Graduate student in Geology and Geophysics)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Saturday, September 21st, the Science Initiative Roadshow provided hands-on brain activities for the Albany County Walk to End Alzheimer’s Disease. We set up a table at the event and taught participants about the brain by looking at 9 different brain specimens, had them create their own neurons (brain cells), play neuroscience jeopardy, and a poster talk from a UW researcher who studies circadian rhythms and Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Trey Todd. Neuroscience graduate students, Quiana Jeffs and Erik Gwaltney, and undergraduate student Kailynn Johnson led the way at the event inspiring and educating participants on the brain!
Roadshow Team:
Quiana Jeffs (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Erik Gwaltney (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Kailynn Johnson (Undergraduate student in Secondary Education)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Thursday, September 19th the Roadshow drove out to Big Piney Elementary School to bring a variety of STEM stations to 200 K-5th grade students. Both the Big Piney and the LaBarge Elementary School students came together for this awesome event and a day of STEM fun! At this STEM Day, students were able to experience stations covering: weathering and erosion of rocks, Wyoming geography, robotics, brain science, human anatomy, soil geology (critical zones), wildlife ID, predator/prey interactions, deer CSI, energy, and chemistry. The Roadshow partnered with internal and external partners to pull of this huge event including Game and Fish, Sublette County Conservation District, UW School of Energy Resources, and UW Monteith Shop.
Roadshow Team:
Nancy Weinheimer (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Lena Schwebs (Graduate student in Geology & Geophysics)
Macei Engelke (Undergraduate student in Exercise Physiology)
Madison Ruhmann (Graduate student in Neuroscience)
Lilian Jones (Undergraduate student in Secondary Education and Special Education)
Ashleigh Pilkerton (Graduate student in Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit)
Karagh Brummond (Faculty Science Initiative)
Erin Klauk (Faculty Science Initiative)
On Saturday, September 7th, Sabrina White and Ashleigh Pilkerton of the Roadshow headed to the Kemmerer Outdoor Discovery Day event in Lincoln County to engage 290 individuals in hands-on science about pollinators! Attendees learned about the different types of bees and then makde their own seed bombs to take home and plant at their houses. This was the third annual outdoor discover day event in Kemmerer sponsored by the Bridger-Teton National Forest! We look forward to visiting with them again at the 4th annual event!
Roadshow Team:
Sabrina White
Ashleigh Pilkerton
On Friday, September 6th the UW Top-Tier Science Initiative, in partnership with the Office of the President, hosted the 3rd Annual UW STEM Carnival. The carnival was a well-attended celebration of STEM research and programs at the University of Wyoming with a special highlight of the UW statewide Agricultural Research and Extension Center. Total attendance at the carnival reached 1,345 people with 1,210 of those being PreK-12 students and teachers from 16 different schools across 6 Wyoming counties. A huge thank you to the STEM Carnival Planning Committee: Mark Lyford, Karagh Brummond, Erin Klauk, and Amanda Korpitz.
The carnival had 53 STEM tables set up in the Hansen Arena that covered an array of STEM topics from UW departments and programs as well as community organizations in STEM. Each table had a hands-on activity/demonstration for attendees that engaged and sparked their curiosity. In addition to the STEM Tables, the Laramie Research and Extension Center facilities housed 10 agriculturally themed additional activities for attendees, which were 30-minute long stations that did a deep dive into ongoing research in the state. These additional activities were facilitated by the statewide research and extension centers, agricultural research laboratories at UW, the new Ranch management and Leadership Program, and the Science Initiative Roadshow/Zoology and Physiology Department. President Seidel and Chip Kobulnicky of Physics and Astronomy also hosted a hands-on activity on black holes. Here is what these amazing researchers covered:
Join us in saving the date for the 4th Annual UW STEM Carnival scheduled for Friday, September 5, 2025! Thank you to all of our participating units this year who made the STEM Carnival possible.
Participating Units:
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