Public Outreach

Public Events - Nicky Young

Nicky is a Powerhouse Science Center Science Communication Fellow. Fellows are scientists, researchers and other science-based professionals who have been certified by Powerhouse Science Center (http://powerhousesciencecenter.org/) as science ambassadors and excellent communicators. One of the events Nicky participated in was the ‘Meet a Scientist’ weekend in April 2016 at The Discovery Museum (http://www.thediscovery.org/), where she had a hands-on educational activity relating to her research on air pollution. The aim of this activity was to teach the public about the importance of the source of the particles in influencing the chemical composition and size and help individuals understand the health impacts of PM and think about possible ways they can improve the air quality around them. Photographs of Nicky in action at the event are shown below.

Mentoring - Caroline Parworth

Over the course of one year Caroline has been mentoring a high school student, Jasmine, through the AggieMentors program at UC Davis. The goal of this program is to prepare socio-economically challenged high school students who want to pursue university degrees in Environmental Sciences and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Caroline mentors Jasmine as she works on a research project, results from which she will present at the competitive EnvironMentors Fair held at UC Davis in May. Jasmine is working on a research project related to residential wood burning curtailment in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) of California. The goal of this research project is to determine whether restrictions on residential wood burning in Fresno during the winter result in the decrease of PM2.5 mass concentrations. Through this mentoring program the student will learn about human influence on air quality and how residential wood burning influences air quality and human health. The results from this work will be shared with a broad audience of teachers, other high school students, and their families. The student also has the opportunity to present their work at the national EnvironMentors Fair in Washington, D.C., where they will be able to share their knowledge with an even more expansive audience.