Following a brief introduction of keynote speaker, the speaker showed a short video of baby eagles nesting on Long Island. He then requested to know what questions people had following the viewing which prompted various questions about the video. Following this exercise, the speaker inquired about Long Island Sound and why pregnant women could eat fish caught off Long Beach on the south short of Long Island, but should avoid fish caught in the sound. This question provided the basis for splitting the audience into small groups tasked with answering a question about the source of elevated mercury levels in the Sound. A great amount of activity and involvement and multiple group responses were then used to talk about getting students involved in doing science by addressing questions and real-world problems. He concluded his talk with a general discussion of Next Generation Science Standards. Following the keynote, there were a series of brief workshops that participants could attend dealing with a host of diverse demonstrations and activities.

Following these workshops participants proceeded to the Cue Café for an informal lunch and to view a series of student/mentor posters. Many questions, much discussion, and considerable interest was generated by the posters and the students attending them. On the whole, it certainly appeared that a great time was had by all.

-Contributed by Patrick Johnson

It was interesting to learn about how other peer mentors and faculty use different strategies to engage their students in sciences. Apart from presenting to conference attendees, Josh, Cynthia, and I took fifteen minutes to sit-down and have a conversation with the many of the high school students and their teachers in attendance. We discussed with the teachers strategies to keep students engaged in class, some of which we practice with our mentees.

-Contributed by Dan Yakubov, Peer Mentor

In conjunction with The STEM Academy wt QCC, HSI-STEM helped coordinate an event aimed at providing information to QCC STEM students interested in transferring to QC. Current QC students who previously transferred from QCC, many of whom are HSI-STEM peer mentors, spoke with current QCC students about their experiences. Faculty and advisors from both campuses also spoke with students to help prepare them for continuing their studies at another campus.