SWOCC release – Coos Bay, OR – Southwestern Oregon Community College welcomes guests of all ages for a free lecture “High Altitude Balloons, Microbes, and Bobcats: Finding Your Passions Through the SPEAR (Space Physics Engineering Atmospheric Research) Research Team” by Southwestern Alum Madison Davis. Join us on the evening of Thursday, November 2, 2023, at 6:30 pm in the Umpqua Hall lecture room 184 on the Coos Campus, 1988 Newmark Ave., Coos Bay. Madison Davis from The University of Wyoming and SWOCC SPEAR Alumni will be talking about how her experiences with the SPEAR research team and Oregon NASA Space Grant Consortium (OSGC) geared her to pursue opportunities with the Wyoming NASA Space Grant and other research disciplines. Although she did not pursue a degree in physics or astronomy, she says she was thrilled to be able to participate in atmospheric research that incorporated her passion of microbiology. Davis became a member of the LIFT Project – Learning to Integrate Fundamentals through Teaching (A Wyoming NASA Space Grant project) where she and her team created a payload to capture microbes from the stratosphere. She also became involved with STEAM outreach through the Wyoming NASA Space Grant and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America. While wildlife disease research does not overlap greatly with physics and astronomy research, she says the skills that she has gained through OSGC has helped her become a resilient scientist. For those unable to attend in-person, the talk will be streamed live through Southwestern’s YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLyo3uIvZEJLAv9maSe_aO8naW3ypdjEO. For more information about the lecture series contact Dr. Aaron Coyner, Associate Professor of Physics, at 541-888-7244, aaron.coyner@socc.edu. For more information on other departmental events and outreach opportunities email STEAM Pathways Assistant, Krystal Hopper Meyers at krystal.hopper@socc.edu or 541-888-7416. To learn more about physics degrees at Southwestern visit https://www.socc.edu/physics/.
