Science Exploration Day to Bring 750 Students to UB

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Flesh-eating insects, Bigfoot, missions to Mars and what working in forensics is really like: these are just a few of the topics that 750 high school students from across the region will learn about and participate in during the University at Buffalo's annual Science Exploration Day on March 14 on UB's North (Amherst) Campus.

Students from 24 school districts, including the Buffalo Public Schools, will participate.

The annual event is organized by Rodney L. Doran, professor emeritus in the Department of Learning and Instruction, UB Graduate School of Education, who started it more than 20 years ago to spark interest in the sciences and in science careers among high school students.

Ted Yeshion, an Edinboro University professor and expert in forensics, will be the keynote speaker. Yeshion, who received his doctorate in science education from UB, will lead sessions on what forensic science is really like -- as opposed to how the field is represented in popular television shows -- in the Woldman Theater in Norton Hall at 9:15 a.m., 10:10 a.m. and 12:20 p.m.

Other sessions will include an inside look at weather forecasting with Don Paul of WIVB-TV; a presentation on global warming, "The Earth in Hot Water," by UB geology student Phil Stokes, who also heads up UB's Buffalo Geosciences Program; and two NASA video conferences on Mars missions and earth science. Virtual-reality demonstrations and sessions on Bigfoot and on environmental chemistry also will be given.

Students also will tour UB's laboratories in biological sciences, chemistry, physics and astronomy, and engineering.

Along with UB, the event is co-sponsored by the Niagara Frontier Science Supervisors Association (NFSSA) and the Science Teachers Association of New York State.