'Cool Science' Returns: UB to Hold 24th Annual Science Exploration Day on March 10

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Science Exploration Day, the University at Buffalo's annual science-education bash, will make a return engagement to UB's North Campus on March 10, once again attracting some of the top science minds in the area, ages 14 and up.

The keynote address of this year's conference is "Grand Challenges and Space Exploration," to be presented by NASA Associate Administrator Chris Scolese, who will give a talk to local high school students in UB's Woldman Theater, 112 Norton Hall, North Campus.

A graduate of Cleveland Hill High School, where he won the Western New York Science Fair with a project on rocketry, Scolese earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from UB in 1978, and a master's degree in electrical engineering and computer science from George Washington University. A 2007 recipient of UB's Clifford C. Furnas Award -- presented to engineering, natural sciences or mathematics alumni who have distinguished themselves in a field of science -- Scolese has also received the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal.

Scolese will share Science Exploration Day with about 25 other researchers of distinction, both locally and from other states. Their presentations will range from an earthquake simulation tour to exotic invaders of the Great Lakes to "really gross anatomy and physiology." The exhibits have earned a reputation for being as creative and visually intriguing as they are informative and thought-provoking.

Almost 550 students from 18 area high schools are expected to attend. The students, who have the chance to interact with the researchers, are among the most avid and accomplished science students in Western New York. This year marks the 24th year UB's North Campus has hosted Science Exploration Day.

"Our goal is to 'tune them in to science' so they will continue their studies in science and become part of the future in the mathematics, science, engineering and medical fields," says Rodney L. Doran, professor emeritus in the Department of Learning and Instruction in UB's Graduate School of Education, who has been on the organizing committee since the event began in the mid-1980s.

Science Exploration Day will run from 9:15 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. For more information and a list of presenters, titles and brief descriptions, visit the Science Exploration Day Web site at http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/org/sed/.