Media Advisory: 'Cool Science' Returns: UB Holds 26th Science Exploration Day on March 14

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Science Exploration Day, the University at Buffalo's annual, kid-friendly, science-education bash, makes a return engagement to UB's North Campus Wed., March 14, attracting some of the top science minds in the area, ages 14 and up.

Interested media may attend presentations from 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. For press arrangements, contact Charles Anzalone in UB University Communications at 645-4600.

Science Exploration Day, noted for its offbeat and sometimes irreverent science programs, including the fabled "gross anatomy and physiology" seminar, features keynote speaker Bill Owens of Praxair, Inc., doing a cryogenics demonstration. Owens will present his popular show, featuring liquid nitrogen and oxygen. On Owens' to-do list: Freeze a banana and use it like a hammer.

"Our goal is to turn them on 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 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. "I find it so exciting to see all these young folks enthused about the cutting edge research in science and engineering. Science Exploration Day is a great showcase for the UB faculty, programs and departments I am so proud of."

Science Exploration Day is open to students from public and private schools throughout Western New York school districts. Seven hundred students from 25 schools are expected this year.

The event is being sponsored and organized by UB and various units of the university, including the Graduate School of Education, the College of Arts and Sciences and the Great Lakes Program as well as the Niagara Frontier Science Supervisors Association and other educational organizations.

This year's speakers will present the state of the art in the science of forensics, reverse engineering, the weather, cancer research and earthquake engineering, among many others. Presenters are from UB, area colleges and universities, local industries, research laboratories and government agencies. According to event organizers, the sessions provide excellent up-to-date supplements to the topics covered in high school science courses.

Each student will attend the keynote speech and a large group presentation, and then attend two small group sessions or lab tours. Students indicate their preferences for small group sessions and lab tours from the list provided with registration materials.

Students and presenters will register in the ground floor lobby of Capen Hall on the North Campus, beginning at about 8 a.m. There are four sessions, each about 45 minutes long. The complete program is available on the group's webpage at http://www.scienceexplorationday.com.