January 2025
NETWORK NEWS
Happy New Year!
As we reflect on the past year, we want to extend our gratitude for you and your work to engage people in your community in STEM experiences. The NISE Network would not be possible without the amazing work of our partners, and we are excited to continue our work together in 2025 and beyond.
NISE Network Year in Review 2024
This past year we continued to increase our capacity as professionals and organizations to engage the public in STEM topics throughout the United States. Our strength as a Network comes from our collaboration as dedicated professionals, and our impact comes from the work we all do to engage our local communities.
Here are some of our favorite Network moments of 2024.
Wildfire and Air Quality Impacts
We are thinking of our partners and colleagues in California who have been affected by the wildfires. We are sending our best wishes and hope for these impacted areas. We can all do our part to support recovery efforts, share what is happening in these affected communities, and help build resilient communities.
For partners seeking ways to learn more about ways to engage their communities in wildfire science, please see the online workshop recording from April 2024: Wildfires & Air Quality - Providing a Relevant Portal to Get Audiences Invested in the Conversation. Five different institutions shared some of the amazing work, resources, and strategies they've used to make content around the scientific and societal impacts of wildfires approachable for their communities.
Learn more
More resources:
•Talking with Children about Tragic Events in the News
UPCOMING EVENTS
Online Workshops
The NISE Network hosts free online workshops as professional development opportunities for our partners to share with and learn from each other. Online workshops take place on select Tuesdays at 2pm-3pm Eastern. View upcoming online workshops at nisenet.org/events
• Introduction to STEM Learning Ecosystems - Principles and Practices for Community-wide Partnerships
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
2-3pm Eastern
Join us to discover key ideas for building and sustaining community partnerships that make STEM content more relevant and inclusive. Members of the NISE Network's STEM Learning Ecosystems project will share learnings from the project as well as resources you can use. Whether you are already involved in a STEM ecosystem, looking for ways to get more involved, or simply want to create stronger partnerships within your community, don't miss this opportunity to learn more about practices and principles for place-focused, community-wide partnerships that foster authentic STEM learning.
Learn more and register
• Museum Experiences Participating in STEM Learning Ecosystems
Tuesday, March 4, 2025
2-3pm Eastern
Join us as we hear from NISE Network partners about their experiences engaging with their local STEM Learning Ecosystems. During this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to learn about a variety of types of STEM learning ecosystems and stages of relationship development, as we highlight the work of three different STEM ecosystems from across the US. Whether you are already involved in a STEM ecosystem, looking for ways to get more involved, or simply want to create stronger partnerships within your community, don't miss this opportunity to learn first hand from your peers in the field about museums and community-wide partnerships that foster authentic STEM learning.
Learn more and register
FEATURED ON THE WEBSITE
Online Workshop Recordings:
• STEM Identity & Career Interest for Students Traditionally Underrepresented in STEM (recorded on 1-14-24)
Learn more
• Co-creation & You - Inspiring Partner Stories from Participants of the Co-Created Public Engagement with Science Project (recorded on 12-3-24)
Learn more
• More online workshop recordings
Looking for an easy way to discover resources on the nisenet.org website?
Check out our “Browse by Themes and Topics,” featuring curated collections of hands-on activities and resources by themes and STEM topics:
nisenet.org/browse-topic
PARTNER HIGHLIGHT
New Publications on Neurotechnology Public Engagement Driven by the Work of the NISE Network’s Changing Brains Project
Two recent publications, co-authored by Dr. Darrell Porcello of the Children's Creativity Museum and the NISE Network, reflect the growing interest in exploring the potential societal and ethical implications of neurotechnology—devices that measure or modulate neural activity through a direct connection to the brain or spinal cord. Both publications were both strongly influenced by the engagement practices of the NISE Network’s Changing Brains project, which encourages meaningful conversations and reflection on neuroscience topics among participants from diverse backgrounds.
Learn more
COMMUNITY RESOURCES AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
Invitation to review and provide feedback on museum activity training videos ($50 honorarium)
Invitation to review and provide feedback on museum activity training videos ($50 honorarium provided)
The independent evaluators of an NSF-funded informal science education project are looking for science center or museum educators to review and provide feedback on a set of three short activity training videos via online survey. The total time commitment for watching the videos and completing the survey is 30-40 minutes. As a thank you, you will be provided with a $50 Amazon gift card, emailed within one week of your completion of the survey. Note that space is limited and that the survey will close once the evaluation is full. Open to educators at science centers or museums in the United States.
Learn more
Apply for an EZIE-Mag Magnetometer Citizen Science Kit
EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) is a NASA mission to explore the Sun and the system that drives space weather near Earth. EZIE-Mag is a NASA-funded citizen science magnetometer program that will enable learners to capture science data similar to that obtained by the EZIE mission. Apply to participate and receive a free kit and magnetometer.
Learn more
National Rural STEM Learning Summit
Session proposals for the National Rural STEM Learning Summit, August 26-29 in Fort McDowell, AZ are due March 21, 2025.
Learn more
Citizen Science: Theory and Practice journal
Call for Abstracts (Due: February 28, 2025)
The Citizen Science: Theory and Practice journal has a call for abstracts for a special issue titled “Lessons, Challenges, and Opportunities in Participatory Science from a Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM) Perspective.”
Learn more
Interested in one of our exhibitions?
Join the waiting list!
If you are interested in hosting the Nano exhibition or the Sun, Earth, Universe exhibition, please reach out to Christina Leavell, NISE Network Community Manager, to be added to a waiting list.
Contact us
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS
NEUROSCIENCE NEWS
Neuralink has revealed that a third person has received their experimental brain implant and they hope to expand the use of implants in 2025.
NISE Network resources:
• Brain and neuroscience resources
GENETICS & HEALTH NEWS
Dengue fever is spread between people by mosquitoes. In 2023, 6 million cases of dengue fever were reported worldwide, and in 2024 that number grew to 12 million cases. As temperatures increase, mosquitoes grow faster and bite more aggressively
NISE Network resources:
• Should We Engineer the Mosquito? Forum
SPACE NEWS
A home security camera in Prince Edward Island, Canada captured a meteorite strike; this is reported to be the first time the complete sound of a meteorite hitting Earth has been recorded on video.
NISE Network resources:
• Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, and Meteorites resources
CLIMATE NEWS
According to the official tallies from meteorological organizations around the world, 2024 was officially the hottest year ever recorded on Earth while humans have existed.
Learn more
NISE Network resources:
CHEMISTRY NEWS
The US Food and Drug Administration has banned red dye No. 3 from foods because of potential cancer risk. Some food manufacturers have already reformulated products to replace the dye with beet juice; carmine, a dye made from insects; and pigments from foods such as purple sweet potato, radish and red cabbage.
Learn more
NISE Network resources:
• Chemistry is Colorful activity
STEM THROUGHOUT THE YEAR
Discover activity ideas for incorporating current science, engineering, and technology content into events, special programming, holidays, and seasonal activities by visiting: nisenet.org/seasons
Winter
- Snow and Snowflakes:
January
- What’s Up Skywatching Tips from NASA
- National Mentoring Month (January)
- MENTOR National STEM mentoring resources
- NISE Network guide Working with STEM Experts: A Guide for Educators in Museums and Other Informal Learning Settings
- National Girls Collaborative Project role model and mentoring resources
- SciGirls Role Model Strategies
- National Academies Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM
- Radon Awareness Week (last week in January)
February
- Black History Month / African-American History Month (February)
- NASA Modern Figures Toolkit
- African Americans in Science and Technology internet resources from the Library of Congress
- Celebrating Black Innovators poster from SPIE the international society for optics and photonics
- HistoryMakers ScienceMakers biographies and oral histories of African American scientists
- HistoryMakers toolkits of hands-on activities connecting to scientists
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture Talking about Race
- PBS African American Quotation posters
- Groundhog Day (February 2)
- STEM topics to explore include: signs of spring (animals emerging from hibernation), signs of winter (clear, cold days), and seasons (February 2 lies midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox)
- Use Exploring Earth: Bear's Shadow activity to make and experiment with shadows
- NASA Space Place seasons resources
- International Day of Women and Girls in Science (February 11)
- National Inventors Day (February 11)
- Inspire and encourage young inventors; February 11 is the birthday of the inventor Thomas Alva Edison
- National Inventors Hall of Fame list of inductees
- NISE Network engineering resources
- World Radio Day (February 13)
- Digital Learning Day (February 13, 2025)
- Valentine's Day (February 14)
- Galileo Day (February 15th)
- Engineers Week (Feb 16-22, 2025)
- Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (February 20, 2025)
- National Battery Day (February 18)
- Great Backyard Bird Count (February 14-17, 2025)
- Some bird feathers (such as peacock feathers) are iridescent due to nano-sized structures within the feathers
- NISE Network biomimicry resources
- NISE Network butterfly resources
March
- Women's History Month (March)
- International Women's Day (March 8)
- Severe Weather Awareness Weeks (March, dates vary by state)
- Severe weather may include flood, fire, lightning, hurricane, tornados, tsunami, earthquake, heat, and cold
- Please note that dates of awareness weeks vary by state
- Climate resiliency and extreme weather forum programs about heat waves, sea level rise, extreme precipitation, and drought
- NISE Network climate change and weather resources
- World Futures Day - Young Voices (March 1)
- Dr. Seuss Day (March 2)
- Exploring Materials - Oobleck activity
Oobleck gets its name from the Dr. Seuss book Bartholomew and the Oobleck where a gooey green substance, Oobleck, fell from the sky and wreaked havoc in the kingdom - Horton Hears a Who! Storytime activity
- Horton Senses Something Small activity
- NISE Network books, reading, and storytelling
- Exploring Materials - Oobleck activity
- World Wildlife Day (March 3)
- World Engineering Day for Sustainable Development (March 4)
- Groundwater Awareness Week (March 9-15, 2025)
- Brain Awareness Week
- Lunar Eclipse (March 13-14, 2025)
- International Day of Mathematics (March 14)
- Pi Day (March 14)
- National Learn about Butterflies Day (March 14)
- National Ag Day (March 18, 2025)
- Earth Hour (March 22, 2025)
- Spring Equinox (March 20 in the Northern Hemisphere)
- Solstices and equinoxes provide opportunities for planning quarterly programs related to the Earth, Sun, and Moon (astronomical seasons) or your local environment (meteorological seasons)
- NASA Space Place seasons resources
- NISE Network Moon resources
- World Water Day (March 22)
- World Meteorology Day (March 23)
- National STEM Week 2025 (March 14-23, 2025)
- National AI Literacy Day (March 28, 2025)
- NanoDays (March 29-April 6 2025)
NATIONAL MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES
- Association of Children's Museums (ACM) InterActivity, May 14-16, 2025, Albuquerque, NM
Learn more - 2025 Science Events Summit, June 8-10, 2025, Philadelphia, PA
Learn more - ASTC Conference, September 6-9, 2025, San Francisco, CA
Learn more - National Rural STEM Learning Summit, August 26-29, 2025,
Fort McDowell, AZ
Learn more REVISE InformalScience.org conference calendar
National Science Teaching Association (NSTA) Conferences