Project MICRO

 

 

Local Affiliate Society Outreach Programs

Several of MSA's local societies and one university now have outreach programs; they are all a bit different. If you want advice on how to organize a workshop, contact the Burlington, Vermont program; New England has been very successful at fundraising, Minnesota has an outstanding website, and Cornell has used grad students as volunteers effectively. If you want to join one of the programs, or if you want to learn more about what they're doing, please contact the program chairs.

 

Cornell University Materials Research Center

No local society is associated with this university-sponsored program. Grad students function as classroom volunteers, and students and teachers visit the Center. In the first four years, 80 teachers and 2400 students visited.

 

Minnesota

The oldest, largest LAS Project MICRO program. Circulating workshop kits, classroom volunteers, and a partnership worth a local science museum are all supported.

 

New England

The NESM program began by assembling five complete kits of microscopes and supplies for presenting workshops. One kit is used by a volunteer at the University of Vermont Medical School and another by a volunteer at Jackson Labs in Bar Harbor, Maine. Three kits circulate to schools in the Boston area.

 

New York/New Jersey

The New York Microscopy Society is a long-established independent society that has recently become a MSA affiliate. They have an ongoing children's (and adult) educational program at their headquarters in Montclair, NJ.

 

Oklahoma

The Oklahoma Microscopy Society's educational outreach effort has completed their 18th annual Ugly Bug contest (2014-15 school year), which continues to attract around 100 entries per year from elementary schools across the state. Prizes for the contest include high quality Leica stereo microscopes along with a visit from working microscopists for a day of fun and learning. OMS regularly awards ~10 (or more) stereoscopes to schools each year. The Society, through its contest website regularly receives inquiries regarding classroom visits, image use, and microscopy questions from the general public. OMS would not be able to provide this level of educational outreach without generous grant assistance from Phillips 66. We also thank Hitachi for assisting us in bringing tabletop SEMs to schools and to an annual Kid's Night, held in association with our Spring Workshop. We also take our tabletop SEM to the corners of the state as part of our award ceremonies. We calculate (conservatively) that our outreach programs have been a part of the educational experience of around 60,000 Oklahoma school children over the last eighteen years.