2017 Science Symposium

Jessi, Caroline, Jana, and Wendy
Science Symposium 2017
Science Symposium 2017

One of my favorite annual events happened today: the annual Science Symposium on campus, part of the campus-wide Symposium of Research and Creativity. I love it for so many reasons, but mostly to see my students – dressed up in their good clothes – standing with their posters and talking about the research they performed during the past year. There’s a great energy and excitement about the event . . . to be honest, I don’t even mind the last minute flurry of crises that inevitably appear as we’re all trying to get our posters ready to be printed in time for the symposium.

I’ve been involved with this event in some way from its very first year, in 2013, when it was created as a way for students in the Science 120 course (a freshman year experience for students interested in STEM fields) to showcase the independent projects they’d completed during the Spring semester. Back then, they all gave oral presentations, and the poster session was relatively small. Since then, however, the event has shifted away from being focused on Science 120, and opened up to the entire campus. Today, one of the ballrooms was opened up as large as possible, and the room was FILLED with student posters. (My Science 120 students no longer do oral presentations at the event . . . they presented posters in the main hall. We’ll be hosting a separate presentation event for them on the last day of the semester).

This year, I had 8 groups of Science 120 students presenting posters (some of whom I worked with very closely), and I helped a student in my former lab (working with western pond turtles) put together a poster comparing some of my previous findings with data she’d collected over the past couple of years. Finally, along with two undergraduate students and one of my colleagues (and dear friend) Caroline Christian, we presented a poster of our own, about the restoration we’ve been doing on Copeland Creek this semester.

First things first: getting our poster set up before the start of the event. Here is “Copeland Creek Restoration: a Model for Creek Restoration on a University Campus.” Considering that the whole thing came together in less than 48 hours (the poster, haha; the restoration has been going on for months), I’m really pleased with the way it turned out:

Once things got underway, I left Jessi and Jana to hold down the fort, and I wandered through the posters. My intention was to stop by each of my students’ posters and get back to the Copeland Creek poster. It didn’t work out quite that way, though . . . I wasn’t able to just walk past all the other posters, as so many of them looked genuinely interesting. I did stop at a few, and had great conversations with presenters. In the end, however, I did get to most of the Science 120 posters. Here’s a round-up of some of their projects (their posters all look fantastic!):

I stopped by to visit with Chelsey, and to see the poster that she and I put together the night before the symposium:

Several other current and former students presented their research, as well (although I didn’t have a direct role in most of these projects):

Dinosaur Stamps for Extra Credit
Dinosaur Stamps for Extra Credit

Another thing that was fun for me today was running into lots of my current GE students. In particular, loads of Introduction to Biology students were on hand. Since I am usually teaching that class during the time of the symposium, instead of just cancelling class, I asked them to come to the symposium, and ask questions of a few of the presenters. They were able to get a few points of extra credit by hunting me down in the crowd, and I gave dinosaur stamps to a whole bunch of students – they mostly seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot, and engaging with the presenters.

 

About half way through, all four of the collaborators on our Copeland Creek project were finally able to get together to pose for a photo:

Jessi, Caroline, Jana, and Wendy
Jessi, Caroline, Jana, and Wendy

So much love for these marvelous ladies!!!!!!! And loads of love to all my students who did such a great job with their projects. I’m so proud of them. Definitely one of the best events of the year.

Investiture of Dr. Judy Sakaki, Part 2

So many things have happened this week, and I have several blog posts to write (mostly about Earth Week events). I thought I’d post this one first, since I already posted Part 1, here.

I’d never attended an investiture before, and wasn’t entirely sure what to expect, other than the fact that included a ceremony to confer the “authority and symbols of high office” to the new president, in this case a medallion presented by CSU Chancellor Timothy White. It’s a tradition that’s been carried down from the middle ages, meant to signal the beginning of a new era for the university and campus community. I was certainly happy to see this taking place, as I’m really optimistic and excited about having Dr. Sakaki as our new president, especially after meeting her face-to-face, briefly, last semester. That’s a story that’s probably worth telling, especially today . . .

I was in the Environmental Technology Center, teaching a lab session of Restoration Ecology (along with my co-instructor Caroline Christian). The students were working in small groups on their semester projects, and Caroline and I were each sitting with a different group, giving them some guidance. Two women walked into the classroom (somewhat unusual, although not unheard of – the ETC is a net-zero energy, green building, so people are often interested in touring through it). When I looked up to see who’d come in, I realized that one of the women was Dr. Sakaki, so I went over to greet them, and invite them to come inside. Turns out she had been on a walk-and-talk on campus, and was interested to take a peek inside, and we were happy to oblige. After briefly describing our course and what the students were doing on that day, Caroline and I had a quick opportunity to welcome Dr. Sakaki. I told her, quite sincerely, how glad I was that she was here, and that I was excited about the future. In response, she told us that this was a new day, and that we, as instructors, should feel free to think outside the box and not be afraid to explore in new directions. (Paraphrased, so those weren’t her exact words, but they’re in keeping with the spirit of what she said). After an era where I wasn’t pleased with some of the decisions made by our previous president, this was music to my ears.

Me in regalia
Me in regalia

Anyway, on the day of the investiture, I arrived early-ish, so I could pick up the regalia I’d reserved (I didn’t walk when I graduated with my masters degree, so I didn’t have my own regalia to wear). When it was time for the investiture to begin, one of the first things to happen was the procession of faculty (including myself) into the auditorium, accompanied by Beethoven’s “Pastoral” 6th symphony, played by the university’s symphony orchestra. Turns out that one of the perks of being on the faculty is reserved seating – I ended up in the fourth row, so I had a great view.

The ceremony itself was interesting. It began with a Coast Miwok blessing, offered by an elder from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, followed by a Buddhist offering of gratitude, offered by a CSU emeritus professor. There was taiko drumming, and poetry, and a dance performance. Several people addressed the audience with various welcome messages.

The keynote address by Dr. Michael Drake of Ohio State University focused on “The Power and Promise of Higher Education,” after which Dr. Sakaki was presented with the presidential medallion by Chancellor White. My photos aren’t great (much better ones are available from news sources online), but I thought I’d snap a few as mementos.

Dr. Sakaki’s presidential address was titled, “Dance With Change.” During her talk, she talked about the various people in her life who had helped to shape her life, including her parents, children, colleagues and community members. As she shared these stories, she ended each segment with “I am because . . .” It was a powerful, inspiring message of inclusivity and acceptance, and once again I was struck by the potential I see here for her to do some wonderful things on our campus, and move us in a better direction than our previous president did.

As an aside, “I am because . . .” was also the theme of the biographical exhibit in Schultz Hall on Dr. Sakaki’s life and family. I’d taken a walk through it earlier in the week, and found it profoundly moving. Not only did it chronicle the journey that brought Dr. Sakaki to SSU, but it shared information about her parents and grandparents, who had been sent to interment camps during the Second World War. In talking about her early life, both in the exhibit and in her presidential address, she mentioned going to the Obon Festival in Oakland every summer. This really caught my attention, as I grew up in an area of L.A. with a thriving Japanese-American community, and I attended our local Obon Festival every year, and performed traditional dances along with many of my friends from school. I know that our experiences mean far different things to us, but I like to think of this as some small connection, if that makes any sense.

After her address, the orchestra accompanied the SSU Chamber Singers in a performance of our school’s lovely new alma mater, “Sonoma State Rising”:

Our challenges we have faced and love kept us strong
Sonoma we celebrate how far we all have come
Though we live in different ways, we’re here together on this bright day
We thank you Sonoma State and now a new chapter starts
We’ll hold on to all your lessons like treasure within our heart

On the whole, I enjoyed the ceremony, and felt proud to be a part of this community. There is also a bit of uncertainty for me – as a lecturer with not a lot of job security from semester to semester, it’s a bit scary not knowing how changes might affect me, personally. But I am encouraged by the overall message of inclusivity, and dedication to providing a meaningful higher education for our students. I am certainly committed to that, and I’m choosing to trust that whatever happens in the future, I will be able to continue educating a new generation of young people, so they can live better lives.

Wendy St. John and Judy Sakaki
Wendy St. John and Judy Sakaki

After the ceremony, I returned the borrowed regalia, and went out into the courtyard, thinking I’d grab a quick snack from the reception buffet, and then head over to my office for office hours. In the courtyard, however, I noticed that there was a queue to have a photo taken with Dr. Sakaki, and I couldn’t pass up this opportunity – both to have my photo taken with her (again), and also to give her a quick personal welcome. The queue wasn’t particularly long, and I wished I was still wearing my regalia, but I hopped in line. A few minutes later, it was my turn. After taking the photo, I found myself a bit tongue-tied, but I told Dr. Sakaki how glad I was that she was here, and how excited I was to see the things she would do here in the future.

 

She took me by the hand and said, “The things we’ll do together.

Yes, I’m really happy to have her here as our new president. I think we will all have the opportunity to do great things together.

Investiture of Dr. Judy Sakaki, Part 1 – Morning Workshops

Today was a special day on campus, a truly historic day, when Sonoma State University held the investiture ceremony for our 7th president, Dr. Judy Sakaki. In the morning, a wide variety of mini-workshops were held, along with a poster session, to showcase the work and research of SSU students and faculty. in the afternoon, the investiture ceremony took place in the Green Music Center. It was pretty magnificent, all the way around.

Earlier in the semester, I’d decided that this was important enough that I wanted to encourage my students to attend, so instead of lecturing today, I asked my morning class (Global Environmental Issues) to attend the poster session and at least one of the mini workshops. For Conservation Biology in the afternoon, I let them know that I would be attending the investiture, and I strongly suggested that they do the same. There were two overall reasons I wanted to do this . . . first, it’s a special day on campus, and I think it’s nice for all of us to have a break from the regular schedule from time to time. But more than that, this was a day for the entire campus community to come together, and I wanted my students to know that they’re part of this community, and maybe make some new connections with people on campus.

Turns out, this was a good decision.
My day started off in Seawolf Plaza, where I happened upon a poetry reading in progress, “SSU Student Poets Reading: Resistance and Hope in our Current Political Moment. Among the presenters was one of my former students, who shared some powerful, profound things that he’d written about the current state of our world.

From there, I headed up to the poster session, where I got talking with the authors of some research about the effect of media and technology on students. Not only was it an interesting project, but in talking with the Psychology professor who’d done the research, I found out that they knew who I was, because several of my students had come by and inquired about the research (which was part of the assignment I’d given them). Apparently, my students were asking VERY good questions, and really engaged with the process. AHHHH YES!!!!!!!! This was exactly what I’d hoped would happen. 🙂

My next stop was a session by Dr. Jeff Baldwin, “What Does Sustainability Mean? Active Learning With and From Sonoma State Students.” Anything with “active learning” in the title grabs my attention, and after Jeff started talking, I realized this talk had even more relevance to me, as he was talking about some assignments and results from a course that I’ll likely be teaching in the not-too-distant future. He described some assignments where he sent students out to do things like calculate the carbon footprint generated by their transportation needs, and spend a day riding the bus. That alone was interesting, but the really cool part is the data he’d collected from them about these activities – looking at how much it changed their own viewpoints, and how much they now seemed committed to making long-term changes to their own behavior, and possibly supporting systemic changes, as well. You can read more about his research in his paper, “Sustainability Education Through Active-Learning in Large Lecture Settings: Evaluation of Four Out-Of-Class Exercises.” Afterwards, I chatted for a few minutes with a couple of other professors, and we had a good conversation about how to improve learning outcomes for students, while keeping our own workloads under control.

After a lunch meeting, I headed in the direction of the Green Music Center. Along the way, I decided to wander along Copeland Creek, and through the Butterfly Garden. It was an absolutely stunning day, and the sound of the water trickling through the creek never fails to cheer me. Here are a few photos I took along my walk:

Mossy Logs
Mossy logs alongside Copeland Creek

 

I’ll cover the actual ceremony in a separate post, as this one’s getting a bit long. Plus, I’m waiting for the event’s photographer to post some photos online.