Webinar for Middle School Students (and their parents)

The Girls Achieving in Mathematics, Engineering, Science (GAMES) program aims to promote girls' interest and self-efficacy in STEM using chess and other strategy games. We have chosen to focus on strategy games because they are great examples of effective and entertaining tools to teach metacognition, computational thinking, and problem-solving.

NIMBioS is cooperating with the GAMES program to host a series of virtual events. The first event was held on Thursday, July 30, 4–4:40 p.m. EDT.

Speaker: Dr. Virginia Dale, Adjunct professor, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee; Corporate Fellow Emeritus, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Moderator: Dr. Suzanne Lenhart, NIMBioS Associate Director and Chancellor's Professor of Mathematics at the University of Tennessee

Topic: From suburbia to ski bum to succession.  This webinar is designed for middle school students.

Dr. Virginia Dale is a landscape ecologist known for her work on recovery after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, sustainable energy and agriculture, and ecosystem management in the context of large disturbances and climate change. She spent 34 years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and in 2018 transitioned to the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Tennessee.

This webinar was streamed live and recorded for later viewing. NIMBioS hosted a Q&A via Zoom. Viewers were able to submit questions throughout the talk, which were answered at the end of the talk.

Watch recorded webinar online

The GAMES team consists of researchers and staff members at multiple campuses of UT, including University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK), University of Tennessee, Chattanooga (UTC)

• Xiaopeng Zhao, Professor, Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering (MABE), Tickle College of Engineering (TCE), UTK
• Ozlem Kilic, Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs, TCE, UTK
• Suzanne Lenhart, Department of Mathematics, Associate Director for Education and Outreach, National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis
• Daniel Pack, Dean, College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS), UTC
• Lynn Hodge, Director, Center for Enhancing Education in Mathematics and Sciences and the East Tennessee STEM Hub (CEEM)
• Anne L. Skutnik, Education and Outreach Coordinator, NSF-DOE Center for Ultra-wide-area Electrical Energy Transmission Networks (CURENT)

This program is funded under the One UT Collaboration & Innovation Grant program.

NIMBioS Education and Outreach Contacts:

Suzanne Lenhart
Associate Director for Education and Outreach, NIMBioS
Email: slenhart@tennessee.edu
Phone: (865) 974-4270 (Math)   (865) 974-9349 (NIMBioS)    Fax: (865) 974-9300

Greg Wiggins
Education and Outreach Coordinator, NIMBioS
Email: wiggybug@nimbios.org
Phone: (865) 974-9364    Fax: (865) 974-9300

NIMBioS
1122 Volunteer Blvd., Suite 106
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-3410
PH: (865) 974-9334
FAX: (865) 974-9461
Contact NIMBioS

From 2008 until early 2021, NIMBioS was supported by the National Science Foundation through NSF Award #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.