Science Rendezvous 2023 | Queen’s University Gazette

Households across Southeastern Ontario and specific guests joined Science Rendezvous Kingston on May perhaps 13.

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  From left to proper: Nancy Ross (Vice-Principal Analysis, Queen’s University), Arthur McDonald (Professor Emeritus, Queen’s University), Bryan Paterson (Mayor, City of Kingston), Lynda Colgan (Professor Emerita, Queen’s University), Alejandro Adem (President, NSERC), Dwayne Miller (President, Science Rendezvous), Julie Ann May perhaps (Board Member, Science Rendezvous), Katie Miller (Executive Director, Science Rendezvous), and Lissa Matyas (Board Member, Science Rendezvous).

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  Science Rendezvous Kingston took location at the Leon’s Centre, in downtown Kingston.

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  Charlie Hindmarch (Medicine) performed a strawberry DNA extraction demonstration on stage.

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  Kingston Fire and Rescue ready a demonstration about the dynamics of a property fire and how to place it out.

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  The Chemistry Magic Show was 1 of the highlights of the day.

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  Young guests discovered about animals, plants, and other science subjects.

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  Participating researchers ready hands-on activities to engage kids in STEM.

What occurs when you collect a vintage firetruck, state-of-the-art robots, and health-related students performing reside ultrasounds of their personal hearts? Guests had been in a position to practical experience all of this and far more at  Science Rendezvous Kingston, the biggest science outreach pop-up occasion in Canada.

On Saturday, May perhaps 13, far more than five,300 youth and households visited Leon’s Centre and The Tragically Hip Way to engage with 50 booths and demonstrations that covered subjects from cardiovascular wellness, robotics and plant sciences to geology, engineering, and art conservation. A group of more than 430 volunteers, like Queen’s faculty members, researchers, and students, as properly as representatives from regional museums, schools, and neighborhood partners, ready the activities.

“Science Rendezvous Kingston is an critical chance for Kingston and Southeastern Ontario households to informally interact with our investigation practitioners, developing and possessing entertaining with each other,” says Queen’s Vice-Principal (Analysis) Nancy Ross. “We strongly think that events like this assist to cut down the gaps amongst science and society, construct trust in science and in scientific institutions, and inspire the subsequent generation of scientists and innovators”.

A record of results

Science Rendezvous Kingston is portion of nation-wide initiative Science Rendezvous, produced in 2008 to engage Canadian citizens in science and engineering. At the moment, Science Rendezvous is the biggest single-day science festival in the nation and spreads via 30 cities in ten provinces and two territories.

Queen’s has been the proud host of Science Rendezvous Kingston because 2011. The Kingstonian occasion, 1 of the most prosperous in Canada, has been recognized with national awards in 2020 and 2022. This year, Science Rendezvous Board of Directors chosen Kingston as a showcase occasion to market the significance and the effect of the science festival.

Unique guests for the showcase occasion integrated Alejandro Adem (President of the National Science and Engineering Analysis Council of Canada – NSERC), Bryan Paterson (Mayor of Kingston), Ted Hsu (Member of Provincial Parliament for Kingston and the Islands), Dr. Ross, Dwayne Miller (Founder and President of Science Rendezvous), Arthur McDonald (Nobel laureate and Queen’s Professor Emeritus), members of the Science Rendezvous Board of Directors, and senior administrators from regional college boards and neighborhood organizations.

Opt for your personal adventure

All through the day, guests had been treated to reside demonstrations by Queen’s Division of Chemistry, Queen’s CardioPulmonary Unit, and Kingston Fire and Rescue. 4 top Canadian authors – Helaine Becker, L. E. Carmichael, Ishta Mercurio and Rochelle Strauss – also study their science stories to the public.

For the initial time, Science Rendezvous Kingston featured a Sensory Friendly Science Zone, developed to help kids with focus deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, social and emotional mental wellness demands, or other sensory-connected or physical disabilities. This pilot project was sponsored by an NSERC PromoScience Supplement and supplied exclusive booths and activities exactly where kids could discover exhibits and interact with researchers in a quieter atmosphere.

“With my background in educational assessment, I know that it is incorrect to say that a thing is best, but I honestly feel that the highest attainable score for a public education occasion was surpassed on Saturday May perhaps 13th,” says Queen’s Professor Emerita Lynda Colgan, founder and co-coordinator of Science Rendezvous Kingston. “From Dr. Adem to the 4-year old ringing the bell on the vintage fire truck, there had been smiles all about as the informal finding out infused Leon’s Centre and Tragically Hip Way. It was a celebratory neighborhood occasion that will set a new typical for STEM festivals across the country”.

Whilst the in-particular person occasion has ended, Science Rendezvous Kingston continues on the internet. Librarians at Queen’s Faculty of Education ready booklists with recommended readings to complement Science Rendezvous activities, each in English and in French. In addition, booth presenters created activities for households and kids to do at residence or at college, like a dancing raisins experiment, an artificial heart craft, directions for developing a bird-friendly backyard, and a balloon rocket.

For these seeking to attend subsequent year, Science Rendezvous Kingston – INNOVATE will take location on May perhaps 11, 2024. Please stop by the web site for far more specifics.