Biophysical Newsletter - June 2014

9

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2014

JUNE

Outreach

Georgetown University; Tamara Litwin , NIH; Steve Metallo , Georgetown; Keith Mickolajczyk , Penn State University; Bob Nakamoto , University of Virginia; Xiangyun Qiu , George Washington University; and Ling Chin Wan , NIH. These scientists enthusiastically helped individuals with their origami viruses and shared their scientific expertise with those who visited our exhibit. The Society would also like to thank its partners in bringing the Dome to the event: Wah Chiu , Matt Doherty , Daniela Dahlm , and Amber Eakin from Baylor University and Tony Butterfield from the Houston Museum of Science. Maryland Day Just a few miles away from the USA Science & En- gineering Festival, BPS President Dorothy Beckett orchestrated a second Biomolecular Dome event at the University of Maryland’s Maryland Day. The one-day event showcased the research and facili- ties of the University. Beckett, along with student volunteers, led students in the same activities tak- ing place at the Festival, with an additional activity illustrating how cells move. The featured films highlighted biophysics research taking place on campus as well as elsewhere.

USA Science & Engineering Festival The Biophysical Society was a proud supporter of public outreach and science education as a partner and participant in the 3rd USA Science and Engi- neering Festival held April 25-27 in Washington, DC. Referred to as “the Super Bowl of STEM,” the Festival attracted over 325,000 visitors. These individuals had the opportunity to hear from famous science ambassadors like “Bill Nye the Sci- ence Guy,” meet acting scientists, and learn about science, engineering, and math through hands-on activities. The Society brought the Biomolecular Dome to the event and showed a planetarium-style movie entitled The Human Brain, Images to Atoms . The Society also had staff and volunteers on hand to help attendees make their own origami viruses. Over 6,000 people watched the movie and were able to see images resulting from biophysics re- search. The Society would like to thank its volunteers, without whom the event would not have been a success: Dorothy Beckett , Uni- versity of Maryland; Kaitlyn Gerhart ,

BPS Members and staff helped attendees of the USA Science and Engi- neering Festival and Maryland Day create origami viruses.