COSAM students make scientific contributions beyond this world: World Space Week 2021 celebrates Women in Space

Oct. 4-10 marks World Space Week 2021, and Auburn University’s College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) is taking the opportunity to highlight standouts in the field.

The celebratory week has been spotlighting accomplishments in regard to space since 1999. This year’s theme, Women in Space, gives us the opportunity to highlight how students at Auburn University have first-hand experience working on space-related projects including researching protection for exploration of a moon of Jupiter, conducting research remotely on the International Space Station (ISS) and measuring water around a comet from another solar system.  

In COSAM, female students make significant scientific contributions every day. 

Faculty can apply for learning assistants for the spring 2022 semester

Learning assistants are undergraduate students that help facilitate students’ learning in the active learning classrooms.

“These students successfully completed the course they are helping to spark discussions and learning among students,” said Min Zhong, senior lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences and lead program coordinator for the learning assistant program. 

Faculty can apply for learning assistants online until Oct. 15 for their classes for the spring 2022 semester. 

The impact of going beyond a ‘value-free’ biology curriculum with award from NSF

Two researchers in the Department of Biological Sciences at Auburn University are part of a research team testing the impacts of open-access resources for undergraduate classrooms that increase ideological awareness of aspiring scientists. Ultimately, they hope the materials encourage students to pursue additional education and future careers in STEM.  

Cissy Ballen, an assistant professor, and Abby Beatty, a postdoctoral associate, are leading a $299,950 grant received from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR) strand to further understand the role of bias and address it in the classroom. 

Department of Mathematics and Statistics receives $300K award from Department of Energy

Yanzhao Cao, Don Logan endowed chair in mathematics and Graduate Program Officer from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, received a $300,000 grant from the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) in the DOE’s Office of Science for the project Reliable and Efficient Machine Learning for Leadership Facility Scientific Data Analytics.

The awarded project is a collaborative effort with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory which will develop standardized reference points for machine learning to help consistently analyze and interpret scientific data.

Beat Week Giving Challenge

Help us during the Beat Week Giving Challenge against Georgia! Make a gift to the College of Sciences and Mathematics through Oct. 9. 

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COSAM Today is published by COSAM's Office of Communications and Marketing. Questions? Send an email to mcg0052@auburn.edu.