Second Annual STEM Experience Set for All Ages

By Misty Cryer

Inspired By Science, a local nonprofit organization, invites the public to join them on October 11 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, 400-1 Cascades Avenue, for The Inspired By Science STEM Experience.

This free, family-friendly event features hands-on activities and science-based exhibits with giveaways and prizes. Representatives from local organizations in various industries will participate in bringing STEM to life for people of all ages.

“This is our second year to do this event,” said Deena Antiporda, Executive Director of Inspired By Science. “We’re basically going to have over 20 different exhibits of STEM activities and demonstrations,” she said.

The purpose of the event is to get everyone excited about STEM, for them to learn about the different areas, and to see how much fun it can be, said Antiporda. “We have STEM-based organizations and companies coming in and bringing their scientists, who will be setting up activities for people to partake in,” she said.

“We’re going to have prizes and giveaways, and just lots of hands-on STEM fun,” said Antiporda. She said Curbside the Cravings Food Truck will be there with options available for purchase. “It’s around dinnertime for some people, so they can come out to get some good food and have some fun with us.”

As far as exhibitors, Antiporda said, “It is a variety of organizations and companies that want to come out to show what they do, or just to bring some fun activities.”

Specifying that this is not a complete list, Antiporda said the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Desert Willow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, SENMC instructors, CHS MESA, Sandia National Labs, and Intrepid Potash will be exhibitors. “SIMCO is one of our platinum sponsors. They brought some engineers last year,” she said.

To provide examples of the types of activities that will be presented, some exhibitors were contacted. Devra Willingham, Education Program Manager at the National Cave and Karst Research Institute, said they will have a table with a cave-related science scene activity. “We are currently looking at something with interactions with water for people to understand how caves and karsts and water relate to their communities,” she said.

Dr. Lambis Papelis, Director of the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center, a component of New Mexico State University, said the primary reason the center was established was to provide independent environmental monitoring for anything related to the WIPP Site.

CEMRC often participates in science-related events in the community. For science events for families and children, Dr. Papelis said, “We demonstrate filtration of water, for example.” In explaining it, he referred to water that has suspended particles. When filtering them out, the cloudy water can be seen on one side, with the nice, bright, and clear water on the other. He said they also measure the quality of the water in terms of PH, for example.

Using everyday solutions like soft drinks, juice, and coffee, Dr. Papelis said they create indicators made from items that can be purchased at the grocery store, such as cabbage. “It changes color depending on the solution you put in. Based on the color, you can tell how it reacts with the juice from cabbage. Depending on how the color changes, you can tell whether the solution is acidic or basic.”

There are many sponsors of the STEM Experience, said Antiporda, with the main ones being SIMCO, ExxonMobil, Xcel Energy, ConocoPhillips, and Devon Energy.

Dr. Joy James-Foster, Public Affairs and Education Outreach Lead for SIMCO, the Managing and Operating Contractor for the Department of Energy’s WIPP Site, said, “Our president truly likes to invest in the community, especially as it relates to education.” She said that Inspired By Science was one of the programs she was truly excited about from the beginning because of her kids’ experience with Inspired By Science activities when they were younger.

When SIMCO was looking for educational programs with activities in the community to support, Dr. James-Foster said they were invited to observe what Inspired By Science does at their summer camp.

She said it was such a big hit with Ken Harrawood, SIMCO’s President and Program Manager, that he said he wanted to make sure to support the organization every year on a regular basis, so SIMCO became a platinum sponsor. She said Inspired By Science does some wonderful things to inspire kids to STEM, which is the goal.

Submitted photos from STEM Experience 2024