BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
9
JUNE
2014
Outreach
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
,
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.
BPS Members and
staff helped
attendees of the USA
Science and Engi-
neering Festival and
Maryland Day create
origami viruses.
