Tentative Schedule – subject to change

Keynote Speaker – Kit Chapman, author of “Superheavy”

Dr. Kit Chapman is a science adventurer, who has travelled the world looking for the greatest ways to communicate chemistry. He is a lecturer at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, UK, and a former editor at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Talk: The Power of Science Storytelling

How adding stories to your chemistry lessons can engage and empower students, and help simplify complex ideas by humanising them through context and unforgettable characters.

Dr. Ron Furstenau, USAFA (ret)

After graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Ron was assigned to the Air Force Rocket Propulsion Laboratory (AFRPL) at Edwards Air Force Base, California.  While at AFRPL, Ron worked on a wide range of projects involving the analysis of rocket exhaust for satellite systems.  For the rest of his 28 years on active duty and an additional 12 years as a civilian, Ron was either in graduate school or an instructor in the Department of Chemistry at USAFA.  While at USAFA, he taught general (his favorite), physical, analytical, environmental and space chemistry, as well as an astronautical engineering course in rocket propulsion.  He is currently Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at USAFA.  Throughout his career, he was active in USAFA’s STEM outreach, making thousands of presentations on “The Magic of Chemistry” and “The Chemistry of Rockets.”

Talk: The Chemistry of Rockets

The presentation will include a series of chemical demonstrations to illustrate the principles of rocket chemistry.  The goal will be to make everyone in the audience a rocket scientist in less than an hour. There will be opportunities for members from the audience to assist in the demonstrations.

Dr. Joslynn Lee, Fort Lewis College

From her intertribal upbringing, Joslynn applies her Indigenous values and perspectives to chemistry, genomics and academia. She is currently an Assistant Professor of chemistry at Fort Lewis College (FLC) in Durango, CO. FLC is primarily an undergraduate institution and Native American Serving NonTribal Institution. She received her BS in Biochemistry from Fort Lewis College and her PhD in Chemistry from Northeastern University. She has worked to increase opportunities for historically excluded and underrepresented minorities in STEM by developing culturally relevant curriculum in microbiome research and chemistry. Her research group studies acidophilic bacteria in acid mine drainage interfacing genomics, biochemistry and analytical chemistry techniques. Joslynn was selected as a 2023 Kavli Frontiers in Science Fellow and 2023 Outstanding College Mentor of the year from Society Advancing Chicanos and Native American in Science (SACNAS).

Talk:

Integrating Indigenous cultural elements and traditional knowledge into chemistry, highlighting the development of the resources for high school students and engaging research topics and cultural activities at the undergraduate level.