SRNS Shares Successful Education Outreach Initiatives
Thursday, January 25th, 2024
Joy James-Foster, Ph.D., Waste Isolation Pilot Plant Education Outreach Lead, left, visits Kim Mitchell, SRNS Education Outreach Lead, to learn how to establish a Regional Science Bowl in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Her three-day visit to the Savannah River Site included a mock science bowl demonstration with buzzers, scoreboards and timers.
Joy James-Foster, Ph.D., WIPP Education Outreach Lead, has followed SRS Education Outreach online for years, taking note of and learning from various STEM-related programs. After virtually connecting with SRNS Education Outreach Program Lead Kim Mitchell, Foster traveled more than 1,400 miles from Carlsbad, New Mexico to Aiken, South Carolina to learn from SRS.
“The SRS Education Outreach Program caught my eye after WIPP’s new contractor, Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, aimed to host the first Regional Science Bowl in our area as part of our community commitment plan,” said Foster. “After multiple virtual meetings with Kim, I decided to take the chance and travel to South Carolina in hopes that this program would positively impact the underserved and rural populations of Carlsbad.”
In addition to education outreach in their host communities, SRS and WIPP share respective roles in the national cleanup mission of the Department of Energy (DOE), as defense-related transuranic waste shipments from SRS are shipped to WIPP for safe disposal.
Foster and Mitchell spent three days analyzing mock science bowls, listing the materials and labor needed to launch the initiative, and touring the University of South Carolina Aiken – the facility that has hosted SRNS Regional Science Bowls for over 15 years.
The event tests high school students’ knowledge in all areas of science and offers them a chance to be nationally recognized. SRS is one of only three sites to participate annually at the regional level since the DOE created the National Science Bowl in 1991.
