Page 7 - Impact Fall 2022

SCIENCE LEARNING IN ACTION
This summer, eight undergraduate
students from diverse backgrounds across
the country were
provided full-time research positions with CFANS through
the Sustainability Opportunities for
Agricultural Research- Research and Extension
Experiences for Undergraduates (SOAR- REEU) program, which aims to close the agricultural career gap for youth from underrepresented groups.
Students attended seminars, participated in field work, performed data analysis, and gave final poster presentations to share their individual projects. “I am
in awe of the brilliant and humble people I have met,” program participant Karen Joy said. “We are surrounded by resources and many different disciplines of science and nature that I am eager to have access to and receive wisdom from. I am invigorated by hands-on learning, spending time outdoors, playing in the dirt, and soaking up knowledge.”
Associate professor Julie Grossman, PhD, and her fellow horticultural science colleagues—Mary Rogers, PhD, Laura Shannon, PhD, and Eric Watkins, PhD— will lead this summer research program over five years with the goal of offering 50 total students from around the U.S. a chance to learn about food systems and agricultural research on the ground. With the assistance of the CFANS Office of Diversity & Inclusion, the
2022 inaugural program year successfully immersed participants in science.
This work is supported by the Research and Extension Experiences for Undergraduates Program, project 2022-67037- 36640, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Happy birthday
BELL MUSEUM!
The Bell Museum is Minnesota’s first official natural history museum, established by the legislature in 1872 and held in trust by the U of M. Throughout 2022, the Bell has been celebrating its rich and varied 150-year history, marking this landmark anniversary with a variety of dynamic exhibitions that ignite curiosity and wonder, explore our connections to nature and the universe, and create a better future for our evolving world.
Located on the U of M Twin Cities campus in St. Paul, the Bell features the following and more:
Spectacular specimens: Over
1.2 million scientific specimens, representing every county in Minnesota and locales around the globe.
Dazzling dioramas: World-renowned wildlife dioramas transport you to natural habitats throughout our state.
Astronomical science: Visitors can journey through space and time in the 120-seat planetarium, surrounded
by a first-to-the-world, 16-meter seamless dome.
At the 2022 Minnesota State Fair, visitors to the CFANS exhibit had the opportunity to hop atop a drone (using virtual reality
glasses) and “fly” through the Bell. We invite you to explore the 92,000-square-foot museum in person or via the online video.
Scan this QR code to watch,
or visit z.umn.edu/BellFlyThrough