Welcome
The 2020 NYSCamp delegation will have the opportunity to tune in from home for an exclusive virtual lecture series curated just for them. Speakers are being selected from among prestigious and up and coming STEM professionals who are making a difference in their fields of study and changing the world for good. Topics will range from exploring and understanding the vastness of space to the microcosms of potential COVID-19 treatments. We’ll explore the wonders of mathematics, the powerful potential of technology for education, adventures of paleontology, cutting edge neuroscience research, and the varied possibilities of shaping STEM policy. Delegates will also have opportunities to interact and connect with one another and to join in interactive Q&A sessions with our presenters. Even though we can’t gather in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia, the 2020 Virtual National Youth Science Camp will be an engaging, exciting, and unforgettable experience!
Camp Guidelines
We want you to know that we are 100% committed to create an inclusive and safe environment at camp and beyond. We do not condone or tollerate any words or actions that would promote a sense of inequality, prejudice, or discrimination (whether racial, ethnic, religious, economic, relating to identity or sexual orientation, or any other way). We’re thrilled with the diversity of our 2020 delegation as a representation of the great diversity in our nation and friends from other nations.
The NYSCamp setting is designed to be very intimate. Delegates, staph members, and guests share a virtual space and should respect each other’s diverse backgrounds and tastes. Expectations for personal space varies by individual and culture. Please collectively and individually adhere to the following guidelines:
- Consider your actions and attitudes carefully as you participate in the NYSCamp experience.
- Respect your fellow delegates, staph members, and guests of the camp.
- Refrain from harassment of any kind as it is strictly prohibited.
The underlying principles of mutual appreciation and respect form the basis of most of these guidelines. As we all follow these guidelines, we will ensure that the NYSCamp is a safe environment for everyone involved, engenders equality, justice, and inclusivity, and bring added value for the camp to all of us.
Our Mission Statement which was noted in the official statement: https://www.nysacademy.org/about/
Delegate Yearbook
Here are your photos and some basic information about our 2020 Delegates:
https://www.nysacademy.org/programs/nyscamp/2020_virtual_nyscamp/2020-virtual-nyscamp/2020-delegate-yearbook/
2020 Virtual NYSCamp Lecture Series
The centerpiece and highlight of this year’s Virtual NYSCamp is the nightly lecture series. Each weeknight during the three weeks of camp delegates can tune in at 8 PM for a world-class lecture by an expert in a STEM field. We hope you will join us live for all of the scheduled lectures. Recognizing the challenges of tuning in from home during a pandemic, we will also be recording the lectures for later viewing. Be sure to turn in on Monday, June 1st for an orientation to the virtual camp and some surprise speakers who will welcome you to the camp. You can browse the lecturer bios and lecture abstracts here.
| Lecture Date | Lecture Time | Topic | Activity/Lecturer | Title |
| Mon June 1 |
8 PM EDT |
Welcome & Orientation | NYSCamp Director Brian Kinghorn | |
| Tues June 2 |
8PM EDT |
NASA Mars Missions | Julie Robinson, Ph.D. (ID 1985) NASA Headquarters, Washington, DC |
Preparing for Human Missions to Mars: Strategy for using ISS and Artemis as Analogs |
| Wed June 3 |
8PM EDT |
Social Connection in Our Virtual Lives | Ernie Ting (NJ 1972) Founder & CEO, CivImpact Labs |
|
| Thurs June 4 |
8PM EDT |
Intersections of Technology, History, and Education | David Trowbridge, Ph.D. Clio Founder & Associate Professor of History at Marshall University |
Using Technology to Connect People to the Science, History, Art, and Culture that Surround Us |
|
Friday |
8PM EDT |
Paleontology | Ryan J. Haupt Ph.D. Candidate at the University of Wyoming/Science Fellow at the Geological Society of America |
|
| Mon June 8 |
8PM EDT |
Managing Stress and Improving Sleep | Kara Christensen, Ph.D. (SC 2007) Postdoctoral Researcher |
|
| Tues June 9 |
8PM EDT |
Genetics & Neuroscience | Nathan Okerlund, Ph.D., Research Scientist at the University of Utah/Howard Hughes Medical Institute |
Genetics, Model Organisms, and You: Or, What You Can Learn from a Worm! |
| Wed June 10 |
8PM EDT |
Adventures at the Science Museum | Mrs. Kylie Conover, M.A. (NV 2009) Museum Educator at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum |
Adventures at the Museum: A Journey to Becoming a Science Communicator |
| Thurs June 11 |
8PM EDT |
The Race to Find a COVID-19 Treatment | Michael James Kinghorn, Ph.D. Research Scientist, Gilead Sciences |
Cutting Edge Antiviral Treatments for HIV, Hepatitis C and Coronaviruses: An Overview of |
| Friday June 12 |
8PM EDT |
Fighting COVID-19 Disinformation |
David Troy CEO of 410 Labs |
Division, Disinformation, Pandemic, and Politics: Making Sense of 2020 |
| Sat June 13 |
8PM EDT | Concert | Peter Mulvey | Peter Mulvey NYSCamp Concert |
| Mon June 15 |
8PM EDT |
Colorectal Surgery | Emily Huang, MD, MEd (NJ 2001) Assistant Professor of Surgery, The Ohio State University |
|
| Tues June 16 |
8PM EDT |
Electric Vehicles | Frederick “Rick” Walker, MD (OH 1964) |
|
| Wed June 17 |
8PM EDT |
Neuromodulation | Jessica Frey, MD (PA 2008) Chief Neurology Resident, West Virginia University |
|
| Thurs June 18 |
8PM EDT |
STEM Policy | -Josh Shiode Moderator (NV 2003) -Liz Neeley -Ana Ferreras, PhD -Richard-Duane Chambers -Meredith Drosback, PhD |
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Panel Discussion Evaluation Survey |
| Friday June 19 |
8PM EDT |
Farewell Gathering | Farewell Gathering
Evaluation Survey |
CANCELLEDWe have also been invited to a special lecture event on Saturday June 6 at 5:00 PM EDT as part of the National Youth Science Camp Alumni Association (NYSCAA) webinar lecture series. The lecture will given by Dr. Robert Livingston (AR 1967) about Neurological ‘Soft Signs’ and their hard impact upon children. Join at: join.freeconferencecall.com/lauradilldininghall1
Directed Studies
Directed studies provide opportunities to delve deeper into a topic with an expert. They are designed as mini courses with a level of engaging and interesting course work (whether it is creating an online Clio entry, using online modeling tools, working with a team to think and plan ways to communicate science, etc.). One of the keystones of directed studies is small facilitator to delegate ratio (maximum 15 unless otherwise stated), which allows for deeper learning, discussions, conversations, and mentorship. Within the first 24 hours of camp 2020 delegates have an opportunity to sign up for one directed study on a first come first served basis. Once that time period has passed and everyone has at least had the opportunity to sign up for a directed study, we’ll open it up for delegates to fill in any empty slots (as a second or third selection) on a first come first served basis. The directed studies are cumulative so you must plan on attending all scheduled sessions of the directed study you enroll in. Information on how to sign up will be provided at the Welcome & Orientation Lecture at 8 PM (EDT). You can browse the presenter bios and directed study abstracts here.
| Date | Time | Topic | Facilitator | Title |
| 6/3, 6/5, & 6/10 | 2:30-4:00 PM EDT | How Statistics Shape Policy | Alyson Wilson (WV 1985) Associate Vice Chancellor for National Security and Special Research Initiatives & Professor of Statistics, North Carolina State University | How can we invest to make science more innovative and impactful? A case study for the Director of the National Institutes of Health. (max 15) |
| 6/4, & 6/11 | 6:00-7:00PM EDT | Communicating Science | Kylie Conover, M.A. (NV 2009) Museum Educator at the Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum | “Wait- how does that work again?” (max 15) |
| 6/8, 6/9, & 6/10 | 4:30-5:30PM EDT | Synesthesia | Jessica Frey, MD (PA 2008) Chief Neurology Resident, West Virginia University | Synesthesia: Hearing Color and Smelling Sound (max 15) |
| 6/8, 6/9, & 6,10 | 1:00-2:30PM EDT | Virtual Presence Technology | Simon Solotko (OH 1990) | The Emerging Technology of Virtual Presence (max 15) |
| 6/8, 6/9, & 6/10 | 3:00-4:00PM EDT | Developing a COVID-19 Vaccine | Karla Herpoldt, PhD (Germany 2006) Senior Fellow, Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington | Fold Proteins: Cure COVID-19 (max 15) |
| 6/9, 6/16, & 6/19 | 6:00-7:00PM EDT | Creating a Clio Entry | David Trowbridge, Ph.D. Clio Founder & Associate Professor of History at Marshall University | Building Virtual Nature Trails, Museum Tours, or Walking Tours in Clio (max 8) |
| 6/11, & 6/15 | 1:00-2:00PM EDT | 3D Printing Design | Mary Pyrdol (MA 2019) Maker Mentor, Brockton Public Library Makerspace & Alex Arment Graduate Student at CU Boulder | 3D Print Designing with Autodesk Fusion 360 (max 15) |
| 6/15, 6/16, & 6/18 | 4:00-5:00PM EDT | Design Thinking in Entrepreneurship | Aaron C. Morris, PhD Co-founder and CEO, Allvision IO | It’s Time to Start Something—Lessons in Entrepreneurship (max 15) |
| 6/16 & 6/18 | 2:00-3:30PM EDT | Radio Astronomy | Ellie White Undergraduate Physics Student at Marshall University and Co-Founder and Co-Director of Open Source Radio Telescopes | Explore the Invisible Cosmos with Radio Astronomy |
| 6/16, 6/17, & 6/18 | 6:30-7:45PM | Microbial Ecology | Kara Tinker, PhD Environmental Microbiologist at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) – Pittsburgh | Investigations in Applied Microbial Ecology (max 15) |
Breakout Seminars
Breakout seminars are designed to be an interactive experience where you can have discussions about a topic (STEM related or not) with someone who is passionate about the topic. Seminars are sometimes presented by experts, but the only real requirement is that the presenter be knowledgeable and enthusiastic about the topic. Many of our presenters have kindly agreed to run their seminars multiple times (on different days and times) to accommodate most delegates who might want to participate. Seminars will be limited to 20 delegates. Please do not sign up for the same seminar twice. You can browse presenter bios and seminar abstracts here.
| Date and Time* | Presenter | Title |
| 6/4 @noon 6/4 @5PM 6/12@noon 6/12@5PM | Mona Abdelrahman (ND 2017) | America’s Next Top (Machine Learning) Model: Learn the basics behind machine learning. |
| 6/4@3PM 6/9@4PM 6/17@3PM 6/19@4PM | Joseph Tibbs (IA 2016) | Science of Sound Waves |
| 6/4 @10PM 6/8 @7PM | Patrick Robichaud (ID 2016) | Climate Change Discussion |
| 6/5@1PM 6/8@5PM 6/12@1PM 6/16@5PM | Brian Thornber (RI 2017) | Product Design: Making Cool Stuph |
| 6/5@5PM 6/8@4PM | Art Stormer | A Science Song Sing-Along |
| 6/5@6:30PM 6/8@7PM 6/11@7PM | Chelsea Maher (AL 2010) | Fauxligraphy: An Introduction to Calligraphy |
| 6/6@2PM 6/12@10PM | Kim Phillip (WI 2014) | Codename: Delegates Next Door |
| 6/6 @4PM 6/12@6:30PM | Kai Cui (CO 2016) & Monica Mah (CO 2016) | Houston, we have a problem … AND we need YOU to solve it! A taste of mission control from NASA interns |
| 6/7@4PM 6/12@4PM 6/17@3PM 6/19@3PM | Juanca Badilla Rojas (Costa Rica 2014) | Spanish 101 |
| 6/9@2:30PM 6/11@4PM | Tate Greene (KY 2016) | What You Wished You Learned in Health Class: Taking Care of Minor Ailments in College |
| 6/9 @5PM 6/11 @4PM 6/17 @6PM | Liv Gotte (LA 2018) | The Built Environment and its Role in Health Outcomes in a Population |
| 6/10@4PM 6/18@2PM | Juanca Badilla Rojas (Costa Rica 2014) | A Brief Talk about Tapirs and Conservation through Education |
| 6/10 @5PM | Kara Christensen, Ph.D. (SC 2007) | Sleep from A to Zzz |
| 6/10 @6PM 6/17@5PM | Brian Thornber (RI 2017) | Hackathons: Ivy League Competitions for Everyone |
| 6/11@2PM 6/16@5PM | Juanca Badilla Rojas (Costa Rica 2014) | Let’s Try to Learn Some Python and Data Analysis in an hour (or more!) |
| 6/11@3PM 6/18@5PM | Toby Arment (WY 2019) | Society Shapes Science and Science Shapes Society |
| 6/14@3PM 6/15@7PM | Chelsea Maher (AL 2010) | Beginning Calligraphy: Brush Lettering for Beginners |
| 6/14@5PM | Sidney Taylor (NV 2019) | Juggling |
| 6/15@6PM | Everett Ririe | Intro to Astrophysics |
| 6/16@noon 6/18@noon | Victoria Rose (WV 2019) | Avalon, But Make It Virtual (max 9 delegates) |
| 6/16@1PM 6/17@2PM | Shantanu Kadam (AL 2018) | Creating Happiness |
| 6/16@3PM 6/18@3PM | Chelsea Maher (AL 2010) | Leveraging your STEM knowledge in a non-STEM career: A look at Commercial Real Estate |
Please only sign up for one date and time for each seminar.
Cabin Meetings
Each night at camp, the delegates in each cabin gather together with their Cabin Leader to engage in a reflective experience or discussion. Cabin Leaders select a variety of topics to help facilitate these discussions and reflective experiences. Some camp staph (intentional misspelling to connote the infectious enthusiasm of our staff) have kindly volunteered to host some virtual cabin meetings. We hope you will join in and engage in your own reflections on your life and the Virtual NYSCamp. Many of the cabin meetings have followed camp tradition and played Ashoken Farewell at the end of the meeting. This is the song that is played at bedtime at Camp Pocahontas. Bios for cabin meeting presenters can be found here.
| Date(s) | Time (EDT) | Presenter | Topic |
| 6/1 | 10:30 PM | Kylie Conover (NV 2009) | Opening Cabin Meeting |
| 6/2 | 11 AM | Kylie Conover (NV 2009) | REPEAT: Opening Cabin Meeting |
| 6/5 | 6 PM EDT | Liv Gotte (LA 2018) | Imposter Syndrome |
| 6/8 | 6 PM EDT | Liv Gotte (LA 2018) | Building Connections in College |
| 6/8 | 10 PM EDT | Kim Phillip (WI 2014) | Change |
| 6/9 | 10:30 PM EDT | Kylie Conover (NV 2009) | Embracing Challenges |
| 6/10 | 10 PM EDT | Patrick Robichaud (ID 2016) | What does Science Mean to You? |
| 6/11 | 5 PM EDT | Liv Gotte (LA 2018) | Trailblazing (First generation college students, immigrants, POC, etc.) |
| 6/11 | 10PM EDT | Jessica Frey, MD (PA 2008) | Dealing with Struggles |
| 6/12 | 11 PM EDT | Toby Arment (WY 2019) | Independence |
| 6/14 | 10 PM EDT | Tate Greene (KY 2016) | Self Confidence—How is it formed? How does it evolve? How do we know if we have the right amount? |
| 6/15 | 10:30 PM EDT | Kylie Conover (NV 2009) | Finding Joy |
| 6/16 | 10:30 PM | Emily Gentles (AR 2015) | Learning from Failure |
| 6/17 | 10 PM EDT | Patrick Robichaud (ID 2016) | Looking Back, Looking Forward, Looking In |
| 6/18 | 10 PM EDT | Tate Greene (KY 2016) | Fear |
The Morning Show on Channel Pi
Each morning at Camp Pocahontas delegates are welcomed with a morning “radio” show on the green over the loudspeakers at camp. The comedy news show incorporates jokes related to what happened at camp the previous day. As the 2020 Virtual National Youth Science Camp got underway, one of our lecturers suggested the possibility of a morning show. I passed the idea on to our volunteer staph and they took the idea and ran with it in an entirely new video format. With the need to edit videos rather than read a script over a PA system, we’re only able to produce a handful of Morning Shows. One thing is for sure though! Because the sound system at Camp Pocahontas has a lot to be desired, you are the first delegation in NYSCamp history to actually be able to hear and understand every word of the morning show.
Laura Dill’s Porch
As part of the 2020 Virtual National Youth Science Camp the 2020 Delegates have been beta testing a new social media platform designed by Ernie Ting (NJ 1972) and his team at CivImpact Labs. The application, called qXtro, is designed to create a space for small group conversations at a virtual conference that mirror what might happen around a lunch table, talking in the hall between sessions, or gathering to get coffee at a physical conference. We’ve called our lobby Laura Dill’s Porch (referring to the porch at the dining hall at Camp Pocahontas) because we’re trying to provide a space for some of the informal conversations that might have happened with delegates, staph, and presenters on the porch at camp or around the breakfast, lunch, or dinner tables.
As the first beta testers of the application, we’ve also been providing Ernie and his team feedback on the glitches in the program along with suggestions for improvement. It has been wonderful to both provide a space for informal conversations and allow the delegates to be part of the testing/design process for this platform that CivImpact Labs will be marketing to big conferences who will be meeting virtually instead of in real life.
Delegates can log into the porch here: https://beta1.qxtro.net/account/login/
Lectures on Demand:
From the NYSCamp Vault
Since this is a virtual camp, we’ve selected some of our favorite lectures from years past to share with you. Feel free to watch them on demand. Lecturer bios and lecture abstracts can be found here.
| Speaker | Year | Title |
| Dr. Maria Hamilton | 2019 | Gravitational Waves and Messengers from Space |
| Dr. Daniel Cohan (TX 1994) | 2019 | Solving the Climate Challenge |
| Dr. Katie Inderbitzen | 2019 | What’s Underneath the Underneath? |
| Dr. Emily Jacobs (IL 2000) and Dr. Michael Goard | 2019 | Brains |
| Mr. David Masunaga (HI 1975) | 2019 | Mathematics and Chaos |
| Dr. Andres Most Radji | 2019 | How Do We Make a Brain? |
| Dr. Leo Ramos Ferreira | 2019 | Designing Cells as Living Drugs |
| Dr. Jason Best | 2018 | Astronomy |
| Dr. Jerry Gilbert (MS 1973) | 2018 | Biomedical Engineering |
| Dr. Rahul Gupta | 2018 | What’s in Your Water? |
| Dr. Karla-Luise Herpoldt | 2018 | Avoid Boring People (Folding Proteins) |
| Ms. Diane Miller | 2018 | Cybersecurity |
| Dr. Kara Tinker (Staph 2018) | 2019 | Who run the world? Microbes |
Other Opportunities
- Women in STEM – Virtual Conference (May 9, 2020 – free)