As citizen scientists, students tackle societal problems

Expand outreach on the nature of science, critical thinking, and the scientific method. Investigate and promote policy opportunities for undergraduates and recent graduates. Those were among the top proposals to emerge last month for the Society of Physics Students (SPS), following the fifth Quadrennial Congress of its honor society, Sigma Pi Sigma (ΣΠΣ). The congress was held at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois, last 7–9 November.

The students weren’t kidding around. Centered on the theme of “Scientific Citizenship: Connecting Physics and Society,” the 2 1/2-day event was packed with plenary talks, breakout groups, tours, meals, and endless networking opportunities for the 600 or so attendees. Among the topics presented and discussed were energy efficiency, the political process, diversity, and creationism. “The 14-hour days were long, and a little exhausting,” reflects Krystle Williams, a graduate student in biophysics at the University of Rochester. “But when I think about how much I got to experience during the congress it was definitely worth it.”

Rounding out the top four recommendations—out of more than a dozen—were that SPS encourage scientific citizenship at the local level and that SPS educate its members about existing resources in the American Institute of Physics, its member societies, and other organizations.

“Attendance far exceeded expectations, both ours and Fermilab’s,” said Gary White, director of both ΣΠΣ and SPS and associate director of education at AIP, which manages both of those organizations (and publishes Physics Today). Part of the draw was undoubtedly the chance to get an up-close look at the accelerator facility, including the main injector and the D-Zero and CDF detectors. Shown here in front of two magnetic focusing horns in the MINOS neutrino experiment building are (l–r) Ben Carlson of Grove City College in Pennsylvania, Mark Stahl from Wittenberg University in Ohio, Denise Wood from Iowa State University, and Williams.

Addressing the next generation, Rice University’s Neal Lane, former science adviser to president Bill Clinton, commended the enthusiasm he saw for scientific citizenship:

I feel that my generation has made some progress but still has left you a world with many problems. Still, … when I meet young people like yourselves, I find—at least compared to me when I was your age—that (1) you are very aware of what’s going on in the world; (2) you have access to the technology (we did at least give you that) that keeps you informed and also that can help solve many of the world’s problems; (3) you find it natural to study and work with people from many different backgrounds, born in all parts of the world, having different values from your own; (4) you understand that the US [must] lead by good example and in partnership with other nations; and (5) you really care about what happens not only to this country but to other people around the world. For these and other reasons, I am optimistic that you will succeed where we have failed.