Lecture series highlights women in STEM

LIVERMORE, California — Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's popular lecture series "Science on Saturday" returns Feb. 6 and runs through Feb. 27. The series will offer four lectures with the theme "Women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)."

The lectures are free and will be held in the Bankhead Theater, located at 2400 First St. in Livermore. Two presentations are offered at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis. No pre-registration is required.

Each lecture highlights cutting-edge science presented by leading Lab researchers who are joined by master high school science teachers.

Kicking off the series of four Saturday sessions on Feb. 6 is: "Behold Livermorium: A Quest for New Elements," by LLNL scientist Dawn Shaughnessy and teacher Katherine Huang of Dougherty Valley High School. The talk will focus on the science aspect of STEM. Shaughnessy and Huang will discuss how scientists create new elements and how their nuclear and chemical properties compare to their naturally occurring counterparts. They also will discuss the journey from element discovery to element naming, using as an example the official naming of element 116 as Livermorium in honor of the scientists and research that has been done at LLNL. The complete schedule of lectures:

• Feb. 6 - SCIENCE: "Behold Livermorium: A Quest for New Elements," by LLNL scientist Dawn Shaughnessy and teacher Katherine Huang of Dougherty Valley High School.
• Feb. 13 - TECHNOLOGY: "iCHIP: Human Physiology in the Palm of Your Hand," by LLNL scientists Elizabeth Wheeler and Monica Moya and teacher Erin McKay of Tracy High School.
• Feb. 20 - ENGINEERING: "Harnessing Fusion: Creating a Sun on Earth," by LLNL scientist Tammy Ma and teacher Tom Shefler of Granada High School.
• Feb. 27 - MATHEMATICS: "From Basketball and Medicine to Climate: Understanding the World Through Statistics," by LLNL scientist Ana Kupresanin and teacher Richard Newton of Tracy High School.

The lectures and demonstrations are sponsored by LLNL's Science Education Program and targeted to middle and high school students. A student worksheet outlining each talk will soon be available on the Science on Saturday website.

The series will be available at a later date for viewing via the LLNL YouTube Channel.

Visit the Web for more information about Science on Saturday or contact albala1 [at] llnl.gov (Joanna Albala), (925) 422-6803.