The Kentucky Junior Academy of Science will send 11 students to represent Kentucky at the 2025 American Junior Academy of Science in Boston next week! Help us wish them well as they present their work as part of the best and brightest of the nation's young scholars!

It costs us $15,000 to send these young scientists and two chaperones to Boston.  Donate here to help send these students to the American Junior Academy of Science.

Looking for PAID Undergraduate Summer Research Opportunities?

Apply soon - deadlines are in February!
Start your search at the KAS website

In Kentucky, you'll find opportunities in biomedical research, ecology, physics, astronomy, or engineering. Broaden your search to find just about any topic. There are even research opportunities for first and second-year students!
Start your research now to find your dream research experience!

 

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Biomedical postdocs: Connect via KY-INBRE

Calling All Postdoctoral Candidates! Are you a postdoc looking to connect and collaborate within the KY INBRE community? Reach out to Belinda Petri, email, to start building valuable connections and engaging with fellow researchers. “Let's foster a vibrant and supportive postdoc network together!”

Real Science PD opportunities for teachers this summer

Kentucky Teachers
We don't want  you to get left out of all the science fun this summer. We have assembled a few STEM PD opportunities for you, to get experience side by side with scientists this summer.

Check KAS' List of Real Science PD for teachers for summer 2025

Send us details about other Science PD opportunities and we can add them to our list -  Thank you!

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Education and Engagement Team

Our Education & Engagement team makes connections with K-12 Teachers, Kentucky field stations, supports the Junior Academy, and connects with other partners around the state. We're assembling a summer camp directory again this year
E&E meets on the 4th Monday  at 10am ET. All are welcome! Email our Executive Director Amanda Fuller to get added to the list.

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Science Classes & More in Lifelong Learning at UK, Morehead

Courses are free or cheap for adults 50 or over- Look for in-person, hybrid or virtual options:
OLLI Course Catalog Spring 2025

Science-Related Legislation to Keep an Eye on

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Science Advocacy Workshops, Ongoing

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Science Policy Committee Invites your Participation!

Nominations for US Cabinet Positions

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National Science Policy Network

• Science Diplomacy
• Science Policy Writing
• Science Policy Skills
• Science Policy Communication

New NSF award announced for Kentucky

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the Kentucky Science & Engineering Foundation (KSEF), an initiative of the Kentucky Science & Technology Corporation (KSTC), $8M to improve Kentucky’s ability to predict, mitigate and respond to climate-related natural disasters by establishing statewide climate data infrastructure. Through E-CORE RII: Technology for Innovative Visualization, Aggregation & Training in Environmental Preparedness and Resilience for Kentucky (CAPTIVATE KY), KSEF and partners will equip the commonwealth with the data needed to save lives, reduce economic losses and create a more resilient future.

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KAS Funding Available

Volunteer at an Upcoming Science Fair

Louisville Regional Science & Engineering Fair: Saturday, March 1 at the UofL Swain Student Activity Center. Judges sign up Contact: stuart.williams@louisville.edu
(Or, if Judging is not your thing, volunteer as an LRSEF Ambassador to meet & talk to students about their research)

Central Kentucky Regional Science & Engineering Fair March 8, 2025 at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Lexington, KY. Judges sign up Contact: Elizabeth Pelphrey ckyrsef@gmail.com

East Kentucky Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Date: February 28 - March 1, 2025, Big Sandy Community & Technical College, Prestonsburg, KY. Registration Deadline: February 28, 2025. Judges sign up Contact: Elizabeth Pelphrey

Northern Kentucky: Unfortunately, the Science and Engineering Fair of Northern Kentucky has been discontinued. However, Northern Kentucky (NKY) counties have been distributed between three other science fairs so that students may still participate. Details

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February is Black History Month

We'd love to spend February highlighting Black scholars of KAS. Please reach out to Melissa Dougherty at scicomm@kyscience.org if you're willing to be featured.

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National Mentoring Month

January was National Mentoring Month, and while the first thirty-one days of the year have come and gone, it is always a good time to promote mentorship. We have a robust sytem of mentors throughout KAS and the state. Some of you are mentoring grad students and post docs, while others are mentoring young scholars in elementary and junior high schools, and every educational stepping stone in between. 

Science offers these 4 tips for Being a great mentor to undergrads. 
Resources from the National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN)

What lessons have you learned through undergraduate mentorship? 
What would you add to the list shared in the article? 
I'd love to hear from you! Send me a message at scicomm@kyscience.org.
 

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Louisville Science Pathways seeks summer mentors for young scientists

LSP is a paid summer research internship for Jefferson County high school students, at U of L, paid for by Kentuckiana SummerWorks.  Applications are open until April 1. This is a great opportunity for graduate students to gain mentoring experience.
 

One person’s BIG impact on Science in Kentucky – a short history of KAS’ Athey Funds

When you look at the KAS Treasurer’s report and see Athey Funds, what do you think of? What are these funds for and where did they come from?

Raymond Athey was the owner of the Paducah Service Company. He married Marcia Richardson in 1949 and they had 2 children. She died in 1980.

Raymond Athey died in 1991. In his will, he set up a trust fund which contained all his assets (estimated at over a million dollars). One-half of the earnings from this trust fund go to the Academy.  Today, the Athey trust (with KAS as beneficiary) is valued at $800,000, and the interest from this investment funds research grants to members.

February Events

Identify and Recruit the STEM Teachers You Didn’t Know You Had- webinar
02/14/2025

Great Backyard Bird Count
02/14/2025- 02/17/2025

Darwin Lecture - Dr. Loren Babcock, Professor, Ohio State University
02/20/2025

Professional Environmental Educator Certification course
02/21/2025- 02/22/2025

KAS Education & Engagement Committee
02/24/2025

Additional 4th Wednesday Science Policy Committee Meeting
02/26/2025

March Events

Where Have All the Data Gone?
Environmental Justice
If you're looking for federal resources from the Biden administration on environmental justice, Harvard’s Environmental and Energy Law Program's environmental justice tracker is now searchable and includes permalinks (permanent URLs) for critical reports from CEQ, OMB, and other White House Offices: https://lnkd.in/eDDTqBcS

White House End of Term Archive
At the end of every presidential term, the National Archives works in partnership with government agencies and academic institutions to archive information and data from the current administration. President Biden’s archived White House website can be accessed here

Librarians are archiving other federal government data
There has been a concentrated effort by US government document librarians over the course of the last 6 months or so to capture urls and have those posted to the Wayback Machine https://web.archive.org/ for government content that might be taken down by the Trump administration.

Mapping tools
For data-heavy mapping tools like EJScreen, CJEST, FEMA's National Risk Index and others, colleagues at Harvard's Salata Institute have been uploading the underlying data files to the Dataverse for public download: https://dataverse.harvard.edu/dataverse/ejtools
 

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Paid interdisciplinary postbacc at U of L
Interested in pursuing a PhD in biomedical science but not ready to apply to a PhD program? UL-BIOMED-PREP is a paid interdisciplinary postbaccalaureate program offering research experience, professional development workshops and tuition-free courses for graduates who are interested in pursuing a PhD in science. Program starts June 2nd.
Check Louisville.edu/medicine/ul-biomed-prep or contact us at biomed@louisville.edu

Check out our KAS Jobs Board

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Access the Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Science

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Kentucky Infrasructure Network for Biomedical Research (KY-INBRE) offers free trainings, and funding opportunities- check out their monthly news

EPSCoR/ IDeA news & funding opportunities from Established Program for Stimulating Competitive Research (EPSCoR) and Institutional Development Award (IDeA)

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