Members of the Center for KINETIC Plasma Physics are involved with significant efforts in outreach to the public.
MARS
Mountaineer Area RoboticS
The MARS program works with high school and middle school students primarily in north-central WV and is affiliated with the international FIRST robotics program. The middle school program currently works with over 40 robotics teams with their partner the Educator Resources Center at the NASA IV&V Facility. Teams consist of of 3-10 students and at least 1 coach.
The high school program began in 2008 and currently includes over 40 youth and 20 mentors from a variety of scientific, engineering, and non-technical backgrounds. The program has spawned two other high school programs in WV, in Putnum County and in Parkersburg.
MARS is a public-private partnership with corporations, foundations, and academic institutions contributing to the support of the program.
Spark!
Partnership with Spark! Imagination and Science Center.
The Department of Physics and Astronomy has a strong partnership with Spark! Imagination and Science Center, the only science center and children's museum in a 90 mile radius. Faculty and students do outreach during special events including Science Day, Space Day, Robotics Day, and science night at schools in the immediate region and throughout the state.
Faculty in the department collaborated on building a unique hands-on permanent exhibit about Space Weather.
WV SPOT
West Virginia Science Public Outreach Team
The West Virginia Science Public Outreach Team
recruits and trains WV undergraduates to bring presentations about current West
Virginia science, technology, and engineering to West Virginia K-12 classrooms,
museums, and youth programs.
One of the Feature Presentations, The Star of Our World, is developed by Dr. Weichao Tu in the Department of Physics and Astronomy in partnership with WV SPOT. The presentation describes the relationship between the Sun and our planet beyond night and day and is supported by Dr. Tu's NSF CAREER award.