STEM SUMMER SPARK ACADEMY

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Are you interested in a STEM major at Northern Kentucky University? If so, our STEM Summer Spark program may be for you.

Dr. Josh Cooper, Department of Biological Sciences:
Hi. I'm a biologist who uses molecular and computer science to understand micro-organisms. We can use math and computer science to build their genomes and ask questions about how they live their life and what they do in the environment. One of the examples of things that I do here at NKU is that I assemble the genomes of algae, and we ask questions about how do they live their life and how do they adapt. Having a background in mathematics is something that's incredibly important as a biologist, even if you're going into medicine. The more prepared you are at this point, the better off you'll be prepared in your future career. If this is something that is interesting to you, being part of this program would be a great fit.

Dr. Qi Li, Department of Computer Science:
Hello. As a data scientist, my daily life is doing data analysis and also data visualization the effect and also through the data modeling. I will use large amounts of the data to find the hidden facts from the data. OpenCincy is one type of data available in the Cincinnati metro area where we can find a lot of interesting facts from that dataset. For example, we can try to find food safety in the Cincinnati area. Math and statistics will be the foundation to these kind of analysis and modeling methods. And, I'm looking forward to working with you in our NKU STEM.

Dr. Patrick Hare, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry:
Hi. I'm a chemist here at NKU. And, when people think about chemists, they usually think that we are doing things with test tubes and Bunsen burners, but we actually do a lot with quantitative data and instrumentation. In my research with NKU students, we use computers to model how UV light can break down pollutants in the environment or what kinds of molecules will made a good industrial flame retardants. The chemists that wrote the computer programs that we use had to use a lot of math skills to write those, and we need to use a lot of math in order to interpret and make sense of our results. We can use Calculus to figure out how fast those pollutants go away, we can use algebra to decide how much energy the flame retardant molecules can absorb. Statistics can help us figure out if our results are consistent enough that it's safe to deploy that new flame retardant. So, you really need a good, strong mathematical foundation in order to succeed in Chemistry. And this particular program will give you that foundation and help build that foundation. If you're interested in applying, I hope you do.

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When starting your STEM major, you'll want a strong mathematical foundation. And, our two-week summer mathematics refresher can help strengthen your skills. Whether it's physics, chemistry, geology, biology, engineering or computer information technology, environmental, computer, data, or neuroscience, be ready for STEM through our STEM Ready program. Picture yourself in NKU STEM.