UAlbany Hosts STEM and Earth Sciences Family Day

By Mike Nolan

ALBANY, N.Y. (April 3, 2025) — The University at Albany welcomed more than 500 children and their families from across the Capital Region and beyond on Sunday for STEM and Earth Sciences Family Day, in celebration of Earth Day 2025.

The event took over ETEC’s atrium, offering a half-day of learning and exploring science focused on the environment and weather, engineering, nanotechnology and sustainability.

Highlights included cloud water collection demonstrations, a robotic dog, rock painting and opportunities to make zero electric toys, Earth Day bracelets and biodegradable bird feeders.

Students also were able to hear from local scientists, including UAlbany alum and Channel 13 meteorologist Christina Talamo, tour the New York State Mesonet operations center, explore UAlbany’s Science-on-a-Sphere room and watch a weather balloon launch from the ETEC parking lot. 

“What we wanted to do is bring students, from second grade to eighth grade, to campus and give them an idea of the kind of science they can be exposed to in a university setting. It’s a great way to get them thinking about different careers in science,” said UAlbany Vice President for Communications and Marketing Melissa Connolly, who organized the event.

“I’ve been doing education outreach for a while for our New York State Mesonet at UAlbany. This is the perfect age range to start exposing students to STEM,” added Mesonet Director June Wang. “We want to let them see the science and spark their interest.”

UAlbany’s Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering, College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity, Atmospheric Sciences Research Center and New York State Mesonet, along with the New York State Master Teachers, corporate partners from NYCREATES-Albany NanoTech and other regional organizations, hosted more than 30 hands-on activities and experiments during the event.  

The event built on the success of UAlbany’s STEM and Nanotechnology Family Day, which brought together hundreds of children and their families last fall to showcase cutting edge research and science being developed in Upstate New York. 

Photos by Mario Sotomayor