UAlbany Welcomes Capital Region Students for STEM and Earth Sciences Family Day
By Mike Nolan
ALBANY, N.Y. (March 4, 2025) — The University at Albany is welcoming students and their families from across the Capital Region on Sunday, March 30, for its first STEM and Earth Sciences Family Day.
The event will take place at the ETEC research and development complex, offering a day of learning and exploring science focused on the environment, weather and climate, engineering, nanotechnology and sustainability. It will be hosted in celebration of Earth Day 2025.
UAlbany’s Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, the College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering (CNSE), Atmospheric Sciences Research Center, the New York State Mesonet, along with the New York State Master Teachers, corporate partners from NYCREATES-Albany NanoTech and other regional organizations, will host more than 30 hands-on activities and experiments starting at 9:30 a.m.
Students at CNSE are bringing a robotic dog to the event, while also offering demonstrations on sustainable engineering topics including air quality monitoring and extracting valuable nutrients from wastewater.
Attendees interested in atmospheric science can observe cloud water collection demonstrations from student researchers at the Atmospheric Sciences Research Center’s Whiteface Field Station, along with coral and lake sediment samples from the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Science’s Paleoclimate Lab.
The New York State Masters Teacher Program will be leading a number of tabling activities such as making seed bombs, zero electric toys, Earth Day bracelets, slime globes, rock painting, and biodegradable bird feeders. UAlbany alum and WNYT meteorologist Christina Talamo will be on hand to lead experiments and talk about her career.
In addition, there will be opportunities to hear from local scientists, tour the New York State Mesonet operations center, UAlbany’s Science-on-a-Sphere Room, and watch weather balloon launches from the ETEC parking lot.
The event builds on the success of UAlbany’s STEM and Nanotechnology Family Day, which brought together more than 500 students and their families last fall to showcase cutting edge research and science being developed in Upstate New York.
Activities are suitable for children 2nd through 8th grades. The free event will run from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at ETEC on the Harriman campus. Registration is highly encouraged.