Report
Report From the Spring 2018 Joint Meeting of OSAPS/MI–AAPT at Michigan State University
The 2018 Spring meeting of the OSAPS was held jointly with the Michigan Section of the AAPT. The meeting was held at Michigan State University (MSU) on March 23rd and 24th, 2018 and had the theme, “Promoting a diverse and inclusive future for physics and astronomy.” Invited presentations focused on the theme and included topics such as APS programs that support greater diversity in physics and astronomy, data collected on the participation of women and students of color in physics at the high school and university-level, and research into the participation of women and students of color in physics. A total of 81 people registered for the meeting and 71 presentations were given.
Prof. Danny Caballero, Assistant Professor of Physics at MSU, delivered the welcoming remarks before the first plenary on Friday afternoon, March 23rd. Dr. Monica Plisch from the American Physical Society delivered the first plenary talk, “APS Programs to Promote Diversity and Inclusion,” that discussed the national state of physics participation by women and students of color and how APS has developed specific programs to support greater participation by both. This plenary was followed by a poster session held in the atrium of the Biomedical and Physical Sciences building in which 32 posters were presented. A dinner banquet followed the poster session. At the end of the dinner banquet, Fred Trexler has been awarded the Spring 2018 Howard Maxwell Award for Distinguished Service to the Ohio-Region Section of the American Physical Society. The evening has concluded with second plenary by Dr. Susan White – the director of the American Institute of Physics’s (AIP) Statistical Research Center (SRC). This plenary entitled, “Diversity & Inclusion: Counting things that count,” discussed the state of the participation of women and students of color in physics as collected by a wide variety of survey work conducted by SRC over the years.
The meeting continued on Saturday morning, March 24th, with welcoming remarks from Prof. Phil Duxbury, chair of Department of Physics and Astronomy at Michigan State University. The 3rd plenary was delivered by Prof. Emily Dare from Michigan Technological University and was titled, “Fostering Physics Learning and Interest for Middle School Girls and Boys through STEM Integration”. The plenary concerned research conducted in middle school science classrooms where students were engaged with physics concepts and practices and illustrated differences in participation between girls and boys. The first parallel session with 3 contributed sessions followed consisting of 18 total talks. Lunch was available for purchase after this first parallel session. The final plenary was delivered by Prof. Adrienne Traxler from Wright State University and was titled, “Gender in physics education: Looking back and looking forward”. It focused on the variety of research conducted to investigate gendered effects across physics education and how the field has evolved over time. The second parallel session with 3 contributed sessions followed and consisted of 17 total talks. In addition, a tour of the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory was available at the same time (~25 participants). The meeting ended with the business meeting of the MI-AAPT.
The local organizing committee for the OSAPS 2018 Spring meeting consisted of Petru Fodor (OSAPS), Taoufik Nadji (MI-AAPT), Kim Crosslan (MSU staff), and Danny Caballero (chair). Alyssa Waterson, an MSU student, provided much needed help at registration. The MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy provided convenient spaces for the sessions at no cost.