CaSTL recognizes its duty to communicate with the public at large
and not just the scientific community. The Center has launched the
following programs to accomplish that goal.
• CaSTL Fellowships
• Orange County Discovery Science Center
• OSA Student Chapter
• CaSTL Wikipedia pages
CaSTL Fellowships
In the CaSTL Fellowship program, we broaden the participation of students from underrepresented groups by offering research fellowships to undergraduate students at neighboring non-PhD granting institutions.
Orange County Discovery Science Center
The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana is an interactive museum that specializes in conveying the fascinating world of science to children, students and families in Southern California. CaSTL has partnered with the Discovery Science Center to run K-12 science outreach programs and to set up an exhibit within the museum on the wondrous world of molecules.
OSA Student Chapter
CaSTL graduate students have committed themselves to a wide variety
of minority outreach programs through the student chapter of the
Optical Society of America (OSA) at
UCI. Indeed, the leadership of UCI’s OSA chapter is
composed mainly of CaSTL graduate students. The chapter’s primary focus
is on educating K-12 and undergraduate students about optics and
optical spectroscopy, in addition to organizing academic seminars and
career workshops.
OSA sponsors UCI
student chapter to make a video for Laserfest!
In 1960, Theodore
Maiman demonstrated the very first Ruby LASER. In the 50 years
since its inception, LASERs have become prevalent in our daily
lives. They are used in
remote controls, DVD and Blu-Ray players, laser pointers, and many more
things that we take for granted every day. In order to give the
LASER its proper due, the optics and photonics community across the
world are celebrating by throwing a year long birthday party.
LaserFest, sponsored by APS, OSA, IEEE, and SPIE, is taking place the
entire year of 2010, and includes many different activities that
celebrate the LASER's invention. Perhaps the coolest of these
events is Laser Graffiti, which the UC Irvine OSA student chapter
(mostly comprised of CaSTL graduate students) has organized on campus,
and has made a YouTube
video to demonstrate. This video has been entered in a
worldwide competition for the most YouTube views. Therefore, if you
enjoy it, please send it along to those you know who may also like
it. If you have any questions regarding laser graffiti or the OSA
Student Chapter, please email us.
CaSTL Wikipedia pages
No other medium is more effective in reaching the public at large as the world wide web. Wikipedia, in particular, has grown to a primary source of information on the net. The Wikipedia formula is particularly well suited for distributing scientific information, as it recruits the participation of experts in the fields for constant improvement of the web content. In addition, Wikipedia allows for quick for updates in synchrony with rapidly changing scientific findings and insights. While Wikipedia is vast, many special topics relevant to single molecular investigations remain uncovered. CaSTL members have recently started a program aimed at distributing accurate and accessible information, directly related to the Center’s research program, on Wikipedia.