Outreach – The Wilson Research Group

The Wilson Group is strongly dedicated to the mission of engaging students of all ages and backgrounds with scientific activities.

Shown below are recent activities of the Wilson Group members.

April 9th, 2024: Justin led a workshop at Boynton Middle School, filled with fun general chemistry science demos with students.

April 6th, 2024: The Wilson Group hosted a workshop at Cornell’s annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, a day-long conference designed to motivate young girls’ participation and engagement in STEM fields, participating in seminars and workshops led by graduate students. Led by Piyusha, Haipei, Nick, Kevin, and Jacy the group presented “Chemical and Radioactive World” to introduce students to concepts in chemistry. Students split up into groups and explored concepts in food chemistry, chemophobia, and radiochemistry!

November 3rd/6th, 2023: The Wilson Group led a workshop at Boynton Middle School. We taught the students about radiochemistry, including nuclear structure, how radioactivity arises, its applications, and how to protect yourself from it. Led by Piyusha, Haipei, Nick, Kevin, Yangyang, and Brian the group presented “Radioactivity and its History” to introduce students to various concepts in nuclear chemistry as well as about some of the founding figures in the field!

April 1st, 2023: The Wilson Group led a workshop at Cornell’s annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, a day-long conference designed to motivate young girls’ participation and engagement in STEM fields by virtue of seminars and workshops led by graduate students. Led by Piyusha, Haipei, Nick, Kevin, and Tracky, (+ Milner Group volunteer, Emily) the group presented “Radioactive and Chemical World” to introduce students to various concepts in nuclear chemistry as well as teach the importance of discussing chemicals within the context of dosage by extracting cyanide from apple seeds!

April 9th, 2022: The Wilson Group takes part in the annual Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) conference, a day-long conference designed to motivate young girls’ participation and engagement in math and science and offer a series of engaging seminars and talks to pique their interest. Led by Piyusha, Nick, Kevin, and Tracky, the group presented “Radioactive World” to introduce students to various concepts in nuclear chemistry.

February 12th, 2022: The Wilson Group hosts a virtual field trip to the Middle School of Math and Science at Howard University. Members of the group led games of Isotope Rummy to teach students about isotopes and some of their common applications.

April 12th, 2021: The Wilson Group contributes to the Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Workshop for the fourth time. Check out the “Radioactive World” virtual tour presented by Nick!

May 20th, 2020: The Wilson Group makes effort on helping the teachers. See the videos presented by Tracky and Nick, play the games, and get familiar with “crystallization” and “density”!

July 22nd, 2019: Justin, Charlene, and Sierra work with the Research Experience for Teachers on a new nuclear chemistry lab experiment.

April 28th, 2019: The Wilson Group engages in the annual workshop for Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) for the third time. EYH conference is aimed at intriguing middle school girls interested in STEM, and providing them with workshops where they can participate and get inspired towards STEM fields. Led by Sierra and Charlene, the group made the workshop “Radioactive World” and introduced concepts about radioactivity and presented examples in nuclear chemistry to the girls and parents.

April 27th, 2019: The Wilson Group and CCMR host the first Cornell STEM Teacher Workshop. During this workshop, local K-12 STEM teachers came to Cornell to learn about our research and carry out activities that can be implemented in their classrooms. This workshop was supported by the NSF.

April 28th, 2018: The Wilson Group puts on our second annual workshop for Expanding Your Horizons 2018 (EYH). EYH is a conference that brings in middle school girls interested in STEM for their future career, and allows them to choose workshops that interest them to engage and inspire them towards STEM fields. Led by Sierra and Charlene, the group did activities to show examples and explain concepts around radioactivity and nuclear chemistry to these participants in our workshop “Radioactive World”.

November 16, 2017: Joshua, William, and Sierra give a booth at the Auburn High School Central New York ACS Career fair. High schoolers of all grade levels came to talk about careers in science, and we were happy to offer encouragement and advice on how to get into Graduate School! The evening also included a demonstration on crystal structures, using some real samples and 3D models provided by the Cornell X-Ray Facility.

October 14, 2017: Charlene brings the Wilson lab’s Radioactivity Workshop to the Big Apple, doing presentations at Harlem Promise Academy and a teacher workshop at the Weil Medical Institute.

May 20, 2017: The Wilson group host’s Horseheads High School Science Club, a local group of science enthusiasts! The day included educational activities and a hands-on lab tour led by Justin.

April 15, 2017: The Wilson group comes together to hold a workshop for Cornell’s Expanding Your Horizons (EYH) Conference, a one day workshop for 7th-9th grade girls. The workshops are designed to stimulate interest in STEM fields, and the Wilson group was honored to put on a workshop showcasing the facts about radioactivity. Thanks to Charlene and Sierra for leading and designing the workshops!

December 2, 2016: The lab opened its doors for a day to two inquisitive middle school students on a field trip. Among their many activities was Hendryck putting them to work and giving them hands on experience in the nitrogen glove box!

March 23, 2016: Sierra brings electrostatics to Greene Elementary School for STEM night!

January 12, 2016: Sierra carried out shocking displays of electrostatics at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC)!

November 17- 20, 2015: Sarah explores the states of matter with Howard University Middle School students in Washington, DC. They discover that ice cream made with liquid nitrogen is a delicious state of matter.

November 7,2015: Justin makes silly putty in Science on Saturday in Lansing Public Library!

November 5, 2015: Sierra demonstrates chemical reactivity at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC)!

October 22, 2015: Justin separates colors with chromatography at the Greater Ithaca Activities Center (GIAC)!