Date:
3/2/2004
Contact: Wendel Sloan at 505.562.2253
PORTALES—The Southeastern New Mexico Regional Science and Engineering Fair will be held at Eastern New Mexico University in Portales on Saturday, March 6. The two overall winners will go to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland, Or. The top two winners in each category will advance to the state science fair at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
Volunteer judges are also sought. Anyone who has had college courses in any of the subjects below are encouraged to volunteer.Categories to be judged include: Behavioral and Social Science, Botany, Computer Science, Medicine and Health Science, Chemistry, Physics, Earth and Space Science, Microbiology, Engineering, Environmental Science, Zoology, Biochemistry and Mathematics.
The public is also invited to the following open houses, which will also be open to the participants during their free time.
Microbiology Research Laboratory – Roosevelt Hall, Room 224. Dr. Manuel Varela and his students will provide a microbiology slide show about 10:30 a.m. Visit the laboratory for a tour. You are welcome to ask questions.
Biotechnology Core Facility– Roosevelt Hall, Room 133/134. The Biotechnology Core Facility at Eastern is designed to produce a highly trained and educated workforce for the growing biomedical field. Come see all of the modern, state-of-the art equipment that faculty and students at Eastern have access to, and learn what career opportunities exist in biotechnology and biomedicine.
Natural History Museum– At the main entrance of Roosevelt Hall. Open 8 a.m. till noon. See live rattlesnakes, fishes, salamanders, frogs, predatory spiders, and other fascinating animals. Nearly all of the species displayed can be found in New Mexico. Wildlife and Fisheries Biology students will be available to answer your questions.
Miles Mineral Museum – Next to the Natural History Museum. Open 8 a.m. till noon. Minerals, rocks and fossils from New Mexico and around the world are attractively displayed. Come and see meteorites, gold, diamonds and the new fluorescent mineral display. Look for minerals from places you've been. See the display of the minerals and rocks used to make common items you use everyday.
Behavioral Ecology Laboratory – Behind the Science Building near the Greenhouse 9 a.m. till noon. Observe freshwater organisms, from microcrustaceans to fishes, and learn about their reproduction, behavior, and ecology.
Zooarchaeology Lab– in Lea Hall near the Post Office and the Bank Pronounced "zo-ark-e-ology," this collection of animal remains (mostly bones) from archaeological sites is on display in Lea Hall. Dr. Kathy Roler Durand will show visitors how archaeologists use such collections of animal bones to determine what foods prehistoric people were eating. Archaeologists dig up middens (trash mounds) at ancient sites and then Zooarchaeologists, such as Dr. Durand, identify each bone using a comparative bone collection of known species.
Roosevelt County Museum – Located in a distinctive building near the Administration Building. Open from 9 to noon. It's like traveling back in time when you enter the museum. See a 1920s movie projector from the old Lyric Theatre in Portales. See the lovely inaugural ball gown worn by the governor's wife in 1950. View a dental X-ray machine that was used here in Portales about 60 years ago. Compare it with the ones you have seen recently at your own dentist's office.
Blackwater Draw Museum –On US 70, approximately eight miles northeast. This archaeological museum tells about the world-famous discovery of the ancient Clovis People who inhabited this area and hunted the Mammoth here over 11,000 years ago! The trip to the museum by auto should take about 10 or 15 minutes. Admission is free for Science Fair participants and their accompanying car group.
For more information or to volunteer, e-mail science.fair@enmu.edu or call 505.562.2309.