LEADING WITH SCIENCE 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Society for Science & the Public 2018 ANNUAL REPORT Letter 2 Overview and Top Ten 4 Competitions 6 Regeneron Science Talent Search 8 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 10 Broadcom MASTERS 12 Alumni 14 Science News Media Group 16 Science News 18 SN 10 20 Science News for Students 22 Outreach & Equity 24 Science News in High Schools 26 Advocate Program 28 Research Teachers Conference 30 SCIENCE NEWS | JULY 21, 2018 In August, NASA’s Parker Solar STEM Research Grants 32 Probe roared off for a close encounter with the sun; it’s the first spacecraft to explore that STEM Action Grants 34 star’s corona, a rolling inferno of plasma heated to several million Financials 36 degrees Celsius. The spacecraft is already sending data back to Earth and will make 24 orbits Giving 38 before spiraling into the sun. COVER: NASA’S GODDARD SPACE FLIGHT Leadership 46 CENTER; OPPOSITE PAGE: NASA/BILL INGALLS Leading With Science We are delighted to introduce them, from critical discoveries to We personally want to thank the Board Society for Science & the Public’s matters of public policy. of Trustees, whose commitment and 2018 Annual Report, Leading With guidance ensures the continued Science, which celebrates with more Through our outreach and equity success of the Society. In particu- data and in-depth stories than ever programs, we continued our work lar, we thank members of our Board before, sharing the many ways the to ensure that any young person who retired in 2018: Sean B. Carroll, Society is making an impact as a who is interested in STEM has the Stephanie Pace Marshall and Robert champion for science. resources to pursue their dream of W. Shaw Jr. becoming a scientific leader. Equity The Society kicked off the year with is central to our vision for the future, The Society welcomed three new a trip to the Sundance Film Festi- and we are intensifying our efforts in members to the Board of Trustees in val, where Inventing Tomorrow and this area. Our Science News in High 2018: W.E. Moerner, Dianne K. New- Science Fair, two films about the Intel Schools program, which seeks to man and Gideon Yu. Collectively, their International Science and Engineering extend scientific literacy to the next scientific achievements, alumni con- Fair, premiered. These films touch the generation, connected to its largest nections and business acumen will be heart of the Society’s mission, show- audience yet when the 2018–2019 tremendous assets to the Board. ing a sampling of incredible students school year launched with 15,000 ed- across the country and around the ucators reached across all 50 states. W.E. Moerner is the Harry S. Mosher world dedicated to scientific research We provided $100,000 in grants to Professor and Professor by Courtesy and making the world a better place. help teachers in their classrooms and of Applied Physics and the Former These are the scientific leaders of named 50 Advocates, educators who Chair of the Department of Chemistry tomorrow. seek to help underserved students at Stanford University. He received enter STEM competitions. the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014. Our new Editor in Chief, Nancy Dianne K. Newman, an alumna of the Shute, began her tenure at the By the close of the year, we had 1987 and 1988 International Science Society in February. Under her provided more than $8 million in and Engineering Fairs, is the Gordon leadership, Science News Media awards through our world-class M. Binder/Amgen Professor of Biology Group has continued to transform science competitions: the Regeneron and Geobiology at Caltech. Gideon its newsroom and expanded its Science Talent Search, the Broadcom Yu, an alumnus of the 1989 Interna- audience. The Society ended the MASTERS and the Intel International tional Science and Engineering Fair, is year with nearly 13 million visitors to Science and Engineering Fair. the Co-Owner and former President of the Science News website and more the San Francisco 49ers and the Exec- than 6 million visitors to Science The Society’s excellent journalism utive Chairman of Bowers & Wilkins. News for Students, an increase of and education programming can take 27 percent and 14.8 percent, respec- place only thanks to its outstanding Most importantly, we could not do our tively. This increase was driven team. We are also grateful to the work without the generous support by our award-winning journalism, thousands of judges and volunteers of you, the Society’s subscribing which helped to inform educators, who ensure the success of our com- members, donors, alumni and readers. students, scientists and science petitions by sharing their time and We thank you for helping us to lead enthusiasts about the world around expertise. with science. SCIENCE NEWS | MARCH 17, 2018 Little skates are rare ocean dwellers; they move along the ocean floor on two footlike fins. Genetic research H. Robert Horvitz, Ph.D. shows that they share a blueprint for developing nerve Chair, Board of Trustees cells with vertebrates, suggesting that the wiring for Professor of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology walking developed millions of years before vertebrates Maya Ajmera Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute moved onto land. The takeaway: vertebrates share a President & CEO Member, MIT McGovern Institute for Brain Research common ancestor, whether they live on water or land. Publisher, Science News Member, MIT Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research JUN AN-CHEN 1985 Science Talent Search Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2002 2 | COMPETITIONS2018 ANNUAL REPORT | Broadcom | Letter MASTERS Society for Science & the Public | 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 3 SOCIETY NATIONAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL The Society named 20 alumni from across its competitions to a new National Leadership Council. The council will advise the Society on TOP 10 fostering lifelong connections among the alumni community. BROADCOM MASTERS Georgia Hutchinson, of Woodside, Calif., won the Samueli Foundation REGENERON STS Prize at the Broadcom MASTERS Benjamin “Benjy” for her project on developing Firester won the MOMENTS more cost-effective solar panels. top award at the Regeneron Science Talent Search. He developed a way to predict how weather patterns ISEF DOCUMENTARIES could spread The extraordinary finalists at the Intel International Science spores of the and Engineering Fair were the focus of two documentaries, fungus that caused OF 2018 Inventing Tomorrow and Science Fair, that premiered at the the Irish Potato 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Famine. Champions for Science SN 10: SCIENTISTS Low-Dose World’s Birth of Superconductors Society for Science & the Public is Science News for Students, and our Aspirin Oldest a Neutron Getting Warm TO WATCH Fails Test Drawing Star a leader in science, dedicated to world-class science education com- For the fourth expanding scientific literacy, effec- petitions, the Regeneron Science year, Science SCIENCE NEWS MAGAZINE SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC tive STEM education and scientific Talent Search, the Intel International OUTREACH AND EQUITY News highlighted OCTOBER 13, 2018 The Society awarded $100,000 in 10 young research. Founded in 1921 by Edward Science and Engineering Fair and grants to 24 teachers and $30,000 scientists who W. Scripps, a renowned journal- the Broadcom MASTERS. More re- to seven organizations supporting are poised to ist and newspaper magnate, and cently, the Society launched a range community-based STEM projects. tackle some of our world’s William Em erson Ritter, a zoologist, of outreach and equity programs most important the Society is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) aimed at ensuring that any student questions. INTEL ISEF membership organization focused interested in STEM has the opportu- Oliver Nicholls won the first place on promoting the understanding and nity to pursue that passion. Gordon E. Moore Award for designing appreciation of science and the vital and building an autonomous robotic window cleaner. role it plays in human advancement: Today, the Society is dedicated to to inform, educate and inspire. providing concise, accurate and in- spirational science news and oppor- Scientists to Watch For nearly a century, the Society tunities to more than 100,000 sub- has conveyed the excitement of scribers, more than 70,000 alumni science and research directly to of its competitions worldwide and SCIENCE NEWS IN HIGH SCHOOLS NEW BOARD MEMBERS Science News in High the public through its award-win- millions of unique online visitors and Nobel Prize-winning scientist CLIMATE CHANGE CHRONICLES Schools, a program ning journalism, Science News and social media followers. W.E. Moerner, MacArthur Fellow In September, Science that provides educators Dianne K. Newman and San News for Students with access to Science Francisco 49ers Co-Owner launched a 10-month News, was available in Gideon Yu joined the Society’s series called Climate 4,700 schools during the Board of Trustees in 2018. Change Chronicles. academic year. 4 | 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | Overview and Top Ten Society for Science & the Public | 2018 ANNUAL REPORT | 5 COMPETITIONS THE SOCIETY’S GLOBAL IMPACT FOR 2018 OUR COMMITMENT TO THE FUTURE In 1942, the Society launched the first of its science competitions, the Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. 80+ countries, regions In 2017, Regeneron took over as the Science and territories Talent Search’s third sponsor, following Westing- house and Intel. The Society also founded and Every year, as part of the Intel ISEF pipeline, 30 million produces the Intel International Science and students compete in science fairs around the globe Engineering Fair and the Broadcom MASTERS at local, regional and national levels. Hundreds of + (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engi- thousands rise to compete in the Society’s more than 425 neering for Rising Stars).