CMI Outreach 2024

CMI plans education and outreach activities throughout the year, ranging from youth to adult, with an emphasis on workforce development.

July-August-September

• STEM Push Convening: Cynthia Howell and Danielle Ladd from the CMI Education Workforce Development team attended the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded STEM Push Convening, September 16-20, at the University of Pittsburg. They joined 43 outreach organizations as a community of scholars and learners. Highlights of the 2.5 days include brainstorming sessions to improve on resource tools already developed and soon to be developed; focusing on highlighting, reviewing and using newly developed resources to reach underserved audiences of all ages; and keeping work and resource tool repository alive at another setting after grant end in 2026. Ladd presented a well-received session featuring “student as the architect of their future and student voice,” and presentation slides will be part of the resource repository for other organizations to use. This presentation will be included in future Rocky Mountain Math Engineering Science Achievement (RM MESA) teacher workshops hosted by CMI. 

  

• CMI Education and Workforce Development staff offered a Teacher Advisory Kick-off meeting at Colorado School of Mines on September 6. They met with seven teachers who advise hundreds of students in six different schools with Rocky Mountain Math Engineering Science Achievement (RM MESA) programs. A similar event will be offered virtually for an additional dozen teachers. These efforts will reach many underserved, under-represented students.

  

• CMI Education and Workforce Development staff collaborated with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) to share the CMI education toolkit with educators during a national science teacher event in July. CMI Education and Workforce Development staff developed an education and outreach toolkit, and they continue to find new ways to share the lesson plans and materials with teachers, who can then reach more students with information about critical minerals and how they are useful. This spring and summer, this included planning with the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) to be shared with teachers during its Training and Learning Academy in Denver, Colorado. The toolkit and lessons, both in person and the resources available online, were reviewed with 18 teachers from eight states. They teach elementary through middle school students. Most (39%) teach seventh and eighth grades. AGI said: "Teachers were very excited about the kit and enjoyed looking through it and the related activities - especially the magnets!" In addition to the instruction time, teachers explored the materials during lunch and breaks, and said they were thankful that resources like this exist.
• Five CMI webinars were featured, once per week of July, as YouTube shorts, to highlight some of the 95 webinars that CMI has offered.

April-May-June

• CMI organizers attended the 2024 Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) national event, themed Designing for Equity Locally to Affect Sustainability Globally, June 24-27. They provided mentoring for the winning team of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Math Engineering Science Achievement (RM MESA) Jamboree National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC), from Warren Tech High School. The team's prototype featured Residential Hydro Energy Production. CMI's Cynthia Howell and Danielle Ladd were engaged in national MESA USA meetings on Program Consistency and Development and Curriculum. Outcomes of the national committees and meetings provide materials and guidance for states to ensure the STEM academic rigor and focus for underserved students from throughout the nation.

  

• Throughout this quarter, CMI collaborated with the American Geosciences Institute. These efforts include planning to share the CMI education toolkit with educators during a national science teacher event in July, and communicating with more than 9,000 teachers later this year.
• CMI was one of the hosts for the 2024 Rocky Mountain Math Engineering Science Achievement (RM MESA) Jamboree, held April 27 at Colorado School of Mines. CMI organizers include workforce development staff Cynthia Howell and Danielle Ladd. The event offered three different venues for students, advisors, and volunteers: 1) the National Engineering Design Competition (NEDC), 2) Engineering Experience Expo and 3) Tours. For the NEDC Competition, 30 professionals in engineering, research and medicine volunteered. CMI volunteers included Marilu Perez Garcia, Ames National Laboratory; Maxwell Brown, National Renewable Energy Laboratory; Caleb Stetson, Idaho National Laboratory; and Yamah Nabiyar, past CMI student, currently at Xcel Energy.

  

• The CMI Leadership Academy planned the second Annual CMI Short Course on Rare Earth Elements. "Rare Earth Elements (REEs): Mine to Magnet & Market," which was held April 11, 2024, at Colorado School of Mines.
• The CMI Meeting at Mines showcased the work of students and early career researchers, with more than 100 people attending the meeting, which included 13 oral presentations and 18 poster presentations, as well as several presentations by CMI leadership and guests from the U.S. Department of Energy and Colorado School of Mines. The meeting included the first CMI partner meet-and-greet with students and post-docs, with half a dozen members of industry meeting with participants in small groups, to share information about the company and opportunities for collaboration and/or employment. Following the meeting, participants could participate in optional tours, including to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Kroll Institute of Extractive Metallurgy Labs, and the Mines Geology Museum and CMI Exhibit.

  

• For the community event known as “My Amazing Future” (MAF) on April 4 at Idaho National Laboratory, Yuan-Yuan Lee and Mike Severson taught a course called “Simulation for All” for eighth grade girls from schools throughout the greater Eastern Idaho area. They demonstrated the value of building simulation models to solve complex, real-world problems. As part of the lesson, students learned about critical materials and their importance to clean energy deployment. A simulation model analyzing critical material supply chains was demonstrated to students with a hands-on simulation component. Students were able to ‘drive’ the model and run different simulations to see how critical materials and their supply chains would be affected by clean energy deployment. Students also had the opportunity to get hands on experience with critical material containing products such as permanent magnets, hard disk drives, cell phones, and more as part of the CMI education toolkit.

  

• CMI Education and Workforce Development intern Nirio Mendoza provided a tour of the CMI exhibit in the Mines Museum of Earth Science at the Colorado School of Mines for visitors from the American Geosciences Institute.
• STEM Push: NSF supported STEM Push “community of learning” event/ spring convening. CMI’s Education Workforce Development team of Cynthia Howell and Danielle Ladd traveled to Pittsburgh March 19-22 to represent CMI and Rocky Mountain MESA at a STEM Push national convening and learning community meeting/conference. They joined STEM program leaders from throughout the nation including Arizona, California and Oregon MESA programs and the NY Arthur Ashe Institute of Health, American Museum of Natural History, Women in Natural Sciences programs and more. The CMI team is involved in a national improvement cycle studies on “Engaging Admissions” and “Communicating Science” (student science skill attainment). The results of the projects benefit the relationship between universities and incoming STEM students and improve student communication of their STEM skills to university Admissions departments.

January-February-March

• National Engineers Week: CMI Education and Workforce Development staff at Colorado School of Mines collaborated with teachers to bring educational activities based on CMI research into classrooms, through collaboration with the Rocky Mountain Mathematics, Engineering and Science Achievement (Rocky Mountain MESA), which is a middle and high school program for underrepresented students. On February 15, the CMI Team member Argonne National Laboratory hosted its 22nd annual Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day (IGED). The event gave 100 eighth-grade girls a unique opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at Argonne, including touring labs and facilities, talking to scientists and engineers, and participating in hands-on activities.
• CMI webinars are offered nearly monthly, and most are recorded. CMI webinars in 2024 include CMI researchers: Link to CMI webinars

CMI Outreach 2023

For further information please contact:
Cynthia Howell
Research Faculty, Education, Training and Outreach
Phone: 303-273-3651