Nevada's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) office has announced the creation of a website called the Nevada STEM Mentor Network, an easily searchable site that allows residents to find nearby mentors in their field of interest.

Through the site, "[s]tudents are able to search this statewide database for mentors by county, institution, discipline or a variety of other terms. For each mentor they find, the students will be able to view details about the researcher's background, expertise, mentoring experience, academic history and find out how to contact them through various modes including their social media sites," says Northern Nevada's Business Weekly.

As the website grows, the office hopes to feature students who have successfully found mentors through searching the site to serve as a model for future STEM students.

"I think such opportunities will diversify our STEM workforce bringing in more people... Hopefully it will help to bridge some of the breaks in the STEM pipeline," said Michele Casella, the Education, Outreach and Diversity Administrator for the Nevada System of Higher Education Sponsored Programs & EPSCoR Office.

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The Actual Math Behind a Hypothetical Zombie Apocalypse

Here’s something to show your students that proves math can be fun, after all. 

In the case of hypothetical zombie apocalypse, a group of university students in the United Kingdom used their math skills to estimate just how fast the virus would spread.

The students' work is testament to the fact that there truly is a number for everything. 

Read more about the students' findings here.

Manufacturing Education in U.S. Gets Reboot

Manufacturing education in the U.S. is getting a much-needed reboot thanks to a grants program included in the recently signed 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

"The legislation creates a grants program for which companies, nonprofit organizations, and academic-industry consortia would be eligible as well as universities. It contains a broad description of what counts as an education program including classroom and lab activities, internships, faculty development, and recruitment, and a host of interactions with the private sector and national laboratories," Science Magazine says.

Read the full story here. 

Beyond the Makerspace: Librarians Want More Emphasis on Informational Literacy

Though the modern library has helped keep itself relevant thanks to its place in the maker movement, a survey of hundreds of today's librarians revealed that they think the library should be doing more to help students master information literacy.

The majority of librarians said they believe being information literate is one of the most important skills for future careers, yet they said they are limited in both resources and training to help students learn such skills while visiting the library.

The first-of-its-kind survey reveals that librarians understand their role as a secondary instructor to students and want do more to take advantage of this position.

Read the full story.

Nicole Gorman, Senior Education World Contributor

1/6/2017