Details:
Friday, August 8, 2008
8:45 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (lunch provided!)
Meet at the Academy of Science Offices (5050 Oakland Avenue)
Parents welcome!
Transportation: Tour Bus provided!
Cost: JAS members $20; JAS Gateway members free; parents $20
Passport Members free

Junior Academy students and Academy of Science Passport Members have been invited to join the 2008 Annual Conference of the North American Sundial Society on their St. Louis Tour of Sundials!

The preliminary schedule for the Sundial tour includes stops at the Jefferson Barracks (entrance requires security clearance); St. Louis University Hospital; Jewel Box (2 sundials); Missouri History Museum, Washington University Danforth Campus (2 sundials) and the Missouri Botanical Garden (5 sundials)

A new sundial with analemmic hourlines will be dedicated at the Garden as part of the NASS tour!

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to join in on this international conference! Compliments of the North American Sundial Society, all Junior Academy students in attendance will be give a copy of Sundials, Their Construction and Use!

RSVP to peggyw@academyofsciencestl.org by July 14th

Join Dr. Keith Streigler and Dr. Elizabeth Barham, with the University of Missouri —Columbia’s Institute for Continental Climate Viticulture & Enology (ICCVE), to learn about the history of wine in the Missouri region and the science behind the perfect bottle. Dr. Streigler, associate professor and viticulturist at the ICCVE, discusses current research related to wine production, as well as historic scientific work that utilized Missouri grapevines to save the French wine industry in the mid-1800s. Dr. Barham, leader of the ICCVE’s Missouri Regional Cuisines Project, talks about current efforts to market Missouri wine and food products using labels of origin from distinct ecological regions, a practice that has been used for centuries in European countries, allowing consumers to distinguish among the unique tastes and attributes of wine and food products from different areas. Arrive early to sample wine from some of Missouri’s best wineries.

Missouri History Museum – Lee Auditorium
Lindell and DeBaliviere in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63112

FREE and OPEN to the PUBLIC, but please RSVP by calling (314) 289-1468. Parking free in Museum lot or in Forest Park.

NOTE: There is also a Twilight Tuesday concert scheduled for this evening. Please plan to arrive early for parking.

Featured Speaker: Douglas A. Wiens, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis
"We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson. April’s pre-dawn earthquake that rattled Southern Illinois and Eastern Missouri and roused sleeping residents of St. Charles and St. Louis, was a reminder that we live in an earthquake-prone area. Midwesterners have become increasingly aware In the last couple decades, of the region’s earthquake hazards. From the notorious New Madrid fault zone to the lesser-known Wabash Valley seismic zone that sent the ground shaking in April, there is still considerable uncertainty about the true level of risk in the Midwest and what policy changes are needed to prepare for “the big one,” Washington University geophysicist and seismologist, Dr. Douglas Wiens, presents the basics of earthquake science and discusses questions involving risk, seismic activity, and subterranean history, of interest to residents in the St. Louis and St. Charles metropolitan regions.

St. Charles OASIS
St. Charles Community College
4601 Mid Rivers Mall Drive
St. Charles, MO 63376

FREE to the first 15 registrants, $8 per person thereafter.
OPEN to ALL.

Seminar and book signing
Featured Speaker: Mark McDaniel, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology in Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis and author, Prospective Memory and Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging

Often, talk of memory lapses focuses on the failure to recall past events, but central to our daily lives is prospective memory, a form of memory that helps us remember to do something in the future – pay a due bill, or pick up bread on the way home. Lapses in prospective memory can be distressing; and for all of us, whether we’re responsible for our own lives or the lives of others, a memory lapse of future intentions can have potentially alarming consequences. Washington University psychologist Mark McDaniel is co-author of a new book that explores that explores the memory challenges that we all face when trying to remember to implement an intended action at the appropriate time. He talks about this emerging field, offering the layperson suggestions for improving prospective memory and providing insight into what the scientific research suggests will happen to our memory capabilities as we grow older. Don’t forget to join us for a fascinating look at memory and what to expect as we age.
Copies of, Memory Fitness: A Guide for Successful Aging, are available for purchase and signing by the author.

Crestwood OASIS
Macy’s 3rd Floor, 47 Crestwood Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63126

FREE to the first 15 registrants, $9 per person thereafter.
OPEN to ALL.

Featured Speaker: Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.,
Vice President, James S. McDonnell Foundation,
former executive director, Brain Trauma Foundation

Injuries to the brain, whether from trauma or disease, often result in cognitive losses-- mild, moderate, or severe, that impact many aspects of daily life. A complex web binds the physical brain with the ephemeral mind; and injury to one cannot be untangled from damage to the other. Neuroscience, the field of research dedicated to understanding how the brain works, is also devoted to understanding what happens when the brain is injured and what can be done to help its recovery. Join Dr. Susan Fitzpatrick, Vice President of the James S. McDonnell Foundation and former executive director of the Brain Trauma Foundation, as she explores some of the recent progress in neuroscience research with potential to improve the clinical management of neurological conditions. We’ll also take a look at why some recent findings could lead us back to the drawing board.

OASIS at the Center of Clayton
50 Gay Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105

FREE to the first 15 registrants, $9 per person thereafter. OPEN to ALL.

Co-sponsored with the Explorers Club of St. Louis.

On the remote and wild Peninsula Valdes along the coast of Argentina, Gretchen Freund has witnessed and recorded what few people have ever seen: the rare and extraordinary sight of Orca whales strategically stalking and targeting sea lions and elephant seals from offshore and then abruptly beaching themselves to devour their unsuspecting prey.

As a principal researcher for Punta Norte Orca Research and a highly talented and experienced nature photographer, Gretchen has documented this rare and revealing behavior over the course of ten dedicated years. She will be sharing her exquisite photographs and insightful observations of these illusive “Wolves of the Sea.”

For details and to RSVP, go to: www.explorers-stl.com

Cocktails, dinner and program to be held at:
The Racquet Club
476 North Kingshighway Blvd.
St. Louis, MO 63108

For gallery of photos by Gretchen Freund go to: www.gretchenfreund.com

Featured Speakers:
Brent A. Tetri, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine, Saint Louis University Liver Center
Katie Eliot, MS, RD, LD, Dietetic Internship Co-director and Instructor, Saint Louis University Department of Nutrition
& Dietetics

The results of many Americans’ unhealthy diets and sedentary lives are nationwide epidemic levels of obesity and diabetes. Now scientists are finding that our super-size me diets and inactive lifestyles are causing liver disease, cirrhosis, and even liver cancer in adults and children alike. Called nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, or NASH, this disease is now the most common cause of chronic liver disease. Join Saint Louis University's Dr. Brent Tetri, an international authority on NASH, as he discusses the causes of this liver disease and what we can do to prevent and treat it.

And If the rising cost of food makes you want to head to the nearest drive-through for a 99 cent meal, then this presentation is for you. Everyone knows that following a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet will reduce the risk of chronic disease. But, making healthy food choices that taste good may be easier said than done when you consider the recent increase in food prices. Saint Louis University Department of Nutrition and Dietetics instructor Katie Eliot guides you through the grocery store aisles and fills you in on some tips to make the most of your food dollars without sacrificing your health. Other highlights include healthy dining out on a budget and the benefits of gardening.

OASIS at the Center of Clayton 157
50 Gay Avenue, Clayton, MO 63105

FREE to the first 15 registrants, $9 per person thereafter.
OPEN to ALL.

Featured Speaker: Rainer W. Bussmann, Ph.D.,
Head, William L.. Brown Center for Plant Genetic Resources,
Missouri Botanical Garden

More than 80% of the world’s population still depends on plant medicines as their primary form of health care. As direct compounds or molecular blueprints, plants provide the molecular basis of many pharmaceuticals. In Northern Peru, the center of the old Central Andean “Health Axis,” stretching from Ecuador to Bolivia, the roots of traditional healing practices go as far back as 1,500 B.C.; and the region harbors one of the most diverse medicinal floras on the globe. Join the Missouri Botanical Garden’s Dr. Rainer Bussmann for a look at the Garden’s research on medicinal plant species, its exciting botanical discoveries, and its efforts to conserve this wealth of medicines for future generations.

OASIS in Forest Park
Dennis & Judith Jones Visitor & Education Center, 5595 Grand Drive, St. Louis, MO 63112

FREE to the first 15 registrants, $9 per person thereafter.
OPEN to ALL.