Girl Scouts' Visit

On April 2, 2010, MCEER Information Service hosted Girl Scout Troop 30610 for a lecture on the research objectives of MCEER in disaster resiliency, the recent relief and reconnaissance efforts following the natural disasters in Haiti and Chile, and on pursuing the academic fields of engineering and library science through undergraduate and graduate schooling. Several of the girls were working on their "Digging Through the Past" badge, which requires them to learn about the topics of seismology, plate tectonics, and active faults by visiting an earthquake facility. They were also tasked with exploring Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers that require advanced degrees that are traditionally underrepresented by girls, as a part of the Girl Scout Career Award.

The visit, co-hosted by Andrew McNeil and Sofia Tangalos, included a presentation incorporating numerous photos detailing structural damage from past, historical earthquakes and the archived test videos from the NEESWood Benchmark Shake Table Testing of a Full-Scale Two-Story Townhouse Woodframe Building performed in SEESL in November of 2006. The presentation also included specific information about the Engineering and Library and Information Studies programs offered by the University at Buffalo.