2014 Annual Report

2014 ANNUAL REPORT | SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC

2014 ANNUAL REPORT | SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC

GLOW FROM ABOVE Earth’s magnetic field trans- forms electrons from the sun into beautiful auroras like this one, seen above Kirkjufell Mountain in Iceland. Scientists are still figuring out the processes that produce these color- ful sky displays at high latitudes. bit.ly/SN_aurora

The Society’s universe of possibilities

and the public in science.

Fair, formerly the National Science Fair; and Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineer- ing for Rising Stars), formerly the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge and SSP Middle School Program. The Society is thrilled to present its first annual report. This achievement marks a new chapter for the organization in working to bridge our publications with our education programs in order to share our work and mission as one comprehensive organization.

Society for Science & the Public (SSP) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education. Our vision is to promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement: to inform, educate and inspire. The Society is proud to involve our global community in the essential, ever-changing world of science. We strive to inspire endless possibilities by engaging students, educators

the latest science research to the public through a news service for reporters. Science News ( SN ) has been published by the Society since 1922. In 2003, the Society launched Science News for Students (SNS) , an online, freely accessible youth edition to SN . For decades, the Society has offered many of the most revered science education programs in the world: the Intel Science Talent Search, formerly the Westinghouse Science Talent Search; the Intel International Science and Engineering

Since 1921, the Society has conveyed the excitement of science and research directly to the public through its award-winning publications and world-class science educa- tion competitions. EdwardW. Scripps, a renowned journalist, andWilliam Emerson Ritter, a California zoologist, founded the organization with the goal of keeping the public informed about scientific achievements. Scripps and Ritter accomplished their goal by distributing

2014 SSP Timeline

JANUARY 14 Andrew Sessler, 1945 Science Talent Search, won an Enrico Fermi Award for his outstand- ing contributions to the establishment of the beam-physics knowl- edge base.

MAY 27 Nine Society alumni attended the fourth White House Science Fair where President Obama honored win- ners of the nation’s top science competitions.

AUGUST 6 The Society was named a “Top Nonprofit” by GreatNonprofits.

OCTOBER 3 Alexandra Witze won a 2014 American Institute of Physics Science Communica- tions Award for her Science News article on magnetic dynamos.

OCTOBER 28 Holly Jackson, 14, of San Jose, Calif., won the $25,000 Samueli Foun- dation Prize in honor of overall STEM excellence and for her study on the strength and best application of stitches in sewing at the 2014 BroadcomMASTERS competition.

MARCH 11 Eric S. Chen, 17, of San Diego, Calif., won the top award of $100,000 for his research of potential new drugs to treat influenza. The award was presented by the Intel Foundation at the Society’s annual black-tie gala for the Intel Science Talent Search.

JUNE 28 Science News’ most

APRIL 8 Manu Prakash, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford University, and his graduate student George Korir won the SPARK Competition’s first place award of $50,000 for the devel- opment of a prototype of an inexpensive “lab on a chip.”

MAY 14 Ten winners of The Future: Powered by Fiction competition were announced and each received a $1,000 award and had their science fiction pub- lished in a Tomorrow Project anthology.

MAY 16 Nathan Han, 15, of Bos- ton, Mass., and a 2011 BroadcomMASTERS alumnus, won the top award of $75,000 at the Intel International Science and Engineer- ing Fair for his project “Characteristics of Deleterious Mutations in Tumor Suppressor Genes.”

popular story of 2014, “Health risks of e-cig- arettes emerge,” was published and received nearly 500,000 views.

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