ABSOLUTE ZERO Experts in the field
University of Southern Mississippi
Alina Gearba, assistant professor of physics at the University of Southern Mississippi has taken charge of "spreading the word" about Absolute Zero. She works with local high schools and invites students and teachers to visit her research lab …"the coldest spot in Mississippi."
Here are some examples of the activities her and her students have undertaken at or with local schools:
Thursday, February 15 – Dr. Gearba and her students had their first high school visit in conjuction with the Absolute Zero campaign. They visited Lafayette County High School in Oxford, MS. Approximately 60 students attended the presentation. They performed several experiments with liquid nitrogen. They also talked about Bose-Einstein condensates and used the applets from the University of Colorado-Boulder web site.
“The Absolute Zero Web site was really helpful in choosing the appropriate demonstrations. The presentation was well received by the high school students and their teacher alike. Everybody (including me and my students) had a great time.” – Dr. Gearba
Saturday, February 17 - Mississippi Association of Physicists Spring Meeting, held at USM.
Friday, February 23 - D'Iberville High School. Dr. Gearba and her students gave two separate demonstrations and had approx. 50 students in total.
Monday, February 26 - Vancleave High School. Dr. Gearba and her students gave two separate
demonstrations (approx. 50 students total).
Tuesday, February. 27 - Gulfport High School, one presentation, approx. 25 students.
“We added one more experiment to our package, the one on superconductivity featuring the Meissner effect, again taken from the "absolute zero" website. The students just loved it.” – Dr. Gearba
Tuesday, March 6 - Dr. Gearba and her students visited Moss Point High School, on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. They had 10 students attending their presentation.
March 10-11 - Dr. Gearba and her students attendiedthe Society of Physics Students (SPS) Zone 10 Meeting, hosted by Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. They gave a chapter report summarizing their outreach activities related to Absolute Zero.
Friday, March 23 – Dr. Gearba and one of her students, Wei Wen Yu, gave a presentation at Forrest County Agricultural High School, located about 20 miles south of Hattiesburg. They gave three separate presentations to two physics classes and an honors chemistry class.
“Really bright students!! We had about 60 students in total attending. The kids just loved the liquid nitrogen demos.” - Dr. Gearba
Tuesday, Match 27 - A group of 70 high school students from Robertsdale High School (South Alabama) visited the Physics department at USM at Dr. Gearba’s invitation. They attended an Absolute Zero presentation/demonstration and afterward toured the departments laser cooling and trapping lab.
Wednesday, March 28 - Thirteen students from Lawrence County High School attended the Absolute Zero presentation and visited the USM lab.
If you are a science teacher in the Southern Mississippi area and would be interested in having Dr. Gearba make a presentation to your students, please contact her at: alina.gearba@usm.edu
