Panelists from left, EM-LA Deputy Manager Eli Gilbertson, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, former County Councilor Sara Scott, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium Co-Founder Tina Cordova and UNM-LA student Asher Stevens discuss importance of STEM education Thursday at SALA. Photo by Carol A. Clark/ladailypost.com
Students, teachers, county and LANL representatives attend the governor’s panel discussion on STEM education Thursday afternoon at SALA Los Alamos Event Center. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The story of the Manhattan Project and Los Alamos did not stop with the dropping of the atomic bomb. It continues to expand and evolve. What is told in the next chapters depends on the future workers in STEM career fields.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hosted a panel discussion and screening of the film “Oppenheimer” Thursday afternoon at SALA Los Alamos Event Center. The event was attended by local and area high school and college students from UNM-LA, Northern New Mexico College, Mesa Vista and Pojoaque, area public officials and officials from Los Alamos National Laboratory. The discussion focused on the importance of STEM education and its contributions to the Manhattan Project, the continued impacts of the Project, and the critical role New Mexico continues to play in science, technology and innovation.
The Governor was joined by former Los Alamos County Councilor Sara Scott, Environmental Management-Los Alamos Field Office Deputy Manager Eli Gilbertson, Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium Co-founder Tina Cordova and University of New Mexico-Los Alamos student Asher Stevens.
Scott moderated the discussion and students asked questions of the panelists.
To kick things off, Scott asked how STEM plays a role in cleanup efforts of the environmental impacts caused by the national security efforts at Los Alamos and other Manhattan Project sites.
Gilbertson said as a former physics teacher, “STEM is very near and dear to my heart. Education is near and dear to my heart and at its core that’s really where we, DOE, are approaching this from.”
She added that new technologies are being invested into clean-up efforts.
“We also have on-ramp programs to our prime contractor that bring people into STEM fields that might not otherwise have taken advantage of those opportunities,” Gilbertson said.
These environmental impacts are very significant and bring real life consequences, Lujan Grisham said, “because exposure to radiation causes significant damage to any life form and for humans there is chromosome damage.”
She added that it doesn’t just affect the person directly exposed to radiation, but it will affect the individuals’ future descendant.
“Those consequences are extreme in New Mexico,” she said. “Many, if not most families are affected.”
This is something Lujan Grisham said she knows first-hand, explaining that she lost a sister to brain cancer. By utilizing younger generations, she said, fresh ideas and fresh perspectives can be applied to solve problems, she said.
“That statement is a powerful example of the federal government taking responsibility and moving in a way that reengages us to solves problems using a younger generation who comes at this with a different opportunity to develop a moral compass in a way that didn’t exist in the 40s and 50s in that particular emergency,” Lujan Grisham said. “This isn’t pointing any fingers, this is about learning – that’s how you don’t repeat history – you take opportunities to learn from it and move forward.”
Cordova agreed.
“Of course, none of us here today are responsible for what happened here 78 years ago but what we are responsible for is what happens on a move forward basis and we all can play a part in that,” she said.
She pointed out that the federal government has acknowledged harm is done by above ground nuclear testing; a fund was established 33 years ago for residents in Arizona, Utah and Nevada living downwind of the Nevada Test Site, but nothing has been done for New Mexicans living downwind of the Trinity Site and “we’ve basically been paying the price ever since with our lives.”
“There are consequences,” Cordova added. “I think we are much more attuned to that these days (and) we are relying on those of you who will study science, technology, engineering and math to do the right thing morally to address these issues in the future, so we aren’t left with the consequences that we have been left with …”
Stevens delved into the science of radiation. For instance, he said uranium-238 is very reactive If you so much as move your hand over a particle of uranium-238 it will fly to the other side of the room and go against most air currents.
Plus, “…even if a single little particle were to get inside your body it can make your entire bone system radioactive … it is a lot more dangerous than a lot of people give it credit for,” he said.
Scott next asked the panel how to get future generations excited about STEM.
Stevens said it is important to engage students, “If it is not engaging then people are not going to be able to learn.”
Scott agreed, saying, “I think that is a great point … investing in that – not just the breadth of education but teaching makes such as difference.”
Cordova offered encouraging advice to young people in the audience.
“It doesn’t matter if you are women, it doesn’t matter if you are a woman of color … don’t limit yourself around those sorts of things,” she said. “There is every opportunity available for you.”
Lujan Grisham campaigned for young people to stay in New Mexico, noting that the state offers free tuition to students who attend in-state colleges.
“There are so many things that protect people, protect the world, create economies, jobs, new technologies and apply the sciences in creative and interesting ways because it is the application that will solve these problems unequivocally,” Lujan Grisham said.
The governor encouraged students to reach out to her office with their own ideas for STEM. The main line at the governor’s office is 505.476.2200 and her office can be emailed by clicking here. Gilbertson also offered her phone number, 240.562.1137.
Finally, at the conclusion of the panel discussion, students, the panelists and other attendees were treated to a screening of Christopher Nolan’s movie “Oppenheimer”, about the origins of the atom bomb and the founding of the Manhattan Project. After all, to know where you should go, it is important to learn where you have been.
This event was sponsored by New Mexico Center for Economic Opportunity, Amazon Web Services and Los Alamos County.
The County’s Intergovernmental Affairs Manager Danielle Duran told the Los Alamos Daily Post on Monday that the governor’s office reached out to her about hosting this event in August but due to scheduling issues, it couldn’t be held until November. She added that she worked with the governor’s office to invite the panelists as well as audience members.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaking to students during Thursday’s panel discussion on the importance of STEM education. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, center, speaks during the panel discussion while EM-LA Deputy Manager Eli Gilbertson, left, and former County Councilor Sara Scott look on. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham arrives Thursday at SALA to host a panel discussion on the importance of STEM Education. Photo by John McHale/ladailypost.com
