
August 2021
What's Inside COVID Update Around KY Annual Meeting at EKU Nov. 5-6 KAS Continues Dismantling Racism in Science Efforts September BenchTalk Live and BenchTalk Anniversary Phelps Receives Award from Paleontological Society KAS Needs You! KAS Spotlight KY Division of Water Public Comments Looking for job postings? Follow us on social media! Share your news with KAS members How to Join the KAS Listserv Upcoming Events Follow us on social media! Stay updated on all things KAS: @kyscientists kyscience @kentuckyscience We currently need volunteers to manage our social media accounts! Let us know if you are interested. Share your news with KAS members If you have something to share in the monthly KAS newsletter, get in touch with our Newsletter editor, Mark dela Cerna. How to Join the KAS Listserv KAS has set up a listserv so our members can talk to each other, to share science-related news & announcements, offers, requests, questions and answers. We are excited about fostering more conversations within our scientific community! Opt In to the listserv: Log In at the KAS website (https://kyscience.org/) In the Member Menu, go to Communication / Message Boards Click to Opt In to the KAS Member Listserv (and choose the Daily Digest option if you prefer) To post to the listserv, send a message to kyscience@memberleap.com Upcoming Events Aug 04: KAS Advocacy & Education meeting Aug 11-13: Wetlands Management Micro-credential Aug 18: KAS Advocacy & Education meeting Sep 01: KAS Advocacy & Education meeting Sep 15: KAS Advocacy & Education meeting	COVID Update Around KY Vaccination rate in the state remains close to 50% while cases are on a slight rise. Please continue to observe safe practices such as social distancing and mask-wearing when in crowds. Anyone 12 and over can now get vaccinated. Click here to know more about where to get your vaccine around the state. We got this, Team Kentucky! If you have received your first Moderna/Pfizer shot, make sure to get your second! J&J only requires a single-shot. To those who live in the Red Zone, make sure to follow the recommendations found here to avoid further spread of the virus in your community. Meanwhile, if you are interested in learning more about the virus and its variants, visit the CDC Variant Surveillance page. Annual Meeting at EKU Nov. 5-6 We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our Annual Meeting at EKU on November 5-6, 2021. Watch out for further announcements. Registration opens September 1st! If you would like to start planning your visit, we have reserved rooms at discounted prices at the Hampton Inn, Towneplace Suites, and Holiday Inn Express in Richmond. Click here for details. KAS Continues Dismantling Racism in Science Efforts Over the past several months, we have heard many wonderful ideas about ways we can move towards dismantling structural racism in science within the Kentucky Academy of Science and in our greater communities. Our members have shown strong enthusiasm and commitment for this work, from undergraduate students to professionals at various points in their careers. KAS is thankful for everyone's support and we would like to keep this momentum going! We would like to invite you all to continue to offer us your guidance and advice. If you are interested in being part of our next convening, regardless of where you are in your career, please let us know on this form: Dismantling Racism Meeting. Do not hesitate to contact us. September BenchTalk Live and BenchTalk Anniversary This month's BenchTalk Live will feature some of highlights of hemp research that is currently being done at Murray State University. Stay tuned for details! We will update our BenchTalk Live page for more details soon. Meanwhile, the BenchTalk podcast will celebrate its 3rd Anniversary. Watch out for a very special episode next week! Past podcasts are available for everyone and can be accessed here. BenchTalk and the BenchTalk Live Series aim to bring science to the people. We thank everyone for your support and hope you continue to participate in these series! Phelps Receives Award from Paleontological Society Congratulations to KAS member, Daniel Phelps, recipient of the 2021 Strimple Award from the Paleontological Society. Dan Phelps is the Founder and President of the Kentucky Paleontological Society and a retired environmental geologist for the Commonwealth of KY. He is also Vice-President of Kentuckians for Science Education. Dan was a major participant in "We Believe in Dinosaurs," a documentary part of the PBS Independent Lens series. Photo from Lexington Herald. The Strimple Award recognizes outstanding achievement in paleontology by someone who does not make a living full-time through paleontology. KAS Needs You! KAS is looking for a social media volunteer(s) to manage our social media accounts. The volunteer will be in charge of updating our Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram accounts, communicating KAS updates and engaging our members, and/or sharing posts relevant to society members. If you want to know more, get in touch! We especially welcome anyone and everyone who wants to contribute to increasing science visibility in our State! Meanwhile, if there are items/posts you would like to see more in our social media, feel free to pitch it to us. KAS Spotlight Beginning next month, we will feature fellow Kentuckian Scientists in our newsletter's KAS Spotlight. This is an effort to increase visibility of the diverse scientists (at all levels, any field!) in our Commonwealth, towards encouraging resource sharing, networking/communication, and collaboration! If you would like to be featured or if you want to nominate someone to be featured, please email me! KY Division of Water Public Comments The Kentucky Division of Water is conducting a triennial review of water quality standards. Public comments are due by August 6, 2021 at 4:00 PM. Please email your comments to water_at_ky.gov with the subject line "2021 Triennial Review." You can access the slides from the 2021 Public Listening Session here. Looking for job postings? If you're looking for a job be sure to check our Job Listings on the KAS website. Do you have a job opening to advertise? Send us your announcements, including the closing date and we'll add them to our list.
KAS Newsletter - August 2021